HS: State, Region rankings, Dec. 5

by Sheldon Shealer

December 5, 2016

The first Monday in December brings about the first of the weekly winter-playing high school soccer updates.

At this point, teams from Florida have been playing for a month. Louisiana and Mississippi are well into their seasons, as well. Arizona, California and Hawaii have started play. That leaves the Texas UIL programs, which start play one month from now. The wide range of starting and ending dates make the high school winter season the longest of any season during the high school calendar. In fact, the season carries on so deep that a winter boys powerhouse will play its final three matches of the season in a high school spring tournament -- certainly a first in recent memory.

As for the updates, there are plenty of changes in Florida, where some teams already have played 13 matches. There are some subtle shifts in the California rankings. The herd has been well thinned in Louisiana and Mississippi, both with fewer state-ranked and region-ranked teams this week.

Despite the ranking changes, all 16 region No. 1s held their position with the exception of one -- West Region, boys. The current state No. 1s for boys are Corona del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.), Loyola (Los Angeles, Caif.), Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), Punahou (Honolulu, Hawaii), St. Paul's (Covington, La.), Northwest Rankin (Flowood, Miss.) and Coppell (Texas). On the girls side, the state No. 1s are Desert Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.), Santa Margarita (Rancho SM, Calif.), St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Pearl City (Hawaii), St. Scholastica (Covington, La.), Brandon (Miss.) and Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas).