Gramp's Braggin' Rights 2023-2024 Missouri Boy's Basketball Ratings - Class One

Updated March 12th, 2024

The Chadwick girls teams had to travel 240 miles to play their first-round game in Delta, Missouri and lost by five to eventual third-place Delta team.  The Chadwick boys got to stay home and take on South Iron in their home gym, coming away with a six point win over the Panthers.

That discrepancy in travel for the first round of the class one tournament might have been the difference between Chadwick bringing home both the girl's and boys state titles.  The 3-and-a-half-hour trip to Delta makes little sense but then, neither did South Iron traveling all the way to Chadwick, a 3-hour, 175-mile trip.

Chadwick was in the hunt all season, with Green City, South Iron, and Platte Valley and they won when it counted.  Not bad for a town of 460 people and a school of 123 students, 7-12th grade.  

Hats off to the Chadwick Cardinals.  Maybe both boys and girls will win out next year?

Updated 2/25/2024

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• District 1: Cooter, Clarkton, Delta Deering and Gideon - flip a coin. 5-6. Clark ton “upset” Cooter
• District 2: Risco and Richland Essex will duke it out 5/6  Richland edged favored Risco
• District 3: Defending state champ South Iron should prevail over Bunker. 5/6 South Iron convincingly
• District 4: Chadwick slight favorite in a strong district with Niangua, Eminence and Couch. 4/5 Chadwick convincingly too
• District 5: Walnut Grove should edge out Billings and School of the Ozarks. 5/6. Billings upends The Grove
• District 6: Halfway, Lockwood and Dadeville will fight it out.  4/6. Dadeville rises to occasion 
• District 7: St. Elizabeth, Wheaton and Calvary Lutheran are co-favorites. 5/6. St Elizabeth rocks
• District 8:  Hume may have problems with Bronaugh and Sheldon 5/7. Sheldon proves out

• District 9: Sacred Heart should have their way with Leeton and Pilot Grove 6/6 Sacred Heart prevails
• District 10: Higbee is a slight favorite over Prairie Home and Chamois 3/6 Prairie Home wins upset minded district 
• District 11: Green City prevails over a very good Atlanta squad. 4/5. Green City beats upset minded Marion County
• District 12: Brunswick over Meadville in the final 5/6. Brunswick licks upstart Hale
• District 13: Braymer should have no problem with Northland Christian and Hardin-Central 6/6 Braymer all the way
• District 14: Grundy County is favored over North Harris and Mercer. 6/6 Grundy County
• District 15: South Holt is a slight favorite and should beat Pattonsburg
• District 16:  Platte Valley should get by Worth County easily
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Update February 10th, 2024

Class One Boys District basketball playoffs are just around the corner.  In fact, some districts have even seeded their tournaments already.  Some might have peaked at Gramp's Braggin' Rights ratings and it appears that some haven't a clue about these posts.

Let's talk about who is on top and then I will get into district playoffs below.

It is crammed at the top of class one with Green City, Platte Valley, Chadwick, and South Iron rated within a point or two of each other.  With the state tournament brackets set up with districts 1-4 and 9-12 in the upper bracket and districts 5-8 and 13-16 in the bottom bracket, there will be three of the top four teams in the upper bracket and only Platte Valley in the lower bracket. 

Chadwick and South Iron will face off in a first-round tournament game (assuming they win their district titles; Chadwick will have to get by Niangua).  The winner of that game will most likely face Green City in the top-bracket semi-final.

In the lower bracket, Platte Valley should have clear sailing, probably playing Grundy in a quarterfinal and Halfway or St. Elizabeth in the semi-final game, as a 20-point favorite in both.

I will update the state tournament outlook after district finals.  Will South Iron have enough to four-peat or will we have a new class one state champ?

