Despite going on respective winning streaks, a number of high school basketball teams in the Turlock area slipped down a spot or two in this week’s Sac-Joaquin Section power ratings that determine playoff positions for the top 16 teams in each division, with the top eight to host the first round.

Only the Turlock and Hilmar girls remain in their previous positions, with the Bulldogs staying at No. 3 in Division I and the Yellowjackets sitting at No. 12 in Division IV, respectively. Four of the other five teams that made last week’s initial rankings fell off a little, while Denair girls went out of playoff position to No. 24 in D-IV after holding down the 16th and final seed.

Turlock boys fell one position to No. 9, though the Bulldogs blew out both of their opponents last week. After winning just one of two games since the first release of the power ratings, Denair boys dropped down one spot to No. 8 in D-IV.

For the rest of the girls teams in the Turlock area, Pitman fell three spots to No. 10 in D-I after going 1-1 and Turlock Christian slipped down one spot to No. 4 in D-V despite the Eagles outscoring their opponents 113-17 last week.

The third and final power ratings will be released Monday, as the playoff brackets will be published the following week on Feb. 20.

To contact Chhun Sun, e-mail csun@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2041.