STATE CHAMPS! Big Lexi’s Top 20 Team Rankings – Week of February 12th, 2023 – Detroit Renaissance is now #1

STATE CHAMPS! Big Lexi’s Top 20 Team Rankings – Week of February 12th, 2023

Lexi Ayala – Twitter @LexiReyne1523

#1 Detroit Renaissance – Division 1

Previous Ranking: #4

Detroit Renaissance holds onto an undefeated season as they head into league tournament play.  The reason Renaissance takes the #1 spot in my BIG10 is because I had to really get into the nitty-gritty and start going tit for tat. When it comes down to it, Renaissance and West Catholic both collided with Muskegon and East Grand Rapids in the regular season. Renaissance beat Muskegon by 29 while West Catholic won by 14. More importantly, Renaissance beat EGR by 19 while West Catholic got a slim 8-point win. Their last game against Pershing also pushed Renaissance over the 100-point scoring mark for the first time this season winning 107-14.

#2 Grand Rapids West Catholic – Division 2

Previous Ranking: #1

Still undefeated, over the last week, West Catholic got wins over Coopersville 70-24, Spring Lake 65-23 and Allendale 52-12. Grand Rapids West Catholic hasn’t had a really close, competitive game since 12/22 when they got the 61-54 win over Rockford.

#3 West Bloomfield – Division 1

Previous Ranking: #5

West Bloomfield’s has continued onto a 14-game win streak after wins over Clarkston 71-33 and Southfield 80-32.  I believe West Bloomfield is one of the more battle-tested teams in the state with wins over Detroit Edison and the OT 86-83 win over Kenwood, Chicago. I have believed this team would be back at the Breslin since calling their state finals win last year at the Breslin.

#4 Rockford – Division 1

Previous Ranking: #2

Rockford furthered their win streak to 11 games with wins over Jenison 62-35 and East Kentwood 61-49.  East Kentwood got the game within 2 points in the 3^rd quarter, but Grace Lyons came up clutch in the 4^th, getting steals, converting into points and finding Sienna Wolf down low for key buckets to seal the win.  Their only loss on the season is held by Grand Rapids West Catholic, my #1 Ranked team, however, since the race is so close and the season’s end is nearing, teams have to be clicking on all cylinders for all four quarters to stay in the top spots. Rockford allowed East Kentwood to stay in this game when they should’ve closed it out sooner.

 #5 Lake Fenton – Division 2

Previous Ranking: #3

Lake Fenton continue to cruise through competition, though I sometimes wonder if the competition in the conference doesn’t prepare them enough for the state tournament. They had wins over Clio 73-16 and Owosso 82-38 last week.  But they will face the other powerhouse in their conference on Friday in Goodrich. Lake Fenton only won by 6 points the first time they faced each other this season, so I’m interested to see if Goodrich can shock the state by handing Lake Fenton their only loss of the season in a revenge game and shake up the rankings or if the Blue Devils can win in dominating fashion and prove themselves to be one of the best in the state, yet again.

#6 Flint Carman-Ainsworth – Division 1

Previous Ranking: #6

#7 Haslett – Division 1

Previous Ranking: #7

Haslett only has a few league games left and a non-league game against Rockford which I’m really looking forward to, but they’re still hanging onto their undefeated record! Haslett most recently added to their undefeated record with wins against Lansing Catholic High School 59-49 and Williamston 46-36.

 #8 Chelsea – Division 2

Previous Ranking: #8

Chelsea is still undefeated against in-state schools, adding wins against Pinckney, Adrian and Tecumseh 60-47.

#9 Detroit Edison – Division 2

Previous Ranking: #9

DEPSA is the only team in my Big 10 with 3 losses. Of their three losses, only one loss came to an in-state team- West Bloomfield, my #3 ranked team. Since then, Edison had huge wins beating Detroit Mercy 44-42, Catholic Central Grand Rapids 67-46, Cass Tech 59-44 and Arbor Prep 51-35. They’ve been battled tested against great teams recently and come out stronger because of it. I’m most looking forward to their game against Frankenmuth on February 22nd.

Mercy bounced back from their first loss of the season (Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard) beating Marian 50-10.  But then Mercy fell for the 2nd time in 3 games to Edison Academy 44-42, which is why I had to drop Mercy all the way to #10 in my rankings and push DEPSA above Mercy.  Mercy had an iconic game against Divine Child on January 24th, that they won 79-70 in overtime and got the win against Divine Child for the second time this season 60-55 on February 7th.  Mercy shows their bounce-back game is strong after also securing the 61-46 win over Cass Tech.

Remaining Top 20

#11 Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard – Division 2

#12 Temperance Bedford – Division 1

#13 Warren Fitzgerald – Division 2

#14 Byron Center – Division 2

#15 North Farmington – Division 1

#16 Goodrich – Division 2

#17 Buchanan – Division 3

#18 Frankenmuth – Division 2

#19 East Kentwood – Division 1

#20 East Grand Rapids – Division 1