Here are the latest Journal basketball votes for the SD Sportswriters Association polls. Following our votes are the actual polls for the week of Feb. 8.

GIRLS

Class AA

1. SF Roosevelt

2. Aberdeen Central

3. SF Lincoln

4. RC Central

5. SF Washington

Class A

1. Pine Ridge

2. Sisseton

3. Parkston

4. Wagner

5. Clark-Willow Lake

6. Elkton-Lake Benton

7. Stickney-Mt. Vernon

8. Deuel

9. South Central

10. Sioux Valley

Class B

1. Newell

2. Ipswich

3. Viborg

4. Northwestern Area

5. Castlewood

6. Hanson

7. James Valley Christian

8. Freeman

9. Wall

10. Scotland

BOYS

Class AA

1. Huron

2. R.C. Central

3. Aberdeen Central

4. Watertown

5. SF O’Gorman

Class A

1. Madison

2. SF Christian

3. St. Thomas More

4. Aberdeen Roncalli

5. Red Cloud

6. Dell Rapids

7. Elk Point-Jefferson

8. St. Francis

9. Tri-Valley

10. Winner

Class B

1. Corsica-Stickney

2. Hitchcock-Tulare

3. White River

4. Mitchell Christian

5. Langford

6. Rosholt

7. Viborg

8. Hanson

9. Centerville

10. Sully Buttes

GIRLS

Class AA

Record Pts Prv

1. Aberdeen Central (7) 14-2 43 1

2. Sioux Falls Roosevelt (2) 9-1 36 2

3. Sioux Falls Lincoln 10-3 27 3

4. Rapid City Central 9-3 20 4

5. Huron 8-4 6 RV

Others receiving votes: Sioux Falls Washington, 7-4.

Class A

Record Pts Prv

1. Pine Ridge (7) 11-2 87 1

2. Parkston (2) 13-1 74 3

3. Elkton-Lake Benton 15-1 70 4

4. Sisseton 14-1 64 2

5. Wagner 14-2 55 5

6. Clark-Willow Lake 15-2 49 6

T7. Sioux Valley 12-3 29 8

T7. StickneyTMt. Vernon 12-3 29 9

9. Winner 10-3 19 7

10. Aberdeen Roncalli 14-2 9 RVOthers receiving votes: Elk Point-Jefferson, 12-4; Deuel, 11-3; Tri-Valley, 13-3; Mobridge-Pollock, 12-2; Cheyenne-Eagle Butte, 11-4.

Class B

Record Pts Prv

1. Newell (8) 15-0 89 1

2. Ipswich (1) 14-0 81 2

3. Viborg 13-2 63 6

4. Castlewood 13-2 60 4

5. Hanson 14-3 58 3

6. James Valley Christian 13-1 45 8

7. Freeman 12-3 33 5

8. Summit 13-3 22 10

9. Northwestern Area 13-3 19 7

10. Scotland 11-4 16 9

Others receiving votes: Wall, 12-2; Philip, 10-3.

BOYS

Class AA

Record Pts Prv

1. Huron (7) 12-2 43 1

2. Rapid City Central (2) 10-3 35 2

3. Aberdeen Central 10-4 30 3

4. Watertown 9-4 13 5

5. Mitchell 9-5 7 NR

Others receiving votes: Sturgis, 8-4; Sioux Falls O’Gorman, 7-5; Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 6-4.

Class A

Record Pts Prv

1. Sioux Falls Christian (5) 14-1 85 1

T2. Madison (3) 14-0 78 3

T2. St. Thomas More (1) 10-1 78 2

4. Aberdeen Roncalli 14-1 64 4

5. Red Cloud 10-3 48 5

6. Wagner 12-2 41 7

7. Winner 13-2 38 6

8. St. Francis Indian 11-2 13 8

9. McCook Central 10-3 12 RV

10. Dell Rapids 11-4 10 RV

Others receiving votes: Sioux Valley, 11-4; Deubrook, 10-3; Miller, 10-3; Chester, 12-5; Elk Point-Jefferson, 10-5; Tri-Valley, 10-4.

Class B

Record Pts Prv

1. Corsica-Stickney (9) 13-0 90 1

2. White River 13-1 74 2

3. Mitchell Christian 13-1 69 3

4. Hitchcock-Tulare 12-0 66 4

5. Rosholt 15-0 52 6

6. Viborg 13-2 45 5

7. Langford 13-2 38 7

8. Sully Buttes 12-3 27 9

9. Hanson 13-2 20 8

10. Centerville 12-3 10 10

Others receiving votes: Tripp-Delmont/Armour, 10-2; James Valley Christian, 10-4; Harding County, 12-3.

