IL Boys HS Basketball Rankings (11/29)

BENTON - With Week 1 wrapping up today, there have been some shake ups already. I can already tell this is going to be an extremely fun year of high school basketball. Some teams have already played as many as 4-5 games while a few still don’t get started until early next week. With turkey tournaments finishing up this following week, we should see some more puzzle pieces get moved around after some key marquee games today and early next week. Let’s get right into it.

1A

1.  Lawrenceville (1-0)

2.  Waltonville (2-0)

3.  Woodlawn (1-0)

4.  LeRoy (4-0)

5.  Pecatonica (0-0)

6.  Lanark (Eastland) (0-0)

7.  Bluford (Webber) (2-0)

8.  Mt. Sterling Brown County (0-0)

9.  Jacksonville (Routt) (1-0)

10.  Brimfield (3-0)

The 1A side of things is already heating up. The much anticipated matchup between conference foes #2 Waltonville (2-0) and #7 Webber (2-0) should be an absolute barnburner today at the Christopher Turkey Tournament. Lawrenceville is off to a 1-0 start after dismantling 3A Olney by 20 points in their home opener. Woodlawn also took care of business in their home opener as they 20-pieced a very tall, athletic Metro East Lutheran team. LeRoy may have impressed me the most this week with an impressive victory over 2A #7-ranked Warrensburg-Latham. The Panthers might have another Matt Chastain-like postseason run in them this year (bonus points if you know who that is). Pecatonica and Eastland have not hit the hardwood just yet, not has Brown County. Routt Catholic opened up the Gene Bergschneider Turkey Tournament with a win over Springfield Lutheran. Brimfield impressed this week with wins over Knoxville and Peoria Christian and a very impressive overtime victory over Tremont 50-46. They find themselves in the Top 10 for the first time this season.

2A

1.  Tolono Unity (0-0)

2.  Peoria Manual (1-0)

3.  Pinckneyville (1-0)

4.  Downs Tri-Valley (3-0)

5.  Chicago Phillips (0-3)

6.  Teutopolis (0-0)

7.  Warrensburg-Latham (3-1)

8.  Byron (0-0)

9.  Chicago Crane (0-1)

10.  Staunton (2-1)

The puzzle pieces of the 2A picture are slowly starting to work themselves in place. Tolono will open up their season on Tuesday against Bismarck-Henning so we will finally be able to gauge something from that game. Peoria Manual moves up a spot after a blowout win over Champaign Central. Pinckneyville bumps up to #3 on the list after their 71-50 home-opening win over Chester. Tri-Valley is moving up as well after two blowout wins and a 73-60 win over Momence. Chicago Phillips may be off to an 0-3 start, but that’s where who you play matters and just being in the Chicago Suburban League will prepare them for the 2A postseason better than anyone. They took a thumping from 4A Niles North but hung with 4A #3 Depaul Prep and lost a nailbiter to 4A Lane Tech. Teutopolis opens up their season today in turkey tournament action against Red Hill. T-Town will be a load again this year. Warrensburg-Latham has picked up three wins thus far but a loss to 1A #4 LeRoy sets them back a couple spots. Byron opens up their season at home on Thursday against Rock Falls. Chicago Crane is on the list for the first time this year. Nailbiting loss at home against a tough 3A Chicago Leo team. They’ll be a tough out come late February. Staunton is on the list after Week 1 as I had them sitting at #11 to start the year and expect big things from the Bulldogs this year. Impressive victories over Roxana and Jersey.

3A

1.  East St. Louis (1-1)

2.  Kankakee (0-0)

3.  Centralia (3-0)

4.  Decatur (MacArthur) (1-0)

5.  Maple Park (Kaneland) (1-0)

6.  East Peoria (1-0)

7.  Geneva (2-0)

8.  Peoria (2-1)

9.  Chicago (Morgan Park) (2-1)

10.  Mount Vernon (1-0)

East St. Louis may just have a high chance of bringing home at least two state trophies this year if the football team gets it done this weekend, because the basketball team has all the tools to bring home some hardware. East sits at 1-1 after falling 48-42 to #45 nationally-ranked Crowley out of Fort Worth, Texas. This morning they knocked off Westlake out of Austin, Texas, 56-53. Kankakee opens up their season on Tuesday at home against Mahomet-Seymour. They will be a problem in the 3A postseason realm. Centralia is off to a hot start as usual, as they have beaten Freeburg, Civic Memorial and Althoff Catholic to jump to 3-0. All of those victories have come by 20 points or more. Decatur MacArthur opened the season with a 76-40 blowout win over Springfield Southeast. Kaneland gave Sandwich the knuckles on the road in their opening game, 72-14. The defense from the Knights is going to be a problem for most offenses on any given k(night). East Peoria beat Jefferson 74-58 at home to open their year. Geneva is off to a hot start after wins over South Elgin and Naperville Central. Peoria moves up a spot even after losing a game, given that game was a 58-54 loss to 4A #4-ranked Bolingbrook. Morgan Park enters the chat for the first time after beating 4A Rockford East and starting the year at 2-1. Mount Vernon also enters the rankings for the first time this year after beating Troy (Triad) 48-42 without having their leading scorer junior Dave Barnes in the lineup. With him in the mix and the rest of the talent on the Mount Vernon roster, they should be fun to watch this year.

4A

1.  Lisle (Benet) (3-0)

2.  Chicago (Marist) (3-0)

3.  Chicago (DePaul Prep) (3-0)

4.  Bolingbrook (2-0)

5.  Gurnee (Warren) (1-0)

6.  Chicago (Curie) (0-0)

7.  Rock Island (2-0)

8.  Chicago (Lincoln Park) (3-0)

9.  Chicago (Simeon) (2-0)

10.  Chicago (St. Ignatius) (3-0)

    
    

As the narrative went last year, Benet Academy is in the reigns of 4A hoops right now. A 3-0 start for the Redwings was just what they had planned, and none of those games have been close. Marist is in the same boat as they are off to a 3-0 start without a close game in sight. A Redhawks vs Redwings 4A state title game is now on my bucket list. Battle of the Redbirds. DePaul Prep may have something to say about that though as they’re also off to a 3-0 start with some impressive wins over Chicago Phillips and Niles North. They will be right there come late February. Bolingbrook is off to a 2-0 start and survived 3A #8 Peoria with a 58-54 win. The Raiders have all the tools to compete for a title. Warren sits at 1-0 after an impressive 20-point win over Rockford East. They’ll play Bolingbrook today at 5:15pm in what should be an absolute nail biter. Chicago Curie will kick their season off Thursday as they travel to 2A #9 Chicago Crane. That could potentially be a tough one for the Condors. Rock Island is off to a 2-0 start after massive blowouts over Chicago Tech and Hansberry. Rock Island outscored their opponents in those two games by a combined 151 points. Lincoln Park is starting off the season right at 3-0. They’ve beaten Downers Grove South, Metea Valley and Unity Christian thus far. Chicago Simeon is off to a 2-0 start after beating Intrinsic Charter and Chicago Corliss. The Wolves will be a tough out in the 4A postseason picture. St. Ignatius is another talented 3-0 team that rounds out the 4A Top 10. They’ve started the year 3-0 and will soon face an early test in the #1 team in Illinois, Loyola Academy.