Illinois Boys HS Hoops Rankings (12/6)

BENTON - With Week 2 wrapping up today, things have been shaken up once again throughout all four classes. There were some solid games played this week and some really good ones on the schedule for today as there are a lot of shootouts going on throughout the state. Let's jump right into it!

1A

1.  Lawrenceville (5-0)

2.  Waltonville (4-0)

3.  Woodlawn (4-0)

4.  LeRoy (6-0)

5.  Lanark (Eastland) (2-0)

6.  Brimfield (6-0)

7.  Jacksonville (Routt) (6-0)

8. Chicago (Fenger) (3-2)

9.  Springfield (Calvary) (3-0)

10.  Tremont (3-1)

The 1A rankings once again start out with Lawrenceville who is off to a 5-0 start. The Indians have beat some bigger schools so far and will take on Mounds Meridian today at the Marion Shootout. Waltonville sticks to the #2-spot after winning the Christopher Turkey Tournament and getting a win over 2A Fairfield last night. Big task for the Spartans today as they get the 3A Carbondale Terriers at the Marion Shootout. Woodlawn retains the #3 spot after winning 3-straight at the Carlyle Kaskaskian Classic. Huge game for the Cardinals tonight in the championship game as they'll take on #3 2A juggernaut Pinckneyville. A win tonight would certainly move them up on the 1A list. LeRoy comes in at #4 as they have impressed me significantly throughout their first four games. Big wins over 2A Prairie Central and 2A Warrensburg-Latham. The Panthers will have the day off today. Eastland is up to #5 as they've won their first two ball games to start the year. They'll get a big test today as they take on #13 Brown County. Brimfield comes in at #6 as they have some big wins to start the year, including a 50-46 overtime win over #9 Tremont. The Indians will travel to Annawan this evening. At #7 I've got Routt Catholic who is also off to a hot start at 6-0. The Rockets are off tonight after a 67-49 win over Litchfield. Fenger Academy out of Chicago comes in at #8 on this list as they have some more than impressive wins to start the season. Their only two losses have come to 4A #2 Marist and 4A Shepard. Big wins over 3A Longwood, 3A Bogan and 2A Phillips. The Titans will take on Canarsie today out of Brooklyn, New York. Springfield Calvary comes in at #9 as they've been nothing short of impressive to start the season. Outstanding 14-point win over West Central and a 20-point victory over 2A Pleasant Plains. Calvary has a tough shootout opponent in 2A Williamsville this morning. Tremont is our #10-ranked team on the list as their only loss has come in overtime to Brimfield. They will get the day off today.

2A

1.  Tolono Unity (2-0)

2.  Peoria Manual (2-1)

3.  Pinckneyville (4-0)

4.  Quincy Notre Dame (3-0)

5.  Chicago Crane (1-3)

6.  Rochester (0-3)

7.  Chicago (Christ The King) (4-0)

8.  Chicago Phillips (1-4)

9.  Byron (1-0)

10.  Bismarck-Henning (3-1)

2A has been the weirdest class to figure out so far. Tolono Unity stays in the driver's seat at #1 after an outstanding opening week. They've beat #10 Bismarck-Henning 53-46 and knocked off #6 Rochester last night 46-44. They'll get another tough one today against #12 Teutopolis. Retaining the #2 spot this week is Peoria Manual. The Rams' only loss thus far has come to 3A power Decatur MacArthur. They'll get a week off before traveling to play Urbana next Friday. The Pinckneyville Panthers retain the #3-spot after a solid 4-0 start to the year. Big win over Carlyle to move to the championship game of the Kaskaskian Classic where they'll get 1A #3 Woodlawn in the final. QND is our #4 after a 3-0 start to the year. Solid wins over Moline, Seckman and Payson Seymour. They'll take on Macomb tonight in hopes to remain perfect. Chicago Crane rounds out the Top 5 as they've played some tough teams to start the season and currently sit at 1-3. If you know anything about the Chicago leagues, this is expected for a small school like Crane. They'll be right there in March after playing the tough schedule that they do. Crane will take on Brooklyn Academy today. At #6 we have the Rochester Rockets who may have started at 0-3 but have an impressive resume. Disregard that first game against Hillsboro. Most of the Rochester basketball team was still playing football. They gave #1 Tolono Unity all they wanted last night in a 46-44 loss. The Rockets will take on Normal University today. At lucky #7, Christ the King out of Chicago has been on a tear to open the year at 4-0. The Gladiators haven't played anyone yet that has been able to hang with them, beating their first four opponents by an average of 48 points. That may change today though as they'll take on Chicago Brooks. At #8, Chicago Phillips is in the same boat as Crane is. Their losses have been to 4A Lane Tech, #1 4A DePaul Prep, and a very good 1A Fenger Academy team. The Wildcats will get the evening off. Coming in at #9 we've got the Byron Tigers who started later than most due to football. They sit at 1-0 thus far and will take on Dakota tonight. Rounding our our 2A list is Bismarck-Henning. Their only loss has been to #1 Tolono Unity and they'll likely keep climbing in the rankings. The Blue Devils will take on Schlarman this afternoon.