Another good Super Bowl game. The NFL’s championship, which has become all-but a legal holiday, again delivered a nail-biter not decided until 44 seconds left. There was a string ended a few years ago that saw the outcome pretty much decided in the first half.
Danny L., one of the 20-somethings on the Journal sports staff, wondered how many more greybeard rock bands there are out there before we get somebody anyone under the age of 50 has heard of? Lemesee, there’s Styx, 38 Special, KISS, Moody Blues, Heart, BTO, Doobies…–Jim H.

That’s what Bill Cowher just said on the pregame show and that sums up my feelings exactly.

Peyton Manning’s robotic efficiency frightens me (I hate you, Peyton) and I don’t think the New Orleans defense can stop him, but I’ll be cheering for them to do just that.

If they could bring back Rickey Jackson, Pat Swilling and Sam Mills I’d like their chances better.

- Padraic

Plenty of hoops action at Stevens’ Carold Heier Gymnasium this weekend as the Raider boys host Central on Friday and both the girls and boys host Pine Ridge on Saturday.

Anybody making predictions?

- padraic

Anytime Rapid City Stevens and Rapid City Central get together is huge, but top-ranked Class B Newell girls team is also in town tonight, at St. Thomas More at 6 p.m. Just a reminder… — Jim H.

Chat with BHSU head football coach Jay Long as he talks about his latest recruiting class at 11 a.m. MST on Friday.

The greatest college football day of the year after the national championship game and whatever bowl game your team my be in has to be National Signing Day which is Wednesday.

It has turned into big business with Web sites and football games that build up the hype surrounding the event.

It is nothing like an exact science, but it is fun to breakdown the classes and argue who got the best this or that.

However, it also happens to be a very big day in a lot of football players’ lives as they make the decision that will impact the rest of their lives.

Plenty of local talent will sign Wednesday on schools ranging from big to small, but no matter where they go, today just has the feel of something special.

Jeff

Here are the Journal’s latest votes for the South Dakota Sportswriters Association high school basketball polls.

GIRLS
Class AA
1. SF Roosevelt
2. Aberdeen Central
3. SF Lincoln
4. RC Central
5. SF Washington

Class A
1. Sisseton
2. Pine Ridge
3. Parkston
4. Wagner
5. Clark-Willow Lake
6. Cheyenne-Eagle Butte
7. Elkton-Lake Benton
8. Stickney-Mt. Vernon
9. Deuel
10. South Central

Class B
1. Newell
2. Ipswich
3. Viborg
4. Northwestern Area
5. Castlewood
6. Hanson
7. James Valley Christian
8. Freeman
9. Wall
10. Scotland

BOYS
Class AA
1. Huron
2. R.C. Central
3. Aberdeen Central
4. SF Roosevelt
5. Watertown

Class A
1. SF Christian
2. St. Thomas More
3. Madison
4. Aberdeen Roncalli
5. Red Cloud
6. Dell Rapids
7. Elk Point-Jefferson
8. St. Francis
9. Tri-Valley
10. Winner

Class B
1. Corsica-Stickney
2. Hitchcock-Tulare
3. White River
4. Mitchell Christian
5. Langford
6. Rosholt
7. Viborg
8. Hanson
9. Centerville
10. Sully Buttes

And here are the actual rankings for the week …

Class AA

Record Pts Prv

1. Aberdeen Central (7) 11-2 43 1

2. Sioux Falls Roosevelt (2) 8-1 36 2

3. Sioux Falls Lincoln 9-3 24 5

4. Rapid City Central 8-3 15 3

5. Sioux Falls Washington 6-3 7 RV

Others receiving votes: Sioux Falls O’Gorman, 5-5; Watertown, 3-9; Huron, 6-4; Brandon Valley, 7-4.

Class A

Record Pts Prv

1. Pine Ridge (5) 9-1 84 1

2. Sisseton (3) 12-0 81 2

3. Parkston (1) 12-1 70 4

4. Elkton-Lake Benton 13-1 58 6

5. Wagner 12-2 55 3

6. Clark-Willow Lake 10-2 40 5

7. Winner 8-2 26 9

8. Sioux Valley 10-3 22 8

9. Stickney-Mt. Vernon 8-3 20 10

10. Cheyenne-Eagle Butte 10-3 17 7

Others receiving votes: Mobridge-Pollock, 9-1; South Central, 11-2; Deuel, 11-2; Tri-Valley, 11-3.

