St. Louis Area Large and Small Schools Boys Basketball 1/17/2018

I took a look at week seven of the Post Dispatch Large and Small Boys High School basketball rankings and have posted my rankings with the paper's rankings.  It is interesting to see how many good teams are missing from the P-D ranks and how many that don't deserve consideration are in their top 10 or 20.

First of all, Webster Groves deserves #1 ranking, hands down.  After struggling without Courtney Ramey, the team is clicking on all cylinders and recently playing Oak Hill Academy Virginia, a top national team, to the wire.   Chaminade, Belleville West and Hazelwood Central are all top five teams but Francis Howell, Marquette and Hillsboro are all under-rated by P-D.  On the other hand, Fort Zumwalt South, Hazelwood East and Alton Illinois are, at best top 30 teams, with a number of unranked teams performing much better than those three.

When I calculate team strengths, it is based on a weighted algorithm that takes into account, key wins against strong teams when at full strength.  A team like Eureka, for instance, lost Gunnar Herbert, a key guard and tough-nosed leader of the Wildcats, and then was upset by Troy and Duschesne.  Still understrength, they played Kirkwood to two overtimes before losing by a point.  At full strength, a team like St. Mary's would never lose to Duchesne either.

The small school P-D rankings are more to form with my algorithm, but Pacific and Soldan should be top ten teams.  In fact, I have a hard time understanding how some teams are considered large schools and some small schools when compared with the Missouri class designations.

St. Louis Area                                                                      Missouri/Illinois Large and Small High School Rankings
					P-D Rank
	Team	Rating	State	Size
1	Webster Groves	144.3	MO	Large	3
2	Chaminade	133.2	MO	Large	4
3	Belleville West (Belleville)	132.7	ILL	Large	1
4	Hazelwood Central	128.0	MO	Large	2
5	CBC	122.5	MO	Large	11
6	Francis Howell	120.5	MO	Large	14
7	SLUH	117.2	MO	Large	18
8	Parkway Central	116.6	MO	Large	7
9	Marquette	116.5	MO	Large	NR
10	Hillsboro MO	115.7	MO	Large	NR
11	Liberty Wentzville	114.8	MO	Large	19
12	Belleville East ILL	114.4	ILL	Large	20
13	Carbondale ILL	114.2	ILL	Large	NR
14	Cahokia ILL	114.0	ILL	Large	NR
15	Edwardsville	113.8	ILL	Large	NR
16	Ladue	113.3	MO	Large	16
17	Collinsville ILL	113.1	ILL	Large	NR
18	Ritenour	112.8	MO	Large	NR
19	Kirkwood	112.4	MO	Large	17
20	Vianney	111.9	MO	Large	NR
21	Eureka	111.4	MO	Large	NR
22	McCluer North	111.1	MO	Large	NR
23	Lafayette	110.9	MO	Large	NR
24	Parkway South	110.5	MO	Large	12
25	East St. Louis	110.4	ILL	Large	NR
26	McCluer	109.2	MO	Large	NR
27	Troy Buchanon	108.5	MO	Large	NR
28	O'Fallon Ill	108.3	ILL	Large	NR
29	Hazelwood East	108.1	MO	Large	9
30	Alton Ill	108.0	ILL	Large	5
36	Fort Zumwalt South	105.7	MO	Large	8
	Team	Rating	State	Size
1	St. Mary's	127.2	MO	Small	3
2	Vashon	124.7	MO	Small	1
3	Confluence	124.4	MO	Small	4
4	Trinity	118.1	MO	Small	8
5	Jennings	118.0	MO	Small	7
6	Pacific	115.1	MO	Small	NR
7	Soldan	115.1	MO	Small	NR
8	Cardinal Ritter	114.1	MO	Small	10
9	Alton Marquette ILL	113.6	ILL	Small	2
10	Duchesne	112.7	MO	Small	9
11	Northwest Academy	112.7	MO	Small	5
12	Whitfield	112.1	MO	Small	6
13	Okawville ILL	109.6	ILL	Small	13
14	Mascoutah, ILL	108.8	ILL	Small	16
15	Wesclin	108.2	ILL	Small	11
16	Summit Christian	108.2	MO	Small	NR
17	Priory	108.1	MO	Small	20
18	Highland ILL	107.8	ILL	Small	12
19	St. Michael the Archangel	107.4	MO	Small	NR
20	Lutheran North	107.3	MO	Small	NR
21	North County	106.7	MO	Small	NR
22	Westminster	105.8	MO	Small	NR
23	Parkway North	105.7	MO	Small	NR
24	MICDS	105.3	MO	Small	NR
25	O'Fallon Christian	104.7	ILL	Small	NR
38	Warrenton	100.8	MO	Small	NR
39	Columbia ILL	100.4	ILL	Small	14
41	Orchard Farm	100.3	MO	Small	19
42	St. Charles	100.2	MO	Small	17
43	Breese Central ILL	100.1	ILL	Small	15