By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

The latest ASWA boys’ basketball rankings were released on Wednesday night and some big changes came for a few teams across the county. This week, one less county team was ranked as only four cracked into their respective top 10 as another three received nominations, but where some of the teams are ranked is the most impressive part.

First off, we will start in Class 6A and more specifically, Area 8. Last week we saw all three teams from the challenging area ranked in the top 10. This week, Chelsea (15-7, 0-2) fell out of the rankings to a nomination spot after falling to the other two in back-to-back games.

Helena (20-5, 1-1) and Pelham (14-8, 2-0) vaulted forward, however, to take over the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the rankings. Pelham beat Helena, Chelsea and Pelham in a three game stretch to grab that well-deserved No. 1 ranking.

Helena did fall to Pelham by six on Jan. 10, but rebounded with a win over Class 4A No. 1 Cordova on Jan. 14 and followed that up with a win over then No. 10 Chelsea 43-40 on the road. The Huskies jumped four spots from No. 6 to No. 2, while Pelham moved up from No. 3 to No. 1 after their impressive week. Oh, and they play tomorrow night at Pelham in a huge 1 vs. 2 rivalry matchup at Pelham High School.

Another huge leap in this weeks’ rankings came in 7A from the Spain Park Jaguars. The Jags (9-11, 3-0) had an incredibly slow start to the season after playing some of the best teams from across the state and around the southeast, but have really come on strong as of late. They have now won three consecutive games, all in area play. More impressively they took down No. 3 Huffman and No. 1 Mountain Brook, which included ending the Spartans 38-game home win streak, in that stretch and now sit as the area favorites in probably the toughest 7A division in the state.

The impressive week by the Jaguars was good enough to propel them back into the top 10 since week two rankings way back in early December. They came in right on the number at No. 10, but can continue to impress and move up with three more area games in the next week.

Montevallo also impressed in this week’s rankings, matching their highest spot of the season as they came in at No. 3 in Class 3A. The Bulldogs are now 13-4 overall and 3-0 in area play after winning three consecutive games. They are now the clear favorite to win Class 3A Area 5 after beating each of the teams once now.

Other teams that received nominations besides Chelsea were Vincent (15-8, 2-0, who has now won three in a row and with a good week this week they should jump back into the top 10; and Calera (14-7, 4-1), who fell out of the rankings after a loss to Dallas County.

The rest of the rankings are below:

CLASS 7A
1. Lee-Montgomery (21-1)
2. Hoover (20-4)
3. Mountain Brook (20-3)
4. Auburn (16-6)
5. Huffman (16-5)
6. Smiths Station (17-4)
7. McGill-Toolen (17-6)
8. Central-Phenix City (13-4)
9. Murphy (16-8)
10. Spain Park (9-11)
Others nominated: Grissom (14-10), Jeff Davis (16-7), Sparkman (11-10).

CLASS 6A
1. Pelham (14-8)
2. Helena (20-5)
3. Austin (22-2)
4. Daphne (21-2)
5. Spanish Fort (16-6)
6. Clay-Chalkville (18-3)
7. LeFlore (21-3)
8. Carver-Montgomery (12-6)
9. Ramsay (13-9)
10. Hazel Green (14-8)
Others nominated: Chelsea (15-8), Florence (17-3), Fort Payne (15-6), Muscle Shoals (11-7).

CLASS 5A
1. Jemison-Huntsville (21-4)
2. Sumter Central (16-3)
3. Wilcox Central (17-4)
4. Lee-Huntsville (13-10)
5. Guntersville (19-3)
6. Faith-Mobile (14-7)
7. Eufaula (18-5)
8. Dallas Co. (12-4)
9. Douglas (13-6)
10. Alexandria (14-7)
Others nominated: Calera (14-7), Hayden (14-3), Headland (15-6), Russellville (12-4).

CLASS 4A
1. Madison Academy (14-5)
2. Cordova (15-4)
3. Cherokee Co. (13-4)
4. Hale Co. (16-4)
5. West Limestone (15-5)
6. Andalusia (17-3)
7. Anniston (12-7)
8. Winfield (14-6)
9. UMS-Wright (15-4)
10. White Plains (16-5)
Others nominated: Ashford (14-6), Catholic-Montgomery (12-8), Escambia Co. (11-5), Saks (11-6), Trinity (13-2).

CLASS 3A
1. Midfield (16-5)
2. Holly Pond (22-1)
3. Montevallo (13-4)
4. Plainview (19-2)
5. Prattville Christian (17-3)
6. Daleville (11-4)
7. American Christian (15-6)
8. Geraldine (15-5)
9. New Hope (15-6)
10. East Lawrence (17-5)
Others nominated: Clarke Co. (14-6), Mobile Christian (13-8).

CLASS 2A
1. R.C. Hatch (13-1)
2. Abbeville (16-6)
3. Lanett (8-5)
4. Tanner (12-5)
5. Asbury (16-4)
6. Barbour Co. (13-5)
7. Elba (8-2)
8. Central-Hayneville (11-3)
9. Westbrook Christian (16-6)
10. Chickasaw (13-3)
Others nominated: Cleveland (12-7), Collinsville (14-6), Goshen (12-5), Samson (13-7), Sheffield (11-7), St. Luke’s (14-6), Vincent (15-8).

CLASS 1A
1. Sacred Heart (17-7)
2. Georgiana (15-2)
3. Coosa Christian (13-2)
4. Skyline (15-3)
5. Ellwood (9-5)
6. Pleasant Home (13-7)
7. Cedar Bluff (10-9)
8. Linden (11-8)
9. Spring Garden (9-7)
10. South Lamar (14-3)
Others nominated: Belgreen (10-4), Holy Spirit (10-7).

AISA
1. Macon-East (26-0)
2. Glenwood (18-2)
3. Autauga Academy (17-2)
4. Escambia Academy (14-1)
5. Lee-Scott (16-5)
6. East Memorial (17-3)
7. Russell Christian (Miss.) (19-3)
8. Tuscaloosa Academy (14-3)
9. Pickens Academy (12-1)
10. Evangel Christian (11-8)
Others nominated: Lakeside (12-9), Northside Methodist (9-5).