Central sits atop the first Blade girls poll

1/15/2001

Don't blink.

That's because the first set of rankings in The Blade's annual girls basketball poll may change just that quickly.

The first set of rankings, determined in a poll of girls basketball coaches from The Blade's 13-county readership area, includes some familiar faces at the top of each division.

The DivisionI poll is led by Central Catholic, which is gunning for its fourth consecutive poll title. The Fighting Irish are now 12-1 on the season and fresh off a pair of victories at the All-Ohio Prep Shootout at Pickerington, Ohio. One of those wins was a 65-55 victory over Rocky River Magnificat, which was ranked second in the initial state poll.

Central garnered 33 points, five more than Findlay and Notre Dame in second place.

Clyde is atop the Division II poll. The Fliers, who were ranked fifth in the state poll last week, are five points ahead of two-time defending poll champ Eastwood in second.

In Division III Patrick Henry earned the top spot with 31 points, six more than Northwest Ohio Athletic League rival Evergreen in second. The Patriots are 10-2 on the season, including a 76-64 win over the Vikings last Thursday; the loss was the first of the season for Evergreen, now 10-1.

The Division IV poll is topped by Ottoville, which was ranked fourth in the first state poll of the year. The Big Green received 33 votes, seven more than 10-1 Gibsonburg in second place.

But there will be several contests this week that will go a long way in shaping next week's poll.

In DivisionI City League powers Notre Dame and Central Catholic will collide on Thursday night at Central. The Eagles are 10-0 and were ranked 11th in the first state poll. Both teams are 5-0 in league play.

Another interesting matchup in Division I comes from the Great Lakes League, where Lorain Admiral King will host Findlay on Thursday. The Admirals were tied with Notre Dame in 11th place in the first DivisionI state poll, while Findlay is 10-1 overall and in first place in the GLL at 7-0.

A top matchup between two schools near the top of their respective divisions will be played tomorrow in the Suburban Lakes League when Eastwood faces.

Eastwood is 9-2 and was ranked 22nd in last week's Division II poll; the Eagles' most-recent loss was a two-pointer to Columbus Bishop Hartley, which was ranked fourth in that poll.

Gibsonburg was ranked sixth in the Division IV state poll last week.

Ottoville has a tough matchup with Pandora-Gilboa this week.

PICKERINGTON, Ohio - Central Catholic made eight of nine free throws in the final quarter to hold off Cincinnati Colerain 66-61 in the All-Ohio Girls Prep Shootout yesterday.

Kelly Helvey scored a game-high 19 points for the Fighting Irish (12-1). Nicole Brown added 17.

Quanita Hailey scored 16 for Colerain (9-3).