The Missouri Basketball Coaches Association tried to find the fairest way to a unprecedented situation.
On Monday, the association released its final high school state rankings of the season. And in a conference call of the executive board last week, it was decided to rank the semifinalists in Class 4 and 5 as co-No. 1s.
"They all made it, everybody had the same amount of days to prepare and anything could happen when they played," MBCA president and Jefferson City Lady Jays head coach Brad Conway said Monday. "Instead of just trying to guess, we just decided to tie those four teams at the top spot. There wasn't much discussion about it. It was pretty much a consensus."
There was a brief discussion about not having final rankings.
"We didn't want to do that, the season was done except the Final Four in those two classes," Conway said.
With the decision, the Helias Crusaders finished as one of the four No. 1 teams in the Class 4 boys rankings. The other semifinals were Cape Girardeau: Notre Dame, Raytown South and Vashon.
The Class 4 and 5 Final Four, scheduled for last Friday and Saturday, was called off by the Missouri State High School Activities Association due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
Conway said the association does not have a set rule about ranking the top four teams in the order they finished in their respective state tournaments. For example, Greenwood is No. 2 in the Class 2 rankings after a two-point loss to eventual state champion Hartville in the quarterfinals. Skyline, which lost to Hartville in the title game, is No. 3, while Milan and Oran are tied for No. 4 after losing in the semifinals.
The third-place games in the Class 1-3 Final Four were canceled.
Three other area boys teams joined Helias in the final rankings.
The St. Elizabeth Hornets are No. 2 in Class 1 after falling to Dora in the championship game, while the Blair Oaks Falcons tied for third with Monroe City in Class 3 after losing to eventual state champion Cardinal Ritter in the semifinals. The Eugene Eagles are No. 10 in Class 2 after advancing to the quarterfinals. The Iberia Rangers were among the teams receiving votes in Class 2.
On the girls side, Jefferson City finished sixth in the Class 5 rankings. The Lady Jays lost to Rock Bridge, one of the four teams ranked No. 1 in Class 5, in the district tournament championship game.
The Tipton Lady Cardinals finished highest among area schools in the final girls rankings, taking the No. 2 spot in Class 2. Tipton fell to East Buchanan in the state title game.
A pair of Tri-County Conference schools made the Class 3 rankings. Southern Boone came in at No. 6 after falling to eventual state champion Strafford in the quarterfinals. The California Lady Pintos are No. 10 after falling to Southern Boone in the district title game.
The Eugene Lady Eagles were among those receiving votes in Class 2. Eugene lost to Tipton in the sectional round of the playoffs.
Conway said next month's awards banquet to honor all-state and academic all-state players, along with the players, head coaches and assistant coaches of the year in each class, has been canceled.
"They will be sending out certificates to all the athletes who made it," Conway said. "It's a shame, it's something that has grown through the years. But we just didn't think we could do it with everything that's going on."
The association's Hall of Fame banquet has been postponed until later in the year.
"We're just playing that by ear, we just knew we couldn't do it in April," Conway said.
The coaches all-state teams in each class will be released this week, as will the media's Central Region All-District teams.
For the complete final rankings, as well as the coaches all-district teams comprised of schools assigned to their respective tournaments, see page C2.