They moved into the top spot in early February, finished a close second in the area’s toughest division, and proved their mettle against the rest of the area’s best.

After finishing their regular season Thursday with a 56-50 win at Saline, Pioneer finishes the regular season atop our AnnArbor.com Boys Basketball Power Rankings.

The Pioneers’ final line: 15-4. After losing their first two games of the season to Detroit Country Day (ranked No. 1 in the Class B in the most recent AP poll) and to Holt (receiving votes in Class A), the Pioneers went 15-2 the rest of the way, including 10-2 in the SEC Red.

Its only two losses along the way were on the road SEC Red champion Temperance Bedford and at Huron. Their record includes wins over Bedford, ranked No. 8 in the state at the time, and Detroit Southeastern, currently the No. 9 Class A team in the state.

Ypsilanti finished the regular season on a five-game winning streak with each win coming by 20 points or more to move up to second in the final rankings. The Phoenix jump past Huron, which finished its season with a home loss to Bedford.

Milan finished its regular season last week and stays at No. 4 in the final rankings. Skyline, at 10-10, struggled against the top teams in the county but proved themselves against the rest of the field to round out the top f ive.

District play starts Monday, and our top two teams will be facing one another, 7:30 p.m. at Skyline.

Washtenaw County Boys Basketball Power Rankings
Rank, School (Record), Latest Result (last week's ranking)

1. Pioneer (15-4), def. Saline, 56-50 Thursday (1)
2. Ypsilanti (15-4), def. Chelsea, 70-22 Thursday (3)
3. Huron (13-6), lost to Temperance Bedford, 53-50 Thursday (2)
4. Milan (19-1), idle (4)
5. Skyline (10-10), def. Lincoln, 53-33 Saturday (5)
6. Saline (9-10), lost to Pioneer, 56-60 Saturday (6)
7. Greenhills (17-1), def. West Bloomfield Frankel Jewish Academy, 76-62 Thursday (7)
8. Dexter (11-9), def. Willow Run, 56-49 Friday (8)
9. Lincoln (8-12), lost to Skyline, 53-33 Saturday (9)
10. Willow Run (10-10), lost to Dexter, 56-49 Saturday (10)
11. Father Gabriel Richard (8-12), lost to Detroit Douglass, 59-46 Friday (11)
12. Arbor Prep (7-10), lost to Greenhills, 61-49 Tuesday (12)
13. Chelsea (3-16), lost to Ypsilanti, 70-22 Thursday (13)
14. Rudolf Steiner (11-9), lost to Britton-Deerfield, 59-52 Friday (14)
15. Whitmore Lake (6-14), lost to South Lyon East, 59-51 Thursday (15)
16. Washtenaw Christian (11-8) lost to Taylor Baptist Park, 62-46 Thursday (16)
17. Calvary Christian (3-17), lost to Dearborn Advanced Tech, 71-54 Friday (18)
18. Manchester (1-19), lost to Grass Lake, 86-79 Thursday (17)

Record not available: Central Academy, Eastern Washtenaw Multicultural

Kyle Austin covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kyleaustin@annarbor.com or 734-623-2535. Follow him on Twitter @KAustin_AA.