SPORTS

Columbus Catholic remains No. 2 in poll

Tim Johnson
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Kayla Lis and the Neillsville girls basketball team are ranked No. 6 in Division 4 in this week's Associated Press state poll.

WAUSAU - The Columbus Catholic boys basketball team could clinch the Cloverbelt Conference East Division title outright by the end of the week. The Dons face a challenge on that run with a road game at Loyal, who sit in second place in the Cloverbelt East, on Friday

The Dons (18-0) have survived every test so far, which is why Columbus Catholic remained No. 2 in Division 5 in the state Associated Press basketball poll for a second straight week.

RELATED: SPASH boys move up in state poll

RELATED: Amherst girls move into AP state poll 

The Dons received a first-place vote, and had just eight less points overall than No. 1 Seneca in the poll. Seneca received nine first-place votes and No. 3 Barnveld (17-2) received a first-place vote as well.

Columbus Catholic is one of 11 local boys and girls basketball programs ranked in this week's state poll, which was released Monday afternoon.

Columbus Catholic is the highest-ranked team in that group. Stevens Point Area Senior High (16-3) was ranked No. 2 in the Division 1 boys poll last week but dropped to No. 4 after last week's loss at La Crosse Central, the No. 1 team in Division 2.

The Edgar (15-4)  and Almond-Bancroft (16-2) boys teams both moved up a spot to No. 7 in Divisions 4 and 5, respectively. Almond-Bancroft beat Gresham last week and Gresham dropped two spots in the poll to No. 9 in Division 5.

Amherst (18-1) also moved up a spot to No. 7 in Division 4 in the girls state poll. The Falcons are one of seven local girls programs ranked this week.

Tri-County (19-1) remained No. 5 in Division 5. Newman Catholic (15-4) and Loyal (17-3) are ranked eight and ninth, respectively, in the division.

Neillsville (18-1) moved up a spot to No. 6 in Division 4 and is one of three local teams ranked in the division. Marathon (16-3) and Wittenberg-Birnamwood (18-1) are ranked eighth and ninth, respectively.

Two Marawood Conference boys teams received votes in the poll but fell outside the Top Ten - Marathon (Division 4) and Assumption (Division 5). The Owen-Withee girls received a vote in Division 5 as well.

Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or timothy.johnson@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter @timmyjo11

Here is The Associated Press Wisconsin prep basketball poll for the week of February 13, 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 

DIVISION 1

1. Oshkosh North (11) 18-0, 110, 1. 2. Kimberly 17-1, 98, 3. 3. Brookfield Central 19-1, 82, 5. 4. SPASH 16-3, 69, 2. 5T. Oak Creek 17-2, 52, 6T. 5T. Milwaukee Vincent 15-3, 52, 6T. 72. Madison Memorial 17-3, 43, 4. 8. Bay Port 16-2, 38, 8. 9. Sun Prairie 17-3, 30, 10T. 10. Muskego 15-3, 12, 10T. 

Others receiving votes: Arrowhead, Milwaukee Riverside University 5, Middleton 3.

DIVISION 2

1. La Crosse Central (9) 16-2, 104, 1. 2. Beaver Dam (2) 19-0, 99, 2. 3. Cedarburg 18-2, 81, 6. 4. Pewaukee 18-2, 67, 7. 5. Waunakee 16-2, 66, 3. 6. Milw. Washington 14-4, 51, 8. 7. Pulaski 16-2, 40, 10. 8. Stoughton 15-3, 34, 4. 9, Pius XI 15-4, 24, 5. 10. Onalaska 17-3, 19, 9. 

Others receiving votes: New Berlin Eisenhower 18, Kaukauna 2.

DIVISION 3  

1. Ripon (8) 18-0, 107, 1. 2. Appleton Xavier (3) 18-0, 102, 2. 3. Bloomer 15-2, 77, 3. 4. Martin Luther 16-2, 76, 4. 5. Lake Mills 17-2, 71, 5. 6. Prescott 17-3, 55, 6. 7. Waupun 15-4, 40, 10. 8. Southern Door 15-2, 37, 8. 9. Prairie du Chien 16-2, 12, NR. 10. Westby 16-3, 9, 9

Others receiving votes: Edgewood 8, New Holstein 4, Gale-Ettrick-Trempeauleau 4, Columbus 2, Little Chute 1.

