Colby girls enter AP state basketball poll; Columbus Catholic boys move up to No. 1

WAUSAU - The Colby girls basketball team has surpassed its win total from last year and is closing in on the program's first Cloverbelt Conference East Division championship. 

The successful season also has resulted in the Hornets being included in the Associated Press state basketball poll for the first time this winter. 

Colby (17-2) is tied with Racine Lutheran for 10th in Division 4 in the girls poll this week with both teams receiving nine points. 

The Hornets are among the combined 11 local boys and girls program ranked in the AP state poll released Monday afternoon. 

The Columbus Catholic boys are the highest ranked program of that group as the Dons moved up a spot to No. 1 in Division 5. Almond-Bancroft and Port Edwards remained in the Division 5 boys poll as well, and are ranked fifth and ninth, respectively. 

Rhinelander, the Great Northern Conference leaders, moved up two spots to eighth in Division 2, while Marathon dropped a spot to ninth in Division 4. 

The Marathon girls remained ranked in the poll as well and are fifth in Division 4 for a second straight week. Colby and Marathon are among the six local ranked girls programs this week. 

SPASH and D.C. Everest are ranked eighth and 10th in Division 1, respectively, and meet Friday in Stevens Point in a Wisconsin Valley Conference showdown,  

Tri-County and Newman Catholic are ranked fifth and eighth, respectively, in Division 5. 

Here is The Associated Press Wisconsin prep basketball poll for the week of February 5, with first-place votes in parentheses, record, total points and last week’s ranking, as voted upon by a statewide panel of sports writers and broadcasters:

BOYS BASKETBALL

DIVISION 1

1. Oshkosh North (3) 17-1, 108, 1. 2. Sun Prairie (2) 16-1, 98, 2. 3. Franklin 17-1, 85, 3. 4. Brookfield East 15-1, 76, 4. 5. Waunakee 16-2, 60, 6. 6. Racine Park 13-2, 55, 3. 7. Madison La Follette 15-3, 41, 8. 8. Kimberly 14-4, 36, 7. 9. Bay Port 13-3, 20, 10. 10. Brookfield Central 13-4, 12, NR. 

Others receiving votes:  Madison Memorial 11, Eau Claire North 2, Mukwonago 1.

DIVISION 2

1. Kaukauna (11) 16-2, 110, 1. 2. Pewaukee 15-0, 94, 2. 3. Onalaska 14-2, 78, 4. 4. Cedarburg 15-1, 77, 3. 5. La Crosse Central 15-2, 64, 5. 6. Monona Grove 16-1, 57, 6. 7. Milwaukee Washington 13-3, 48, 7. 8. Rhinelander 15-1, 29, 10. 9. Pulaski 14-2, 26, 9. 10. Whitnall 15-4, 18, 8. 

Others receiving votes:  Mount Horeb 2, Rice Lake 2.

DIVISION 3

1. Appleton Xavier (11) 18-0, 110, 1. 2. Waupun 16-1, 93, 2. 3. Brown Deer 16-2, 85, 4. 4. Dominican 14-2, 80, 3. 5. Wisconsin Dells 16-1, 63, 5. 6. Valders 17-1, 52, 7. 7. Bloomer 15-0, 37, 9. 8. Martin Luther 14-3, 28, 6. 9. Prescott 16-2, 26, 10. 10. Racine St. Catherine's 12-4, 12, NR. 

Others receiving votes: Lakeside Lutheran 8, Kettle Moraine Lutheran 4, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 4, Black River Falls 1, Lodi 1, Wrightstown 1.

DIVISION 4

1. New Glarus (7) 17-0, 104 T1. 2. Destiny (3) 13-2, 101, T1. 3. Clear Lake 16-0, 83, 4. 4. Howards Grove (1) 17-1, 74, 3. 5. The Prairie School 12-4, 63, 7. 6. Winnebago Lutheran 13-3, 38, T10. 7. Pardeeville 15-2, 37, 5. 8. Kohler 15-3, 26, T10. 9. Marathon 15-3, 23, 8. 10. Fennimore 14-3, 21, 6. 

