Logan's Natalie Blankenship (1) puts up a shot as Halle Crouse (12) watches in the background during the Lady Wildcats regional final victory over Ripley on March 1 (Boothe Davis/Captured by the Moment Photography).
Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
CHARLESTON Defending Class AAA champion Logan is ranked second in The Associated Press high school girls basketball preseason poll, released Monday afternoon.
Logan was one of three Class AAA schools to receive first-place votes. The Lady Wildcats and last season’s runner-up Fairmont Senior each had one first-place vote while North Marion received eight first-place votes and was tabbed as the preseason No. 1 in Class AAA.
Logan is one of three defending state champions that was picked second in its respective class joining Class AAAA champion Huntington and Class AA champion Parkersburg Catholic.
Morgantown earned three first-place votes and was No. 1 in Class AAAA while Wyoming East received seven first-place votes to take the top spot in Class AA.
Defending Class A champion Cameron tops West Virginia’s small school division.
Chapmanville is ranked seventh in the preseason Class AA poll. The Lady Tigers and Lady Falcons of Frankfort share the seventh spot with a total of 38 points.
The official start of the high school basketball season is Tuesday, but Chapmanville will open the season at home Thursday against Herbert Hoover.
Both Chapmanville and Logan will be in action Saturday as they both host games in the Big 10 vs. Cardinal Conference Challenge. In two of five matchups pitting ranked teams against one another, Chapmanville will host AAA No. 8 Fairmont Senior while Logan opens its defense of their 2022 state championship when they host No. 9 East Fairmont.
Other ranked matchups include No. 1 North Marion at No. 5 Wayne, co-No. 3 Philip Barbour at No. 6 Ripley and co-No. 3 Robert C. Byrd at No. 7 Nitro.
The rest of the schedule has Elkins at Scott, Grafton at Poca, Lewis County at Sissonville, Liberty (Harrison) at Herbert Hoover and Lincoln at Winfield.
CLASS AAAA
Morgantown, who lost to Huntington 41-36 in last years Class AAAA championship, earned 87 points and three first-place votes to earn the top spot. Huntington, which had four first-place votes, is second with 78 points. Wheeling Park is third with 74 points and one first-place vote. Cabell Midland is fourth with 66 points and George Washington, who earned one first-place vote, is fifth with 41 points.
Parkersburg and Woodrow Wilson are tied for sixth with 35 points followed by Buckhannon-Upshur with 28, Jefferson with 18 and Spring Mills with 16 to round out the top 10.
CLASS AAA
North Marion, who lost to Logan in last year’s Class AAA semifinals, is No. 1 with eight first-place votes and 97 points. The Lady Huskies, who return player of the year candidate Olivia Toland, were a popular pick among a statewide panel of 10 media members.
The Lady Huskies were 19 points better than Logan, which received one first-place vote. Philip Barbour and Robert C. Byrd were tied for third with 50 points while Wayne rounded out the top five with 48 points.
Ripley checks in at No. 6 with 46 points. The Lady Vikings are one point ahead of 2021 Class AAA champion Nitro, who is ranked seventh with 45 points. Fairmont Senior had one first-place vote and is No. 8 with 30 points. East Fairmont is ninth with 28 points and PikeView No. 10 with 16 points.
CLASS AA
Wyoming East earned seven of 10 first-place votes to outdistance defending champion Parkersburg Catholic for the top spot in Class AA.
The Lady Warriors earned 97 points, which is 18 more than the Crusaderettes, who have 79 points and two first-place votes. St. Marys is third with 66 points while Petersburg with 51 points and one first-place vote is fourth and Summers County fifth with 49 points.
Mingo Central headlines the second 10, checking in at No. 6 with 45 points. Chapmanville and Frankfort are tied for seventh with 38 points each while Ritchie County is ninth with 33 points and Trinity rounding out the top 10 with 22 points.
CLASS A
Cameron is the top ranked team in Class A to start the season. Seven of 10 media members had the Lady Dragons at the top of their ballots.
Cameron, who is looking to become the first ever public school to repeat as Class A champion, had 97 points and is 32 points better than No. 2 Tucker County, who had 65 points. Doddridge County sits third with 63 points while Gilmer County, last year’s runner-up earned two first-place votes, and is fourth with 61 points and Tolsia fifth with 50 points.
Webster County checks in at No. 6 with 49 points, Tug Valley seventh with 33 points, Calhoun County is eighth with 32 points, James Monroe ninth with 30 points and Huntington St. Joe’s, who picked up one first-place vote, is 10th with 17 points.
AP GIRLS BASKETBALL POLL
The Associated Press high school girls preseason basketball poll with first-place votes in parentheses and total points:
CLASS AAAA
RANK | TEAM | POINTS |
1 | Morgantown (3) | 87 |
2 | Huntington (4) | 78 |
3 | Wheeling Park (1) | 74 |
4 | Cabell Midland | 66 |
5 | George Washington (1) | 41 |
6 | Parkersburg | 35 |
(TIE) | Woodrow Wilson | 35 |
8 | Buckhannon-Upshur | 28 |
9 | Jefferson | 18 |
10 | Spring Mills | 16 |
Others receiving votes: Capital 15, University 13, Parkersburg South 12, South Charleston 9, Spring Valley 7, Greenbrier East 7, Princeton 4, Bridgeport 2, John Marshall 2, Brooke 1.
CLASS AAA
RANK | TEAM | POINTS |
1 | North Marion (8) | 97 |
2 | LOGAN (1) | 78 |
3 | Philip Barbour | 50 |
(TIE) | Robert C. Byrd | 50 |
5 | Wayne | 48 |
6 | Ripley | 46 |
7 | Nitro | 45 |
8 | Fairmont Senior (1) | 30 |
9 | East Fairmont | 28 |
10 | PikeView | 16 |
Others receiving votes: Keyser 13, Winfield 12, Oak Glen 6, Sissonville 6, Weir 5, Shady Spring 4, Midland Trail 2, Lewis County 1.
CLASS AA
RANK | TEAM | POINTS |
1 | Wyoming East (7) | 97 |
2 | Parkersburg Catholic (2) | 79 |
3 | St. Marys | 66 |
4 | Petersburg (1) | 51 |
5 | Summers County | 49 |
6 | Mingo Central | 45 |
7 | CHAPMANVILLE | 38 |
(TIE) | Frankfort | 38 |
9 | Ritchie County | 33 |
10 | Trinity | 22 |
Others receiving votes: Charleston Catholic 12, Wheeling Central 10, Magnolia 7, Ravenswood 5, Bluefield 3, Buffalo 2, Liberty (Raleigh) 1, Poca 1, Williamstown 1.
CLASS A
RANK | TEAM | POINTS |
1 | Cameron (7) | 97 |
2 | Tucker County | 65 |
3 | Doddridge County | 63 |
4 | Gilmer County (2) | 61 |
5 | Tolsia | 50 |
6 | Webster County | 49 |
7 | Tug Valley | 33 |
8 | Calhoun County | 31 |
9 | James Monroe | 30 |
10 | Huntington St. Joe's (1) | 17 |
Others receiving votes: River View 15, Pendleton County 9, Greater Beckley Christian 8, Union 7, Clay-Battelle 6, Madonna 5, Greenbrier West 4.