High School Sports Weekly
By High School Sports Weekly
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Public League enters spotlight for week of big matchups
It was a week where a lot of teams played themselves out of the rankings but absolutely no one played their way in. That always makes things tough. A lot of teams hold on despite losing this week.Bolingbrook drops out for the first time this season. The Raide…
What we learned from the holiday basketball tournaments
The rankings are usually a little easier to do after the holidays than most weeks. I start with a clean slate. No one cares where anyone was ranked before all these games were played. What matters is what happened in all the tournaments.So it was a bit shocki…
High school basketball holiday tournament previews
Seventeen of the Super 25 teams didn’t play a game last week, so there hasn’t been much movement.DePaul Prep drops out after losing to Hinsdale Central in the second round of the Red Devils’ holiday tournament. The young Rams were sailing by on an undefeated …
Here we go again: Basketball season in jeopardy due to COVID
That was a rough week. My plan for the last few days was to cover St. Patrick vs. Notre Dame, Evanston at New Trier and DePaul Prep against Benet. Only one of those games happened, which is the way things are going these days. About 40 games were canceled ove…
Team Rose Classic recap: Curie, Glenbard West among winners
This was a tough week with the rankings. I’ve seen most of the teams that are in the Super 25 play now and it hasn’t always been very instructive.What do you do when a ranked team loses by 30 at home? New Trier survives this week despite that loss.I don’t lik…
Glenbard West passes early test, Young stumbles as shootout season in full swing
Two teams earned their way into the Super 25 this week.Batavia, which was firmly on my radar in the preseason, is off to a 6-0 start. The Bulldogs beat previously unbeaten Huntley 67-66 on Saturday. Trent Tousana scored 30 points.Wheaton-Warrenville South’s o…
Final Super 25 football rankings after state championship weekend
Eight state football champions were crowned Friday and Saturday in DeKalb.There was Fenwick as the debutant, winning its first title. Joliet Catholic, the king of Illinois high school football, added to its state-record trophy haul.Lockport and Wheaton North …
2021-22 basketball season preview and state football semifinal recaps
It’s almost here. The first real, complete basketball season in two years tips off today. There’s a full slate of Thanksgiving tournaments and holiday tournaments planned.We’ll have conference showdowns and weekend shootouts again. Most importantly, the crowd…
Top teams avoid upsets in state football quarterfinals
The quarterfinals delivered excellent games. There weren’t many blowouts in the area. Even though some of the final scores were slightly lopsided, the games were closer than they appeared.Lemont even kept things respectable against mighty East St. Louis, losi…
State football playoff quarterfinals loaded with big matchups
Some big names fell out of the rankings this week after picking up losses in the second round. At this point I’m sticking with teams that are still playing.At the end of the season I’ll go back and take a look at the season overall. It’s likely teams such as …
A big loss for Chicago's basketball scene and a state playoffs update
We’ve reached the point in the season where the rankings are pretty easy to do. At least for this week. First round losing teams drop out for good and everyone moves on. That eliminates Bolingbrook, York and Naperville North this week.No one will be shocked t…
State football playoff matchups, predictions and more
Now that the path to a state title has been revealed, it is easy to overlook what happened in Week 9. Not here in Super 25 world. Week 9 matters.Glenbard West, Marist, Prospect and Glenbard North all took losses and drop out of the rankings. That’s likely to …
Great crowds bringing atmosphere back to local football games
Another calm week in the Super 25. Hersey, which had been ranked since the preseason, falls out after losing to Prospect.The Knights take Hersey’s place. It’s difficult to figure out what exactly to do with the Mid-Suburban League this season. Several traditi…
Football season hits the stretch run as teams race to qualify for playoffs
This was the first calm week in the rankings in awhile. There was very little movement overall, other than Brother Rice taking a bit of a tumble after losing at home to Joliet Catholic and Bolingbrook dropping a bit after losing in overtime to Lockport.Week 8…
Brother Rice vs. Joliet Catholic will highlight big Week 7
Before sitting down and getting into all the usual rankings research I had a feeling that Lincoln-Way East, Naperville Central and Glenbard West were all likely to drop out this week. But they didn’t. All three hung on.All three traditional powers lost to unr…
St. Ignatius’ big win over Mount Carmel shakes everything up
The CCL/ESCC Blue has certainly earned a great deal of respect when it comes to the rankings. Loyola, Mount Carmel, Brother Rice and Marist obviously comprise the best overall high school football conference in the state.Over the years we’ve seen how the CCL/…
Big changes for Super 25 other than the top spot
The schedule has led to covering way too many CCL/ESCC games and not enough of the rest of the area. That always makes rankings harder, when all you have to judge on is scores and not actually seeing teams.That will start to change here in Week 5. I’m plannin…
Loyola stays atop Super 25 ahead of matchup vs. No. 3 Brother Rice
Every week of the season is revealing a bit more of the complete picture. That’s the way the season is supposed to work and the schedule-makers are helping us out. Week 4 should provide a lot of answers. There are four games featuring Super 25 teams squaring …
Loyola returns to No. 1 as part of Super 25 shakeup after Week 2
Well, that didn’t take too long.Loyola is back on top of the Super 25. The Ramblers spent all six weeks on top of the rankings in the spring and have clearly reloaded quickly. This is a different team. There is no breakout talent like Vaughn Pemberton offensi…
Short stay atop Super 25 for St. Rita after exciting Week 1
St. Charles North made the biggest opening week statement of any preseason unranked team.The North Stars knocked off Palatine and Iowa-bound receiver Jake Bostick 24-0. They check in at No. 19 this week.The other newcomers to the Super 25 for Week 2 are Richa…