DIVISION 4

1. Destiny (8) 18-1, 107, 1. 2. Darlington (3) 19-0, 102, 2. 3. Cochrane-Fountain City 17-0, 85, 3. 4. The Prairie School 17-2, 79, 4. 5. Young Coggs Prep 17-2, 64, 5. 6. Deerfield 18-2, 46, 9. 7. Edgar 15-4, 41, 8. 8. Regis 15-4, 17, 6. 10. Stanley-Boyd 14-4, 9. NR. 

Others receiving votes: Phillips 8, Shiocton 8, Laconia 7, Marathon 5, New Glarus 4, Saint Mary's Springs 1, Howards Grove 1. 

DIVISION 5 

1. Seneca (9) 19-0, 106, 1. 2. Columbus Catholic (1) 18-0, 98, 2. 3. Barneveld (1) 17-2, 89, 3. 4. Hilbert 17-1, 78, 4. 5. Bangor 17-1, 62, 6. 6. Shullsburg 17-2, 51, 5. 7. Almond-Bancroft 16-2, 43, 8. 8. McDonell Central 15-3, 37, 9. 9. Gresham Community 15-3, 15, 7. 10. Milwaukee Academy of Science 13-7, 6, NR. 

Others receiving votes: Sheboygan County Christian 5, Alma/Pepin 4, Valley Christian 3, Pecatonica 3, Black Hawk 2, Cambria-Friesland 2, Assumption 1. 

GIRLS 

DIVISION 1

1. Appleton North (10) 21-0, 109, 1. 2. Milwaukee King (1) 20-0, 100-2. 3. De Pere 19-2, 84, 3. 4. Germantown 19-2, 5. Arrowhead 18-3, 64, 5. 6. Mukwonago 19-2, 60, 6. 7. Sun Prairie 17-3, 43, 8. 8. Hudson 17-3, 25, 10. 9. Middleton 17-3, 19, 7. 10. Madison East 15-4, 18, 9. 

Others receiving votes: Oak Creek 4, Appleton West 2.

DIVISION 2 

1. Beaver Dam (11) 21-0, 110, 1. 2. Pewaukee 18-3, 91, 3. 3. Stoughton 18-3, 76, 4. 4. New Berlin West 19-2, 73, 2. 5. West De Pere 18-1, 67, 5. 6. Plymouth 18-2, 56, 6. 7. Monroe 17-2, 51, 7. 8 Union Grove 18-3, 30, 10. 9. Hortonville 15-4, 23, 8. 10. New Berlin Eisenhower 16-5, 13, NR.

Others receiving votes: Luxemburg-Casco 7, Waunakee 6, Onalaska 2. 

DIVISION 3

1. Whitewater (9) 19-1, 108, 1. 2. Martin Luther 19-1, 95, 2. 3. Edgewood (2) 18-3, 89, 3. 4. Wrightstown 18-2, 82, 5. 5. Valders 19-2, 58, 7. 6. Richland Center 17-2, 50, 4. 7. Amherst 18-1, 45, 8. 8. Freedom 17-3, 35, 6 9. Bloomer 17-3, 26, 9. 10. Hayward 17-4, 10, NR.

Others receiving votes: Kewaunee 5, Waupun 3, Somerset 2, West Salem 1. 

DIVISION 4 

1. Aquinas (9) 19-0, 107, 1. 2. Lourdes Academy (2) 19-1, 100, 2. 3. Wisconsin Heights 20-0, 85, 3. 4. Melrose-Mindoro 20-0, 74 4. 5. Laconia 20-1, 66, 5. 6. Neillsville 18-1, 54, 7. 7. Howards Grove 20-1, 53, 6. 8. Marathon 16-3, 29, 8 9. Wittenberg-Birnamwood 18-1, 21, 9. 10. Mineral Point 16-4, 8, 10. 

Others receiving votes: Cochrane-Fountain City 5, Kenosha Saint Joseph Catholic Academy 3

DIVISION 5

1. Clayton (11) 20-0, 110, 1. 2. Black Hawk 19-0, 99, 2. 3. Flambeau 17-1, 81, 3. 4. Bangor 18-3, 69, 4. 5. Tri-County 19-1, 58, 5. 6. Shullsburg 16-3, 50, 6. 7. McDonell Central 18-3, 48, 7. 8. Newman Catholic 15-4, 34, 9. 9. Loyal 17-3, 33, 8. 10. Milwaukee Academy of Science 17-4, 12, NR.

Others receiving votes: Riverdale 8, Living Word Lutheran 2, Owen-Withee 1.