Sports Editor

Both the Charles Henderson and Goshen boy’s varsity basketball teams are ranked in the top ten of the Alabama Sports Writers Associations state basketball poll, released on Wednesday.

The Trojans (4-2) come in at No. 10 this week in Class 5A, while Goshen (2-1) is No. 8 in Class 2A.

Wednesday’s release is the first basketball poll of the year for the ASWA.

The Eagles, a Final Four participant a year ago, return two starters in Kendaris Pelton and Averick Rogers. Goshen finished the season 23-3 last year.

The Trojans return three starters in seniors Matt Brown, Qua Davis and junior Lakory Daniels. CHHS finished last year 14-10 and will try and return to the Class 5A Southeast Regional at Troy State for the first time since 1999.

Blount (7-2) tops the 5A poll with Southside-Selma (7-2) ranked second. One other team of note in the poll is Stanhope-Elmore (9-2), which is ranked sixth.

In 2A, defending champ Barbour County (7-0), winner of 16 straight dating back to last season, is a no-surprise No. 1. The team that eliminated Goshen from the finals, Mars Hill Bible, is 8-1 and ranked third.

In the other boy’s classifications, Baldwin County (3-0) is No. 1 in Class 6A, Abbeville (5-0) holds down the top spot in 4A, Lanett (5-0) is tops in 3A, and defending state champion Pleasant Home is No. 1 in 1A.

In the AISA, it’s easy to see why the Pike Liberal Arts School Patriots are 3-4 on the season. All of PLAS’s losses have come against teams ranked in this week’s top ten. Faith (3-1) is No. 4, while Fort Dale (8-1), Dixie (5-1), and Cottage Hill (6-1) are seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.

The Lady Patriots also have rough scheduling to fault for their three losses of the year. Faith Academy (4-0) is ranked No. 1 in the AISA girl’s poll, with Lakeside (8-0) at No. 3 and Abbeville Christian in at No. 7. However, the Lady Patriots did hand eighth ranked Fort Dale (6-1) one of its two losses thus far in the season.