HS: Winter region, state rankings, Feb. 2

by Sheldon Shealer

February 2, 2015

One week from now, two winter-playing states will be finished; and, interestingly, there is one regular-season girls soccer home-and-home series tying those states — Florida and Mississippi — together.

On Nov. 15, Navarre (Navarre, Fla.) edged Ocean Springs (Ocean Springs, Miss.) 3-2. Little more than a month later, Ocean Springs returned the favor with a 2-1 win. Two results — both one-goal finishes — point to a relative level of equality between the programs. Both have advanced to their respective state semifinals this week, and their outcomes will help make sense of the entire Southeast for girls soccer, since Ocean Springs also played perennial Louisiana title contender [Mount Carmel la-w] (New Orleans, La.) to a draw this season.

In this week's regional rankings, Navarre moves into the No. 9 spot in Florida-North. Next up is a clash with Florida-North No. 7 [Viera fl-w] (Melbourne, Fla.). Navarre would need to win in order to strengthen the SIMA FAB 50 case for any team in Mississippi or Louisiana. Ocean Springs, meanwhile, will be favored in its semifinal match against Biloxi (Biloxi, Miss.). Ocean Springs is back in the Southeast rankings at No. 5, and a semifinal will will secure a date with either state No. 1 Tupelo (Tupelo, Miss.) or No. 2 Madison Central (Madison, Miss.), which are meeting in the other Mississippi 6A state semifinal.

Here are a few ranking-related highlights from last week:

BOYS

The Texas-North rankings were playing out to the results until last week when previously undefeated Sam Houston (Arlington, Texas) and Flower Mound (Flower Mound, Texas) were defeated by unranked opponents. Still, the quality of both teams' efforts so far this year keep them ranked high within Texas-North, thse two results are sure to thin out the number of Texas teams in the SIMA FAB 50 Top 10 this week. ... Sam Houston's loss allows Colleyville Heritage (Colleyville, Texas) to move into the No. 1 spot in Texas-North. That was the lone No. 1 change in the eight winter regions.

GIRLS

There appears to be a revolving door on No. 1 in the California-South rankings, and once again Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, Calif.) is back on top. The preseason SIMA FAB 50 No. 1 team saw that spot slip away with a loss in Texas, and further fade with a loss to fellow-ranked La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.). In the meantime, Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) moved into the top spot. However, last week, LCC loss last week to Carlsbad (Carlsbad, Calif.) for a second time and Aliso Niguel lost a league match, allowing Cathedral Catholic another crack at the California-South No. 1 ranking.

See the entire winter high school region and state rankings:

REGION RANKINGS: BOYS (Feb. 2) | GIRLS (Feb. 2)

STATE RANKINGS: BOYS (Feb. 2) | GIRLS (Feb. 2)

Related Topics: HS State/Region Rankings