First ASWA poll full of teams from Dallas County
Published 8:07 pm Thursday, December 11, 2014
Dallas County’s Jerrod Moorer skies for a layup in the class 4A championship game last season. Moorer and Dallas County are ranked No. 8 in the first Alabama Sports Writers Association poll of the season and have not lost since December 2013. The Hornets take on Akron Friday.–File Photo
The Alabama Sports Writers Association released its first high school basketball rankings of the year Thursday and many Dallas County based teams made an appearance.
The Keith boys’ (5-4) are the highest ranked team in Dallas County, coming in at No. 3 in the class 1A rankings. The Bears split with rival Selma and already have a win over 2014 Final 48 participant Wilcox Central.
The Keith Lady Bears (5-3) are also ranked, coming in at No. 6 in girls’ 1A rankings. The Bears split with rival Selma (7-4). Keith is one of only 22 schools from around the state ranked in both the boys and girls poll.
Defending Class 4A state champion Dallas County (4-0) — now in 5A— came in at No. 8 in the ASWA poll.
The Hornets have not lost any game since Dec. 21, 2013, and have not lost at home since at least the 2012-2013 season.
Dallas County has wins over Southside, A.L. Johnson, Booker T. Washington and Wilcox Central to begin the year, with three of the four victories coming by single digits.
The Hornets are the only remaining undefeated team in Dallas County and were the only boys’ team from the county ranked.
Dallas County is one of 13 undefeated boys’ teams listed in the poll.
Two other teams in the state received nominations for the rankings. Selma’s boys (8-1) received consideration in 6A after a hot start that saw the Saints sweep No. 3 Keith and defeat Francis Marion and Sidney Lanier. Selma’s only loss came to Greenville (3-2) in the Saints’ Thanksgiving Tournament. The Saints were without four contributors in that game, including two starters, because of a four-game suspension the players were issued earlier in the season.
The Selma girls’ (7-3) also received a nomination for the rankings.
The Lady Saints lost two of their first three games in a tipoff tournament in Hoover and also lost to No. 6 Keith in the team’s first meeting of the year. Since the slow start, Selma has been on fire, including a 16-point rally to defeat the Bears last week.
The Lady Saints took the same path last season, losing two early games in the Hoover tipoff tournament before winning 24 of their next 27 games to end the season.
Teams in the rankings will be put to the test Friday night. Both Keith teams will travel to Southside, while Dallas County will host Akron.
Both Selma teams will try to make their case for a spot in the poll against Wilcox Central Friday.
