Gramps Braggin Rights Missouri Boys Class One Final Ratings 3/13/2022

 Updated 3/24/2022

Man, O, Man.  How about those Panthers of Annapolis, Missouri!

I have nev/er seen a half like the first half of the South Iron and Stanberry Class One state championship game last night.  In what seemed like a close game early in the second quarter, the Panthers, behind Drenin Dinkins, exploded with 21 points to build a 20-14 game into a 41-20 route by half.  Dinkins, was on fire, hitting shots from 25 feet and driving into the lane for acrobatic floaters or dipsy-do layups.  It was literally the hot knife slicing through butter analogy.  Dinkins finished the first half with 29 of those 41 points, the second-most by a player in MSHSAA basketball history for one half.

What was so remarkable to me was not the amazing Dinkins, but the versatility and interchangeable parts of the rest of the Panther squad.  Giving away more than a few inches in height, the Panthers didn't seem to miss a beat with the four or five substitutes that moved seamlessly, in and out of their line-up.  You could tell that South Iron is well-coached by Drenin's father, Dusty Dinkins.  While South Iron will miss Drenin, it appears like the Panthers have plenty of polished players coming back to backfill the graduating seniors.  

There weren't many class one teams that could compete with the Panthers.  Bunker gave them a scare in the district final, losing by seven, but Bunker had lost by 24 to the Panthers in early January.  The rest of the class one opponents seemed a little lost against South Iron's trapping defense and the sharpshooters they tried to defend.  The four losses the Panthers did have were to higher classification Missouri and Illinois teams.

So here's to the Panthers for another state title and here are my final class one ratings.  While Stanberry was in the final, I rated Chadwick slightly better, mainly on their solid season and keeping their first-round game with the Panthers to just a 13 point loss, something Panther opponents could not do the rest of the tournament.

In the latter half of this season, I put a lot of time in the top 20 teams so I feel pretty good about their placement.  Beyond the top 20, there may be some contention, but you can argue amongst yourselves.  I won't be going back and re-examining the bottom 88 teams.  You can figure out your own rating by adding or subtracting your margin of victory or defeat from your opponent's rating.  Getting nearly 90% of the post-season winners correctly, based on published ratings, I am pretty confident in the final ratings.

Here are the links to all of the final Missouri boys and girls basketball ratings:

Boys   All Boys Teams (by rank)  All Boys Teams (alphabetical)

Class One    Class Two    Class Three    Class Four    Class Five    Class Six

Girls   All Girls Teams (by rank)  All Girls Teams (alphabetical)

Class One    Class Two    Class Three    Class Four    Class Five    Class Six

Hats off to all the class one teams.