Others receiving votes:  Mineral Point 10, Grantsburg 8, Roncalli 6, Auburndale 5, Manitowoc Lutheran  2, Melrose-Mindoro 2, Cuba City 1, Wisconsin Heights 1.

DIVISION 5

1. Columbus Catholic (4) 13-2, 100, 2. 2. Bangor (7) 14-1, 99, 1. 3T. Royall 13-2, 81, 3. 3T. Seneca 14-2, 81, 4. 5. Almond-Bancroft 14-3, 55, 5. 6. Wauzeka-Steuben 14-3, 54, 6. 7. South Shore 14-3, 48, 7. 8. Sheboygan Lutheran 16-3, 47, T9. 9. Port Edwards 13-5, 12, 8. 10. Rio 13-3, 9, NR. 

Others receiving votes:  Solon Springs 7, Deerfield 7, Potosi 5. 

GIRLS BASKETBALL

DIVISION 1

1. Hartland Arrowhead (11) 17-1, 110, 1. 2. Mukwonago 16-2, 91, 2. 3. Sun Prairie 17-1, 81, 3. 4. Milwaukee King 15-4, 78, 4. 5. Appleton North 14-4, 70, 5. 6. Kimberly 16-2, 57, 6. 7. Oak Creek 16-2, 45, 8. 8. SPASH 18-2, 31, 9. 9. West Allis Nathan Hale 17-2, 21, 7. 10. D.C. Everest 16-3, 16, 10. 

Others receiving votes: Madison East 2, Divine Savior 2, Bay Port 1.

DIVISION 2

1. Beaver Dam (9) 16-2, 108, 1. 2. Milwaukee Vincent (2) 18-0, 101, 2. 3. Seymour 17-1, 88, 3. 4. Monroe 17-2, 75, 4. 5. New Berlin Eisenhower 17-3, 64, 6. 6. Onalaska 14-3, 51, 5. 7. Hortonville 13-4, 40, 9. 8. Slinger 16-2, 35, 10. 9. Green Bay Notre Dame 14-4, 21, 7. 10. Union Grove 15-3, 10, 8. 

Others receiving votes: Stoughton 5, Jefferson 3, Reedsburg Area 2, Rice Lake 2.

DIVISION 3

1. Laconia (9) 19-0, 108, 1. 2. Wrightstown (2) 17-1, 96, 2. 3. Amherst 19-1, 84. 4. Marshall 18-0, 78, 4. 5. Kettle Moraine Lutheran 16-2, 69, 5. 6. Hayward 15-2, 46, 7. 7. Platteville 16-2, 43, 6. 8. Valders 15-2, 30, 8. 9. Dodgeville 16-2, 24, 9. 10. Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 16-2, 14, T10. 

Others receiving votes: Saint Thomas More 8, West Salem 2, Wisconsin Dells 2, Madison Edgewood 1.

DIVISION 4

1. La Crosse Aquinas (10) 17-0, 109, 1. 2. Melrose-Mindoro 18-0, 98, 2. 3. Fond du Lac Springs (1) 17-2, 80, 3. 4. Durand 17-1, 72, 4. 5. Marathon 15-2, 64, 5. 6. Milwaukee Academy of Science 16-3, 57,6. 7. Shiocton 14-3, 47, 8. 8. Manitowoc Lutheran 16-3, 30, 7. 9. Cameron 13-3, 13, 9. 10T. Colby 17-2, 9, NR. 10T. Racine Lutheran 14-5, 9, 10. 

Others receiving votes:  Brookwood 7, Regis 6, Cambridge 2, Markesan 1, Saint Croix Falls 1.1

DIVISION 5

1, Black Hawk (11) 19-0, 110, 1. 2. Flambeau 15-0, 97, 2. 3. Fall River 17-1, 77, 4. 4. Bangor 16-3, 68, 5. 5T. Chippewa Falls McDonell 15-3, 54, 6. 5. Tri-County 17-1, 54, 3. 7. Oshkosh Lourdes 14-4, 49, 8. 8. Newman Catholic 14-3, 47, 7. 9. Clayton 15-3, 24, 10. 10. Central WI Christian 15-3, 10, NR.

Others receiving votes: Wauzeka-Steuben 4, Shullsburg 4, Potosi 3, Washburn 2, Rib Lake 1, Rio 1.