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Mighty Nine: Uneasy at the top

Well, unless you're the unbeaten Grimsley girls.

On the boys side, Trinity suffered its first loss last Monday at then No. 4 RAgsdale, 58-55, and slipped from the top spot to 4th, behind Ragsdale. Yes, the Tigers have losses to now-unranked Page and No. 9 Andrews, but when in doubt, I look at head-to-head results. For now, that puts RAgsdale at No. 3 behind Greensboro Day and Dudley, which have returned to the top two spots. Hard to see those two losing again in the regular season, though Dudley (10-2) still must face Northeast Guilford (9-5) at least twice, including Tuesday night at home. Ragsdale still has to visit Trinity (Feb. 1), which should be warmly greeted this Thursday at Asheboro after Blue Comet fans apparently took offense at coach Tim Kelly's crack about their team's late-game effort in a holiday tournament.

Here's the boys Mighty Nine for this week:

BOYS School / Record / LW* 1. Greensboro Day / 19-2 / 2 LW: Def. Durham Academy 63-43 2. Dudley / 10-2 / 3 LW: Def. Morehead 58-44, def. Northern Guilford 64-50 3. Ragsdale / 14-2 / 4 LW: Def. Trinity 58-55, def. Randleman 77-33 4. Trinity / 14-1 / 1 LW: Lost to Ragsdale 58-55 5. Graham / 12-0 / 5 LW: Def. Science & Math 107-33, def. E. Alamance 97-66, def. Northwood 73-52 6. Grimsley / 12-3 / 7 LW: Def. HP Central 62-52, def. East Forsyth 55-47 7. Thomasville / 8-1 / 9 LW: Def. West Montgomery 71-47, def. Jordan-Matthews 83-75 8. Cummings / 9-2 / NR LW: Def. Science & Math 93-51, def. Williams 72-60 9. Andrews / 9-3 / 6 LW: Lost to Glenn 62-54

Dropped out: Williams (9).

Notice Graham and Cummings are both feasting on a suspect Mid-State 1-A/2-A Conference. Graham has a close win over the Cavaliers, who just bumped Williams out of the poll with a 72-60 verdict Saturday. To be fair, Northwood has done OK this season, but the Chargers did just have it handed to them by Graham, 73-53, on Friday. They play Cummings on Tuesday night.

With Page struggling since Christmas, Grimsley seems to have become the clear front-runner in the Metro 4-A.

Which leads us to the girls poll. Page and Grimsley tangle Friday. Both have played very well since the Little Four, as has Northwest Guilford, which remains No. 2 in the Mighty Nine behind the Whirlies. Here's the latest poll:

GIRLS School / Record / LW* 1. Grimsley / 16-0 / 1 LW: Def. HP Central 62-33, def. Dudley 54-35, def. East Forsyth 60-34 2. Northwest Guilford / 15-1 / 2 LW: Def. Smith 55-34, def. HP Central 61-43 3. Bishop McGuinness / 12-3 / 3 LW: Def. North Stokes 58-15, def. East Wilkes 60-47 4. Ragsdale / 13-2 / 4 LW: Def. Trinity 65-31, def. Randleman 64-40 5. Page / 12-2 / 5 LW: Def. East Forsyth 56-27, def. Smith 44-38. 6. Graham / 12-0 / 6 LW: Def. Eastern Alamance 75-56, def. Northwood 78-24 7. Rockingham County / 14-1 / 7 LW: Def. Northern Guilford 71-38, def. Western Guilford 63-32 8. Southeast Guilford / 13-4 / 8 LW: Def. Asheboro 65-24, def. SW Randolph 63-41 9. East Davidson / 13-2 / 9 LW: Def. North Rowan 72-32, def. Central Davidson 57-15

Dropped out: None.

*-- Last week’s ranking

Two dangerous teams are lurking just outside the poll: Glenn (11-2) and Dudley (8-4), whick knocked off Rockingham County on the road but came back to earth a bit with the loss Thursday to Grimsley. Honestly, an unbeaten season would not be a stretch for Trumae Lucas and the Whirlies. Deep, athletic and senior-loaded, they're not prone to significant letdowns.

As always, any comments or complaints about my very unscientific rankings are welcome.

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