Creekside, Fleming Island join rankings

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The News4JAX Varsity 4 Super 6 boys high school basketball rankings will be published each Wednesday — except during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas — through the regular season. Records are through Jan. 21.

Varsity 4 Super 6 boys basketball rankings

Rank, previous, school, record, classification

1. (1) Jackson (20-1, Class 3A)

Quality wins: Bolles, Creekside, Fleming Island, Florida High, Impact Christian, Gainesville, Lake Highland Prep, Ponte Vedra, Ribault, Rickards, Savannah, Tocoi Creek, University Christian, Williston.

Notable: The Tigers are cooking are cementing the No. 1 spot each week out. Since our last Super 6, Jackson belted once-ranked Ponte Vedra (74-54), edged a quality Florida High (72-67) and beat Riverside (63-44) in the Gateway opener. They’ve got Paxon on Thursday up next. I don’t expect any team to stop Jackson in the Gateway. Jahari Simmons (16 ppg) and David Wilson (12.5 ppg) are leading the Tigers.

2. (2) Impact Christian (15-4, Class 1A)

Quality wins: Columbia, Creekside, Episcopal, Oviedo, Ponte Vedra, Mt. Bethel Christian, Martin County, Nease, Potter’s House, Providence, San Jose Prep, Santa Fe Catholic.

Notable: The Lions are really, really good. They stretched their winning streak to eight games with three quality Ws since our last Super 6. They handed Martin County its first loss (66-51), obliterated our one-time No. 1 team Providence (73-46) and then edged Columbia (57-53). Those are big Ws over schools that are far bigger than Impact. Ronald Clark (16.1 ppg), Jeremiah Jones (12.7 ppg) and Chris Jackson (9.1 ppg) are leading the Lions.

3. (4) Tocoi Creek (18-2, Class 6A)

Quality wins: Bartram Trail, Beachside, Bishop Kenny, Colonial, Episcopal, Fleming Island, NSU University, Raines, Riverside, Westside.

Notable: The Toros bounced back from a loss to St. Augustine with quality Ws over Westside (73-61) and Episcopal (46-41). The win over Episcopal gave head coach Will Wilson his 64th win at Tocoi Creek and 100th of his coaching career. Tocoi has a busy stretch ahead before the district tournament, starting with a Thursday night game at Creekside.

4. (5) University Christian (13-8, Class 2A)

Quality wins: Baldwin (Ga.), Creekside, Davenport, Fleming Island, IMG Academy Gold, Mainland, Nease, Potter’s House, Providence, St. Petersburg, Villages Charter.

Notable: The Christians stacked three easy wins since our last Super 6, beating Davenport (68-54), Potter’s House (53-39) and NFEI (67-50). Those are three teams that are traditionally pretty strong. The towering duo of Augustine Ayelyine and Adalbert Allotey are combining to average 14.5 points and 18.7 rebounds per game. They’ve got Bishop Moore, Ribault, Sandalwood and Impact Christian in their closing stretch before districts begin.

5. (3) Ribault (14-5, Class 4A)

Quality wins: Bishop Snyder, Creekside, First Coast (twice), Fletcher, Gainesville, Lake Howell, Riverside.

Notable: A 2-1 mark since our last Super 6; wins over First Coast (90-80) and Palm Beach Lakes (63-53), and a loss to a quality Viera (59-47). They’ve got Mandarin up next in the Gateway tournament, a team that it lost to earlier this season. A win there and it’s likely No. 1 Jackson in the final. Jamian Jackson (14.8 ppg), Kaden Toure (14.3 ppg) and Kaleb McDuffie (10.4 ppg) lead the Trojans.

T6. (NR) Creekside (13-7, Class 7A)

Quality wins: Bartram Trail, Bishop Kenny, Bolles, Fleming Island, Fletcher, Milton, Paxon, Ponte Vedra, Providence, St. Augustine, St. Joseph.

Notable: The Knights, like UC, can’t be judged solely off the loss column. They’ve won six straight and played one of the area’s most rugged schedules. They’ve got local losses to teams ahead of them in the Super 6 (Jackson, Impact, Ribault, UC) and split with Fleming Island. Nolan Nelson (14.3 ppg) and Derek Rivers (13.3 ppg) are leading the Knights.

T6. (NR) Fleming Island (15-5, Class 5A)

Quality wins: Bradford, Creekside, Davenport, Jackson, Mainland, Oakleaf (twice), Vanguard, Westside.

Notable: The Golden Eagles return to the Super 6 after a week out. They’ve won three straight since a loss to University Christian, including two wins over previously ranked Oakleaf. Last week’s 84-66 win was far more convincing than a double OT game in the first meeting. They’ve got Providence and Wolfson to round out the week. Carson Crawford is averaging 17.9 ppg and may be the area’s top player.

Dropped out

Oakleaf (15-5, Class 6A); St. Augustine (13-4, Class 5A).

Others

Bartram Trail (11-6, Class 6A); Beachside (10-8, Class 5A); Bishop Kenny (12-8, Class 4A); Bishop Snyder (10-10, Class 2A); Bolles (10-10, Class 3A); Bradford (11-3, Class 3A); Columbia (13-8, Class 5A); Eagle’s View (10-4, Class 1A); Episcopal (12-10, Class 3A); Fernandina Beach (13-6, Class 3A); Fletcher (16-5, Class 6A); Hilliard (11-4, Rural); KIPP Bold City (14-5, Class 2A); Mandarin (17-4, Class 6A); Oakleaf (15-5, Class 6A); Paxon (12-6, Class 4A); Ponte Vedra (13-8, Class 5A); Providence (12-9, Class 2A); St. Augustine (13-4, Class 5A); St. Joseph (11-6, Class 2A); Westside (13-10, Class 4A).