The boys basketball teams from West and Millennium high schools are on pace to make the playoffs in their respective divisions, according to rankings released this week.

The first of three power rating reports for basketball teams were issued Monday, outlining where teams stand in the Sac-Joaquin Section midway through the league season.

West High’s boys, 14-8 overall and 3-2 in the Tri-City Athletic League, are ranked 12th in the section’s Division I,

which includes larger schools. Millennium’s boys (11-7 overall, 7-1 Harvest Christian League) are 13th among smaller schools in Division IV.

Rather than decide which basketball teams go to playoffs based strictly on league play records, the section first divides schools based on enrollment and then ranks teams by their records, taking into consideration the strength of their leagues and the strength of the teams they faced in pre-league contests. The top 16 teams in the ratings at the end of the season will go to playoffs, and the top eight will host games in the first round.

Two more local basketball teams landed just short of the top 16 in their divisions, but they still have a good chance to move up if they can win most of their remaining games in the season’s final 2½ weeks.

The girls from Tracy High (8-12,

3-2 San Joaquin Athletic Association) are ranked 19th in Division I, and the Bulldogs’ chances to move up include Thursday’s game at Lincoln against the No. 6 Trojans and a game a week from Thursday at home against the No. 16 Titans from Chavez High.

Millennium’s girls (8-9, 6-4 HCL) are ranked 18th in Division IV. Most of the top teams they face in this year’s combined Harvest Christian-Mountain Valley League are in the running for the Division V bracket, including Big Valley Christian, No. 3; Wilton Christian, No. 4; Jim Elliott, No. 9; and Lodi Academy, No. 16.

Several local squads, however, are on the outside looking in.

Tracy High’s boys varsity team (8-11, 2-3 SJAA) is 27th in Division I, with league rivals Lincoln ranked eighth, Lodi 24th and Franklin 26th.

West High’s varsity girls (2-19, 0-5 TCAL) are ranked 30th in Division I, with league competitors McNair ranked fifth, Tokay 12th, and Edison 20th. League leader St. Mary’s is in Division II, where the Rams are ranked second behind Del Oro High of Loomis.

Kimball High’s teams aren’t included in the ratings, because the school will not field varsity teams until the 2010-11 school year.

The Sac-Joaquin Section will release revised reports Feb. 8 and 16, and finalized playoff brackets will be released Feb. 21.