Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey Cassadaga Valley’s Aliyah Hopkins attempts to block a shot by Falconer’s Ellyson Baglia during Tuesday’s game. The Cougars were named the No. 8 girls basketball team in Class C by the New York State Sportswriters Association on Thursday.

In each of the past two years, the Frewsburg and Randolph girls basketball teams have represented Section VI well by reaching the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C championships.

Currently, the New York State Sportswriters Association has both teams firmly among the top five schools in the state.

Reaching the state semifinals last year, the Frewsburg girls have been atop the rankings since the first week of this season, while Randolph, the 2023 finalist, has been firmly positioned within the top five all year.

This week’s vote took place prior to No. 5 Randolph’s (6-4) statement victory against No. 1 Frewsburg (8-2), but the two schools are not alone in the top 10 from Section VI as Cassadaga Valley (8-1) joins jumping from No. 8 to No. 12 while picking up a lopsided victory against Falconer.

More intrigue will be thrown into next week’s vote after Cassadaga Valley travels to Randolph for a league contest tonight.

Then, just outside the top 10 is Maple Grove (8-2) moving up a spot to No. 15 even after adding a loss to Sherman last Friday 50-38, but post-vote has picked up a 52-25 win against Silver Creek.

Maple Grove’s second loss comes against another very good team as the Wildcats (10-1) continue to be the No. 4 team in Class D with only one setback this year coming against Cassadaga Valley.

Pine Valley (6-1) flew up seven spots to No. 10 in Class D while only spotting one more win against Forestville 55-41 last Friday.

Southwestern (8-1) also cracked the top 10 in Class B at the final spot moving up one. Since the vote the Trojans have also added a victory over No. 21 Salamanca (5-4) on Tuesday. Section VI also is represented by Akron (9-3) at No. 23 in Class B.

Class AAA is still led by Christ the King (8-3) out of the Catholic High School Athletic Association and Cardinal O’Hara (9-4) jumped seven spots to No. 15 representing Monsignor Martin Athletics in Buffalo.

Section V’s Hilton (8-0) sits atop Class AA, St. Mary’s of Lancaster (10-3) in MMA is No. 8, North Tonawanda (9-1) is No. 9 and West Seneca West (8-1) holds down No. 20.

Dalton (10-0) of the Association of Independent Schools retains its No. 1 position in Class A, while Iroquois (8-1) is No. 11 from Section VI.

BOYS

The area’s top Class C girls teams regularly meet for league competition, but for the top boys teams they will have to wait until nonleague competition on Feb. 1. Until that showdown, Randolph will likely remain No. 1 in the state and Westfield right behind in No. 2.

The Cardinals (9-1), continue to add wins including big triumphs over Frewsburg 82-30 and Cassadaga Valley 74-12 on Thursday.

Westfield has been just as dominant in its league with a 72-57 win over Brocton on Monday and a 67-34 victory against Clymer on Thursday.

Holland (8-4) broke into the rankings at No. 23 this week, while Chautauqua Lake (5-6), Gowanda (7-4) and Global Concepts (6-4) are honorable mentions.

Class D also features a pair of local schools in the top 10 with Panama (7-1) even jumping a spot to No. 2 and undefeated Forestville (9-0) hangs on to No. 9 from a week ago. Section V’s Fillmore (7-1) remains No. 1 from a week ago, while Section X’s Chateaugay (7-1) moved down to No. 4 to make way for Panama and Section XI’s Bridgehampton (10-1) at No. 3.

Salamanca (9-1) has jumped back into the top 10 of Class B at No. 9, while picking up victories over Niagara Wheatfield, Allegany-Limestone, Falconer and Dunkirk since the previous rankings.

Undefeated Akron (10-0) still remains the highest ranked Section VI school in Class B at No. 5, while Section V holds down the top two spots with World of Inquiry (7-0) and Avon (7-1), in respective order.

Allegany-Limestone’s loss to Salamanca dropped the Gators (8-2) seven spots to No. 11, while Eden (8-1) cracked the rankings at No. 22. Both Falconer (7-5) and Fredonia (5-6) are honorable mentions.

Jamestown remains at No. 19 in Class AAA as the top public school in the rankings with Niagara Falls up three spots to No. 25.

The Red & Green (8-1) added two wins between votes, defeating Williamsville North 86-56 and Orchard Park 77-56. Going toward next week Jamestown picked up a 91-53 win over Frontier on Thursday.

The highest local school in Class AAA is still St. Francis (10-2) out of the Catholic High Schools in No. 3 and Archbishop Stepinac (8-3) continues to hold down No. 1.

Another local school in St. Joe’s out of the CHS is No. 2 in Class AA, while Albany Academy of AIS is No. 1 still. Behind St. Joe’s are Canisius at No. 5, Bishop Timon at No. 11, Health Sciences at No. 16 and Lockport at No. 23. McKinley (5-2), Nichols (6-6) and Orchard Park (7-1) are Class AA honorable mentions.

Glens Falls (9-0) still holds down No. 1 in Class A, while Section VI’s Grand Island (9-0) is No. 10, Amherst (10-1) is No. 15 and Williamsville South (7-3) is No. 25. Honorable mentions for Class A are Cheektowaga (7-2) and Lewiston-Porter (7-3) locally.