3A

1.  East St. Louis (2-1)

2.  Kankakee (2-0)

3.  Centralia (5-0)

4.  Decatur (MacArthur) (3-0)

5.  Maple Park (Kaneland) (2-0)

6.  East Peoria (2-0)

7.  Geneva (5-0)

8.  Chicago (Morgan Park) (3-2)

9.  Chicago (Hyde Park) (4-1)

10.  Mount Vernon (3-0)

The East St. Louis Flyers have their football guys back and are ready to make some noise. They'll get the day off today after beating 4A Edwardsville 68-60 last night. The state championship loss on the gridiron should provide even more motivation for this group to go hunting for that first place trophy in March. Kankakee retains the #2-spot after a 2-0 start including a 40-point blowout win over Thornridge. The Kays will take on Pace Academy this afternoon. At #3, we've got the Centralia Orphans at 5-0. Nobody has played the Orphans within 20 points this year as they look to be in cruise control in the South 7. They'll take on Mattoon today in what shouldn't be much of a contest. MacArthur takes out 3A #4-spot as they've been very impressive to start the year as well. The Generals handed 2A #2 Peoria Manual a 20-point butt-whooping, Manual's only loss thus far. MacArthur will take on Sacred Heart-Griffin this evening. At #5 we've got Kaneland who is off to a 3-0 start. Similarly to Centralia, nobody has played the Knights close yet. They've beaten their first three opponents by an average of 47 points. Kaneland will take on West Aurora this afternoon. East Peoria comes in at #6 after an impressive 2-0 start. Nobody has tested the Raiders yet. They'll take on Bloomington later today. At #7 we've got Geneva who is off to a 5-0 start. They will get the day off after a 63-44 win over St. Charles North last night. #8 Morgan Park is going to be a dangerous team come late February and early March. The 3-2 Mustangs are battle tested as their only two losses have come to 4A #10 Simeon and a loaded Memphis Central team from Tennessee. They'll get the day off today. Hyde Park enters the chat at #9. They had a more than impressive 56-50 win last night over a legit 4A Lincoln Park ball club. Their lone loss has been to 4A #1 DePaul Prep. They will also have the day off today. Rounding the 3A list out at #10 is Mount Vernon who is off to a 3-0 start after a 66-30 blowout victory over Carbondale last night. They'll get a tough test at their own shootout today in 4A Alton.

4A

1.  Chicago (Depaul Prep) (5-0)

2.  Chicago (Marist) (4-0)

3.  Chicago (St. Ignatius) (5-0)

4.  Gurnee (Warren) (2-0)

5.  Loyola Academy (5-1)

6.  Lisle (Benet Academy) (4-1)

7.  Chicago (Curie) (1-0)

8. Homewood-Flossmoor (5-0)

9.  Rock Island (3-0)

10.  Bolingbrook (4-1)

Let's make one thing clear. DePaul Prep is absolutely legit and is the best team in the state of Illinois. I don't think that's going to change at all this year. They blewout 3A #9 Hyde Park 60-28 on the 30th and picked up a solid win against 4A #5 Loyola Academy last night. They will face the #3 team in the country tonight in La Lumiere (Indiana). If the Rams can get the job done, they will likely crack next week's National Top 25. Marist is once again our #2 as they've had an impressive start as well. They sit at 4-0 after a 10-point win over Chicago King last night. They will take on Sidwell Friends this evening. St. Ignatius jumps up to #3 after an absolutely outstanding 5-0 start. They topped Benet Academy 69-65 earlier in the week and took care of De La Salle last night, 74-56. The Wolfpack face a big test today against 4A #14 Whitney Young. Warren Township comes in at 2-0 and takes our 4A #4 spot. They're 2-0 to start the year after wins over Rockford East and Rockford Auburn. The Blue Devils will take on 4A #7 Curie today in what we are deeming the game of the week in the state of Illinois. At #5 is the Loyola Academy Ramblers. Loyola has impressed with wins over Lake Forest and New Trier. A 10-point loss to the #1 team in Illinois showed how much grit the Ramblers have. They will take on Taft tonight. Benet Academy moves down to #6 after dropping a close one to St. Ignatius. Solid 59-56 win last night over Roman Catholic out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Redwings will take on two more teams from Pennsyvania this weekend in St. Joseph's Prep and La Salle College Prep. At #7 I've got the Curie Condors. They're off to a 1-0 start after a solid win over 2A #5 Chicago Crane. They could bump themselves up in the 4A rankings with a win over #4 Warren Township tonight. Homewood-Flossmoor enters the chat at #8 after starting the season 5-0 and handing Bolingbrook their first loss today at the Chicago Elite Classic. The Vikings have a good one in Marvin Douglas. The #9 spot goes to Rock Island who has started the year at 3-0. Impressive 30-point win over Quincy last night. The Rocks will have the evening off. Rounding out the list at #10 is Bolingbrook who drops a few spots after losing to Homewood-Flossmoor today 55-50. They'll take on Oswego East and Joliet Central next week.