Full December 8th KBCA Basketball rankings -- click here

The basketball season is underway and most teams around the state have at least one game under their belt with a few this waiting to hit the court for the first time this week. The KBCA as released its first set of rankings with games in the book for the season and 18 of the 19 ranked teams to start the season remain ranked but there was movement for some from their previous spots.

In Class 4A-Division II on the girls side the Santa Fe Trail Chargers remained number one after opening the season with a dominating 62-21 road win over Anderson County with Shelby Dahl leading the charge with 24 points in the contest. The lady Wildcats of Holton fell from number four to number seven this week after opening the season with a tough loss to Wamego 45-35; Kyrstie Miller lead the Wildcats with 10 points in the loss.

On the boys side the Holton boys opened the season with a 55-46 win over Wamego and moved up two spots to number four in the latest polls. While, fellow Big Seven team in the Jeff West Tigers opened their season with a 53-21 win over KC Christian and also jumped up two spots in the latest polls moving up from ten to number eight this week. Senior, Ian Mullins lead the charge for the Tigers in the season opener with 22 points.

Class 3A, features three area teams in the latest polls as the girls rankings remained unchanged for the two area teams with Sabetha remaining at number three and Marysville at number ten, despite Marysville beating Sabetha in the season opener for both teams, 63-47. Marysville was lead by Abi Degenhardt who had 21 points, while Alexis McAfee lead Sabetha in the loss with 21 points. Marysville also grabbed a 62-29 win over Auburn on Saturday to start season 2-0.

On the boys side the Nemaha Valley Raiders jumped up to number four in the latest KBCA rankings after dispatching Hanover 62-45 on Friday behind 24 points from Justice McKernan. Raiders move up to number four was a two spot leap from their preseason ranking of sixth.

Class 2A two area girls teams continue to be ranked in both the Jefferson County North Chargers and Washington County Tigers who remained steady at their preseason rankings of third and eighth. The Chargers started the season with an impressive road win over 4A school Baldwin; winning 57-43 with Jacee Kramer dropping 31 points. The Washington County Tigers started their season with a 3-0 performance in their preseason tourney beating Pike Valley, Clifton-Clyde and Blue Valley-Randolph. Erin Alexander led the way scoring 55 points over three game span.

Class 1A-Division I features the most area teams between the girls and boys rankings with six, all hailing from the Twin Valley League. On the girls side the Valley Heights Mustangs started the season off with a 58-41 win at home over Centralia and moved up one spot to number three in latest poll, as Brandi Jo Roepke lead them in the game with 27 points. The Panthers despite the loss to open the season remained in the top 10 rankings, remaining at number 10. The Linn Bulldogs like the Mustangs moved up one spot moving to number four in the latest poll after they opened the season with a 46-19 win over Southern Cloud, with Nicole Ohlde leading the way with 18 points.

On the boys side the Valley Heights Mustangs jumped up to number two after topping Centralia 60-40, moving up three spots from number five. Mustangs were led by Charles Musil who had 14 points and Derek Trimble added 12 points. The Panthers were in the game until the fourth quarter and with only one practice under their belt with the late start to the basketball practice season because of football the Panthers suffered the season opening loss but only fell down to number three in the latest rankings. The Hanover Wildcats who started the season ranked sixth, fell two spots to number eight after going 0-2 to start the season but their two loss were to ranked teams in Nemaha Valley (62-45) and Axtell (58-50).

Class 1A-Division II three area teams remained ranked this week as the defending boys champs the Axtell Eagles opened the season with a tough 44-40 road loss to Lewiston (Neb), but responded on Saturday beating Hanover 58-50 to move to 1-1 to start the year. Senior, Payton Heinen is leading the way already averaging a double-double through his first two games of the season.

The B&B Falcon boys and girls both remained in the rankings staying put at number three for the girls and number four for the boys as the Falcons will hit the court for the first time this week on Tuesday (December 10th) against Doniphan West.

The basketball season has gotten underway and the action is just starting to heat up as teams are looking for early success on the court this season.