Panama is now No. 1.

The Panthers moved into the top Class D spot in the New York State Sportswriters Association’s boys basketball rankings this week after former No. 1 Fillmore of Section V lost to Class B Wellsville 70-58 last Monday.

Panama did some work of its own to find its way into the top spot, scoring 97 points in back-to-back wins against Brocton and Gowanda before also beating Clymer. The Panthers, who beat Sherman on Tuesday of this week and Falconer on Thursday, will travel to Frewsburg on Saturday.

Forestville remained an honorable-mention selection in Class D with wins over West Valley and Pine Valley last week. The Hornets will host Cassadaga Valley tonight.

Sherman is a new honorable mention in Class D after beating Clymer last week. The Wildcats lost to Panama on Tuesday of this week.

Salamanca moved up a spot to No. 2 in the Class B rankings with wins over Depew and No. 15 Allegany-Limestone last week, but that jump may be short-lived as the Warriors lost to Falconer on Tuesday of this week. Salamanca will host Cleveland Hill tonight.

Fredonia moved down a spot to No. 23 with a loss at Olean and a win at Dunkirk last week. The Hillbillies also suffered a loss to Southwestern on Monday of this week and will host Allegany-Limestone tonight.

Falconer remained honorable mention with a loss to Allegany-Limestone last week. The Golden Falcons beat Salamanca on Tuesday of this week and lost to Panama on Thursday to close out their regular season.

Westfield remained No. 6 and Randolph remained No. 7 in Class C. The Wolverines beat Maple Grove and Chautauqua Lake last week before topping Brocton on Tuesday of this week. The Cardinals beat Frewsburg and Cassadaga Valley last week before beating Gowanda on Tuesday of this week and Hamburg on Thursday.

Chautauqua Lake remained an honorable-mention selection after beating Brocton and losing to Westfield last week. The Eagles then beat Pine Valley on Thursday of this week.

Jamestown moved up three spots to No. 23 in Class AAA after beating Lancaster and Park School last week. The Red & Green, who topped Frontier on Wednesday of this week, will host Rush-Henrietta tonight.

Other Western New York teams in the rankings include: No. 22 Niagara Falls in Class AAA; No. 2 St. Joe’s, No. 4 Canisius, No. 22 Timon-St. Jude, No. 22 Health Sciences, and honorable mentions Lockport, McKinley and Orchard Park in Class AA; No. 12 Williamsville South, No. 17 Amherst, No. 18 Grand Island, and honorable mentions Cheektowaga, Iroquois and Olean in Class A; No. 7 Akron and honorable mentions MST Seneca, Olmsted and Wilson in Class B; and honorable mentions Franklinville and Holland in Class C.

Top-ranked teams in the state include: Archbishop Stepniac of New York City’s Catholic High Schools in Class AAA, Albany Academy of the Association of Independent Schools in Class AA, Glens Falls of Section II in Class A, Section V’s World of Inquiry in Class B and Berne-Knox-Westerlo of Section II in Class C.

GIRLS

Frewsburg is now the top-ranked local girls team, as the Bears have moved back up to No. 3 in the Class C rankings.

Head coach Sierra Beaver’s team beat rival Randolph 49-47 last Monday and Portville on Thursday. Frewsburg travels to Class AAA No. 23 Lancaster for a nonleague contest tonight.

Randolph dropped to No. 6 in Class C after losing to the Bears and Class AAA No. 20 Cardinal O’Hara last week. The Cardinals, who have already beaten Gowanda and Cassadaga Valley this week, lost to Class AA No. 19 Nichols on Thursday night.

Cassadaga Valley remained No. 13 in Class C after beating Falconer last Monday. The Cougars, who lost to Randolph on Wednesday and beat Clymer on Thursday, will travel to Panama on Saturday.

Ellicottville and Maple Grove moved into the Class C rankings, which expanded from 25 teams to 30 this week.

The Eagles are No. 27 after beating Franklinville, North Collins and Cattaraugus-Little Valley last week. On Thursday night, Salamanca handed Ellicottville a loss.

Maple Grove is No. 30 after beating Chautauqua Lake and losing to Sherman last week. This Monday, the Red Dragons beat Silver Creek.

In Class D, Sherman remained No. 4 after beating Clymer and Maple Grove last week. The Wildcats topped Brocton on Monday and closed out their regular season with a victory over Southwestern on Thursday night.

Pine Valley moved up a spot to No. 11 after beating Fredonia and Forestville last week. The Panthers, who topped West Valley on Monday and Tuesday of this week, will host Brocton tonight and Dunkirk on Saturday.

Panama moved into the Class D rankings at No. 21 after beating Silver Creek and Westfield last week. The Panthers, who topped Clymer on Monday of this week, will host Fredonia tonight and Cassadaga Valley on Saturday.

Southwestern moved up three spots to No. 10 in the Class B rankings after beating Salamanca and Allegany-Limestone last week. The Trojans then beat Fredonia on Tuesday of this week and lost to Sherman on Thursday.

Salamanca moved down three spots to No 26 after losing to Southwestern and beating Dunkirk last week. The Warriors topped Allegany-Limestone in overtime on Monday of this week and beat Ellicottville on Thursday.

Other Western New York teams in the rankings include: No. 11 St. Mary’s, No. 16 Starpoint, No. 25 West Seneca West, No. 27 Kenmore West and No. 29 North Tonawanda in Class AA; No. 29 Iroquois in Class A; and No. 27 Akron in Class B.

Top-ranked teams in the state include: Christ the King of the Catholic High School Athletic Association in Class AAA, Hilton of Section V in Class AA, Dalton of the Association of Independent Schools in Class A, Cold Spring Harbor of Section VIII in Class B, Greenwich of Section II in Class C and Elba of Section V in Class D.