In district play, the winners look like this:

• District 1: Cooter, Clarkton, Delta Deering and Gideon - flip a coin
• District 2: Risco and Richland Essex will duke it out
• District 3: Defending state champ South Iron should prevail over Bunker
• District 4: Chadwick slight favorite in a strong district with Niangua, Eminence and Couch
• District 5: Walnut Grove should edge out Billings and School of the Ozarks
• District 6: Halfway, Lockwood and Dadeville will fight it out.
• District 7: St. Elizabeth, Wheaton and Calvary Lutheran are co-favorites
• District 8:  Hume may have problems with Bronaugh and Sheldon

• District 9: Sacred Heart should have their way with Leeton and Pilot Grove
• District 10: Higbee is a slight favorite over Prairie Home and Chamois
• District 11: Green City prevails over a very good Atlanta squad
• District 12: Brunswick over Meadville in the final
• District 13: Braymer should have no problem with Northland Christian and Hardin-Central
• District 14: Grundy County is favored over North Harris and Mercer
• District 15: South Holt is a slight favorite and should beat Pattonsburg
• District 16:  Platte Valley should get by Worth County easily

Districts 4 and 11 are the strongest with a rating near or at 100.  Districts 8, 1, 12 and 13 are the weakest with a team rating average below 80.

 Updated Class One Boys January 23, 2024

I am actually sitting here, unmolested, as I type these lines.  Yes, the little black kitten I talked about on January 1st, is settling down a little bit and, while he sleeps on his perch, I am posting some Class One Missouri boys basketball ratings.  

I am not the only one who has a problem with cats.  Earl Austin, Jr, the esteemed Prep Hoops Missouri writer and talent evaluator extraordinaire, has a cat named Godfrey who will pop up on his shoulder on top of the laptop while he is focused on evaluating an individual or another team.  

Earl has basketball in his blood, nephew of NBA HOF Wes Unseld, playing at McCluer North and Lindenwood University (all-time leading scorer and rebounder), working for Prep Hoops, and traveling the state evaluating talent. He somehow finds time to announce his 33rd year of Saint Louis Billikens men's and second year of Lindenwood U's basketball games on top of all that. 

Earl is also a contributing writer to the St. Louis American newspaper and has three devices (desktop, laptop and iPad) set up to watch hundreds of high school games around the state.  His springs and summers are just as busy with AAU basketball.  I really don't know how the man gets around to so many places and continues to share his expertise and knowledge on basketball, wherever he goes.  

        Earl and his buddy, Godfrey                                  My new ratings assistant, Raven

I can't hold the man's lunch pail or even be mentioned in the same breath.  I do the basketball ratings but I know very little about the game of basketball.  Yeah, I coached my son's middle school teams in the Parkway league and helped a little with the grandsons, but I was a runner in high school and college and a marathon runner in my "adult" years, as Grama would say.  

They say that you are an expert in something if you know ten percent more than anyone else in the room.  Well, it would have to be a room full of little geriatric, silver-haired ladies, for me to be called a basketball expert.  I do know a little about statistics, something I did during my 50-year career in Research & Development in the food industry.

Today was a statistical first for me.  I have three Class One boys teams rated at #1.  South Iron, Platte Valley and Green City ALL have the identical rating.  I have never seen this before and I may not see it again.  Not to far behind these three great teams is Chadwick and then it drops off about ten rating points to the rest.  

What does this mean come state tournament time?  Well, Districts 1-4 and 9-12 are in the top bracket and Districts 5-8 and 12-16 are in the lower bracket.  That means that South Iron and Chadwick might face each other in the first round of the state tournament and then that winner might be going up against Green City in a semi-final game.  In fact, nine of Gramp's top ten teams are in the upper tournament bracket.

In the lower bracket, Platte Valley might have an easier road to the final than the upper bracket semi-finalist with teams in the 10-20 rating spots making the lower bracket.  However unfair it might seem; you have to win them all to claim a state title and hopefully two of the top four teams will be playing in that final.

One final thought.  I hope some of the teams that have struggled all year, find some success in the next month.  

Those Everton Tigers are 0-14 but there is hope.  They are playing Hurley on February 9th, and they have a shot at a win at home.  

Miami Amoret (0-10) plays Ballard on February 8th.  Circle the date.  

North Pemiscot (0-9).  You need to schedule Zalma.  

Keep your chins up, guys.  There is a win out there if you just keep on working.

Continued success to all the class one teams. 

Class One Boys update 01/01/2024

I am sitting in front of the laptop, with the new kitty purring on my lap, trying to think of some New Year's Resolutions I might keep.  The kitty is not interested in my thoughts or attempts at pecking at the keyboard. He just wants to be petted, including turning over on his back and expecting a major tummy rub.  

