In this week’s Wooster Daily Record girls basketball rankings, things are getting interesting at the top — in particular in the Wayne County Athletic League.
(Rankings and results are through Monday.)
Wooster Daily Record Girls Basketball Power Rankings
10. Smithville 6-6 (3-4)
9. Orrville 7-6 (4-2)
8. Loudonville 8-5 (5-3)
The Smithies have dropped four games in a row and have fallen a bit further in the WCAL standings (fifth place).
Orrville is coming off a 54-48 home loss to non-league rival Wooster on Saturday, but the Red Riders are just two games back from first-place Northwest.
Loudonville was able to grab a 12-point win over league foe Cardington-Lincoln Saturday and seem to be hanging around in terms of the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference standings, being tied for third place with Northmor. Addison Wolford (17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 1 block), Elly Hensel (14 points, 13 rebounds) and Abby Eikleberry (5 points, 10 rebounds) all produced for the Redbirds against Cardington-Lincoln.
7. Wooster 8-4 (5-3)
6. Triway 9-4 (5-1)
Don’t look now, but Wooster is on a roll. The Generals are on a six-game winning streak and coming off beating non-league rival Orrville on Saturday.
Triway ain’t playing half-bad either, winning four of its last five games. The Titans only loss in that stretch is to PAC-leading Northwest, who are 6-0 in the league.
5. Chippewa 8-5 (6-1)
Things get pretty inducing now with the top of the WCAL becoming quite a dogfight between Chippewa, Waynedale, Norwayne and Dalton.
While Chippewa sits in second with a 6-1 league mark, they have dropped two of its last three games, with both coming to strong nonconference opponents in Medina Highland (12-2) and Laurel (10-3).
4. Dalton 10-3 (5-2)
Dalton just might be playing as well as anyone at the moment. The Bulldogs are 3-0 in 2026, including a 13-point road win over Smithville last week where Phoebe Lehman had 15 points and seven rebounds. Dalton loss to Chippewa last month and are behind the Chipps in the WCAL standings by one game, but the Bulldogs take one spot ahead due to their recent form right now.
But hey, I’m sure many would argue differently.
3. Waynedale 12-3 (5-2)
No Wayne/Holmes County team had a better seven-day stretch last week than Waynedale, who come into the new week with an eight-game winning streak after pulling off two serious victories. Both on the road at that. The first was versus 10-0 Norwayne 51-42 on Thursday, then on Saturday the Golden Bears took down one of the 10-15 best teams in Division III in 11-0 Ashland, 43-42.
Some would justify that Waynedale should be in the No. 1 spot as the they are tied for third place in the WCAL with Dalton, who they lost to at home earlier in the season back in November.
Waynedale at Dalton will battle it out on Thursday and that should be another WCAL game of interest.
2. Hiland 11-3 (7-0)
Hiland continue to impress as the Hawks have defeated its last five opponents by an average of 36.8.
Up next for the No. 10 ranked team in Division VI, according to MaxPreps, is the defending Division IV state champions Bellevue at home on Saturday during the much-anticipated statewide Classic in the Country Challenge, where many of the best girls basketball teams in Ohio will be competing.
And you know who Hiland plays after Bellevue next Monday…
1. Norwayne 11-1 (7-1)
The No. 4 ranked Division V team lost their first game of the season to Waynedale at home last Thursday, but that didn’t deter the Bobcats as they got back at it and got an away win against a 11-2 New London team that has currently won 36 straight games in their league (Firelands Conference) dating back to 2023.
The Bobcats take on 9-4 Triway on Tuesday, then the showdown next Monday should be marked on every Wayne/Holmes County fans’ calendar:
Monday, January 19th, Norwayne at Hiland, 7:30 p.m.
The top two teams in the Girls Basketball Power Poll and two state-ranked teams going at it.
Can’t wait.
jamessimpson@gannett.com
Twitter/X: @JamesSimpsonII
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wayne/Holmes County Girls Hoops Rankings – Pretty tight race in WCAL
Reporting by James Simpson II, Wooster Daily Record / The Daily Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
