Boys High School Rankings for Week of 10/14/2012

1. Bellevue
2. Mercer Island
3. Auburn Mountainview
4. Curtis
5. Newport
6. Auburn Riverside
7. Roosevelt
8. Lakes
9. Enumclaw
10. Peninsula

Last week, the Bellevue Wolverines rose to the top of the rankings just in time for another prime time match against Newport.  In their first regular season game, Bellevue had a pretty easy time against a short handed Newport team. This time the Knights had all hands on deck, all ships in the water, and all Speedos wet!  Down by two going into the 4th quarter, Newport rallied to put the game into overtime, but Bellevue had just a little more left in the tank to survive in a thrilling 12 -10 victory to retain the No. 1 ranking for another week.  A warning for upcoming opponents of Newport: Be afraid, be very afraid.  Mercer Island had a relatively easy time defeating Inglemoor last week which is good enough to hold on to the No. 2 position.  The Islanders are getting ready for  a series of tough matches and it all starts this week against Newport.  The Lions of Auburn Mountainview had an interesting weekend at the Lake/Curtis Tournament.  It started by squeaking out a 1-point victory over Roosevelt and ended with a victory over Curtis to win the tournament.  In between those games were a win over Peninsula, a loss to Curtis, and another squeaker over Auburn Riverside.  A tournament championship and a regular season win over Enumclaw all adds up to the No. 3 ranking!  Wow, I remember when these Lions were just cubs!  For the Curtis Vikings, that means a small drop to No. 4.  Everything seemed to be going their way until the final game.  Yes, the Vikings earlier win in bracket play over Auburn Mountainview was impressive, and the regular season wins this week over Peninsula and Emerald Ridge were also notable, but this is the second loss to the Lions this year in tournament play.  There's still time to smooth out the kinks and remind your offensive guns to put their shots between the posts.  Okay Newport,  you guys make this job difficult at times.  The Committee knows that you're better than your record, and Bellevue certainly knows you're a top contender, so welcome back to the rankings at No. 5.  Yes, we know you think it's too low, but while you guys have been short handed, everyone else has been getting stronger.  Defeat Mercer Island and the Committee will reconsider next week.  The Auburn Riverside Ravens had a pretty good tournament.  Heck, the Ravens only lost by 1-point to Auburn Mountainview, but with the return of Newport, the Ravens drop one position to No. 6.  I know, it doesn't seem fair, but in the whole scheme of life dropping 1 spot is trivial.  Two weeks ago,  the Committee was putting the finishing touches on Roosevelt's 2012 eulogy.  The playoffs appeared unlikely to everyone but the Roughriders who have charged back into contention.  Roosevelt served notice this weekend that they are not to be taken lightly by anyone.  Is it just me, or do these 2012 Roughriders look younger than most JV teams. Roosevelt will make it difficult for playoff opponents this year and this week they make their first appearance in the rankings at No. 7.  Lakes had a little difficulty with Curtis and Auburn Riverside over the weekend but a victory over Enumclaw propelled the Lancers to a 4th place finish and this weeks No. 8 ranking.  The Lancers have the ability to score on most opponents but need to tighten up their defense a wee bit if they want to move up further in the rankings.   Enumclaw didn't have the best of tournaments, and losses to Roosevelt and Lakes took a toll on the Hornets ranking as they drop to No. 9.  Still time for the Hornets to keep improving before playoffs.  The Peninsula Seahawks had their hands full as they dropped games to Curtis, Auburn Mountainview, Roosevelt and Enumclaw.  Hey,  what doesn't kill ya, makes you stronger and this week it is good enough to remain in the rankings at No. 10.   Apologies to Puyallup. The Vikings keep winning, but with the emergence of Newport and Roosevelt, it's going to take a win over a ranked opponent to get back in the rankings for now.  Emerald Ridge: Ditto.

Polo On!