This response is remarkable, considering that just one month ago, he was one of two feral kittens that I trapped from under my daughter's porch that were totally wild and unapproachable.  Now, he lays out on his back with his front and back legs extended and nudges me until I give him that tummy rub.

This little black kitten has stolen our hearts and become a lovey-dovey stinker.  He's good for me.  He lowers my blood pressure and helps me unwind.  He might even help me take some New Year's resolutions more seriously than in previous years.  

Let's see.  Lose some weight.  Roll with the punches.  Pay more attention to Grama.  Break my age in golf. Yep.  Those might be good resolutions.  Oh, and give the kitty morning tummy rubs.

How about you?  Got any NY resolutions?

I watched several basketball games over the holiday week and observed some interesting situations.  

One that impressed me was watching the Webster Grove bench and coach Justin Mathes, working his magic with a "lunch-pail" team of promise.  When I say "lunch-pail" team, I mean they come to the court with the right attitude, check the egos at the door, work hard, and play as a team.  After I complimented his team's work ethic and positive attitude in a DM, Mathes said "Got a long way to go but like this group. There are few things scarier as a coach than the first game after Christmas, never quite know what you’re going to get." Well, what coach Mathes got was a Coaches vs Cancer tournament title, their third in the last five years.

After watching the Statesmen carry themselves with such class, I watched some other games with a totally different reaction.  I don't know what some players are thinking?  Your conduct on the court is so much more visible today with social media, video and it is difficult to hide behavioral issues.

I was glad to see the Statemen win out at the Coaches vs. Cancer at Maryville University.  They can be proud of their on-court performance and their on-court behavior.

I know what my New Year's resolutions are.  I know that Coach Mathes wants his Webster Groves kids to keep on improving and playing team ball. 

Do you think some of these other kids or teams are going to make any New Year's resolutions?  

I sure hope so.

The class one Missouri boys are heating up with some serious challengers to two-time defending state champion, South Iron.  The Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) still has them ranked first, but I rate Platte Valley and Green City ahead of the Panthers right now.  I have listed the MBCA rankings to the far left of my statistical ratings.

I also have Atlanta, also in Green City's District 11, as my number 4 team, where the MBCA has totally neglected them.  Bunker at #9 and Marion County, another district 11 team at #11, and Eminence at #12, on my ratings, have also been overlooked.

Richland (Essex), Oak Ridge, Halfway, and Worth County are also teams the MBCA should consider as honorable mention teams.

I am not sure where the MBCA figures Hardin-Central to be a top-10 team when their statistical rating puts them at #55 in Gramps Braggin' Rights.  Sorry, Bulldogs, but hey, take what you can get.  If the MBCA thinks you are that good, just ignore this old man and his new kitty.

Happy New Year.

Gramp's Braggin' Rights 2023-2024 Missouri Boy's Basketball Ratings - Class One (12/09/2023)

Sometimes, these class rankings are a broken record.  The same teams are on top of the rankings, year in, and year out.  

That is the case in class one boys with South Iron (2023 state champ) on top, Green City, Platte Valley (3rd place), Grundy County, and Chadwick breathing down the Panther's neck.  St. Elizabeth, last year's runner-up is down at #14 but I am sure they will be back in the top ten soon, when more games have populated the ratings model.

There is a reason South Iron currently has nine graduates playing at the college level.  Coach Dusty Dinkins has developed a sound feeder program that has these kids playing together from first grade to high school.  They develop sound skills early and the Panther's consistent track record in the last 15 years is proven out with an average of 24 wins and thirteen 20+ win seasons out of those fifteen.  

Teams that want to succeed in small towns must develop a culture that permeates the community.  Every kid in town wants to play and it takes almost every kid in town to make a team of fifteen kids.  South Iron has 153 students in grades 7-12 which means that you have about 75 boys and 75 girls in six grades and maybe 35 or 40 that could try out for a freshman, JV, and varsity basketball team.  Sounds like that is almost the whole dang class of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior class!

Hats off to all those class-one schools that continue their basketball tradition and success!

Here are Gramp's very early season class one boys ratings.  Be patient, I don't have a lot of games to rank some teams.