Class B

Record Pts Prv

1. Newell (9) 12-0 90 1

2. Ipswich 11-0 70 4

3. Hanson 13-2 65 3

4. Castlewood 11-2 56 2

5. Freeman 11-2 55 5

6. Viborg 11-2 54 6

7. Northwestern Area 12-2 42 T8

8. James Valley Christian 11-1 32 T8

T9. Scotland 10-3 11 NR

T9. Summit 11-3 11 NR

Others receiving votes: Highmore-Harrold, 8-3; Philip, 8-3; Wall, 11-2; Rosholt, 10-3; Lemmon, 8-2; White River; Eureka-Bowdle.

BOYS

The Top Ten teams in the Associated Press South Dakota high school basketball polls of the 2005-2006 season with first-place votes in parentheses and won-loss record, total points and position last week at right:

Record Pts Prv

1. Huron (9) 10-1 45 1

2. Rapid City Central 9-2 36 4

3. Aberdeen Central 9-4 20 3

4. Sioux Falls Roosevelt 6-2 19 2

5. Watertown 8-3 10 5

Others receiving votes: Sioux Falls Washington, 8-4.

Class A

Record Pts Prv

1. Sioux Falls Christian (9) 13-0 90 1

2. St. Thomas More 9-1 81 2

3. Madison 11-0 70 3

4. Aberdeen Roncalli 12-1 56 5

5. Red Cloud 10-2 52 4

6. Winner 11-1 46 6

7. Wagner 9-2 31 T8

8. St. Francis Indian 11-1 28 T8

9. Deubrook 9-2 15 7

10. Sioux Valley 9-3 7 RV

Others receiving votes: Tri-Valley, 8-3; Groton, 10-3; Dell Rapids, 9-4; Elk Point-Jefferson, 9-4; Elkton-Lake Benton, 9-3; McCook Central-Montrose, 7-3.

Class B

Record Pts Prv

1. Corsica (8) 10-0 89 2

2. White River (1) 12-1 73 1

3. Mitchell Christian 11-1 72 3

4. Hitchcock-Tulare 11-0 66 4

5. Viborg 11-1 52 6

6. Rosholt 14-0 48 7

7. Langford 11-2 26 8

8. Hanson 11-1 25 RV

9. Sully Buttes 10-3 24 5

10. Centerville 9-2 6 RV

Others receiving votes: Faith, 10-1; James Valley Christian, 9-3; Arlington, 9-4; Tripp-Delmont-Armour, 8-2; Selby Area.

I got a chance to see Central’s boys this weekend and they looked as good as I’ve seen them. Glenn Jackson was almost possessed going to the basket, scoring over 30 points in wins over Watertown and Brookings, and the Cobblers just ran all over the Arrows. If Central can get a team into an up and down affair, they’re awfully good. I’m still waiting for somebody to figure out that Jackson cannot be stopped going to the hole if you play him “honest.” Teams are going to have to cheat a bit and make him prove he can hit the outside shot. At least I think that’s what somebody should at least try out. He may burn you that way, too, but it’s obvious to me that nobody in the state is staying in front of him without a cushion. I’d make him hit a couple of perimeter shots before I got closer than 5 feet to him.

I’d also like to see the Cobblers get a little bit out of big man Johnny Miller-Alexander. He could play a big role for them down the stretch if they can get him integrated a bit.

Still, it seems to me that the Cobblers are as good as anybody in the state. When their defense is forcing turnovers and they use their team speed in the open floor … look out. The Cobblers have three legit scoring threats and a group of guys who know what their jobs are on the floor. They’re in a nice position right now.

- Padraic

One of the NFL’s all-time success stories, and not to mention, one of its best quarterbacks retired today.
Arizona’s Kurt Warner called it a career after 12 seasons and three teams in the NFL. Already, the pundits and the talking heads are waxing poetic on his credentials for inclusion in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (he should) and whether he should be included in the discussion of all-time greats (possibly).
While those are all great accomplishments, his greatest legacy may just be the way he handled himself both on and off the field. Everyone who knows football, knows Warner’s back story. How he stocked shelves at a grocery story, worked his way through the Arena Football League and NFL Europe, before finally sticking with the St. Louis Rams. Warner eventually made his first start for the Rams at the age of 28, when starter Trent Green went down with a season-ending injury. What was born was the Greatest Show on Turf.
Through the injuries (concussions), the demotions (in St. Louis and with the Giants), Warner persevered and rose above it to become one of the best.
And for that he should always be remembered.