Six Rockford-area teams state-ranked in first AP basketball polls of season

Three Rockford-area boys teams and three girls teams are state-ranked in the first Associated Press high school basketball polls of the season, which were released Wednesday afternoon.

Five of the six ranked teams are small schools.

Hononegah (10-0) is the only ranked large-school team, coming in at No. 9 in Class 4A girls.

BOYS

Pecatonica, which peaked at No. 2 last year shortly after beating eventual state runner-up Scales Mound, opens at No. 2 again in Class 1A boys. Again after beating Scales Mound. Pec (6-0) received three of 12 first-place votes and trails only Tuscola, which drew seven votes for first. No. 3 Glasford Illini Bluffs got the other two votes. Scales Mound (9-1) is No. 5 in 1A.

More: 3-time NUIC West champs battle 2-time defending NUIC North boys basketball champs

The other local ranked boys team is Byron (3-0), ranked No. 9 in 2A. Byron, long a girls basketball power, has never reached state in boys basketball, winning just one sectional title 17 years ago. It’s only regional title in the last 12 years was in 2018. The Tigers are expected to be one of the top boys teams in the Big Northern this year, along with Rockford Christian and four-time defending champion Rockford Lutheran.

Belvidere North, off to a school-record start at 7-1 (4-0 NIC-10), was among those receiving votes in Class 3A and Rockford Christian received votes in 2A.

More: Can surprise NIC-10 basketball leader stay on top? Games of week, current standings

GIRLS

NUIC North powers Orangeville (11-0) and Freeport Aquin (8-2) opened at No. 3 and No. 6, respectively, in Class 1A. Aquin’s losses have been to Orangeville and No. 1 Galena (7-0).

A third NUIC North team, Pecatonica, just missed the top 10, coming in 12th. Pec is 10-1, losing only by two points to Dixon (9-2), which received votes in 3A.

Stillman Valley (10-1) was the only other local team to receive votes, missing the 2A top-10 by two places.

CLASS 4A BOYS

School W-L Pts

† 1. Normal Community (7) 6-0 117

† 2. Curie (3) 8-1 101

† 3. Quincy 8-0 92

† 4. Homewood-Flossmoor 9-1 80

† 5. Lisle (Benet Academy) (1) 9-0 75

† 6. Glenbrook North (2) 8-1 62

† 7. Chicago Heights (Bloom Twp.) 5-2 42

† 8. Gurnee Warren 9-1 40

† 9. Downers North 5-1 34

†10. Collinsville 9-0 32

Others receiving votes: Moline 11. New Trier 7. Bolingbrook 6. Whitney Young 5. Evanston Township 4. Waubonsie Valley 2. Kenwood 2. Marist 2. Oak Lawn Community 1.

CLASS 3A BOYS

School W-L Pts

† 1. Chicago Mt. Carmel (1) 10-1 110

† 2. Brother Rice (7) 9-0 108

† 3. Harvey Thornton (5) 6-1 107

† 4. Richwoods 8-1 77

† 5. DePaul College Prep 9-0 58

† 6. De La Salle 7-1 44

† 7. Mt. Zion 9-0 42

† 8. East St. Louis 4-2 33

† 9. Kankakee 7-0 32

†10. Morton 8-1 29

Others receiving votes: Hyde Park 20. Metamora 16. Lindblom 15. Centralia 13. Belvidere North 4. Sterling 3. Decatur MacArthur 3. St. Patrick 1.

CLASS 2A BOYS

School W-L Pts

† 1. Rockridge (7) 7-1 126

† 2. Breese Central (4) 8-1 124

† 3. Peoria Manual (2) 4-3 86

† 4. Trenton Wesclin 10-0 66

† 5. Fieldcrest 7-0 45

† 6. Tolono Unity (1) 6-0 42

† 7. Peoria Notre Dame 2-5 41

†(tie) Chicago (Christ the King) 6-2 41

† 9. Byron 3-0 34

†10. St. Joseph-Ogden 7-0 29

Others receiving votes: Phillips 27. Benton 18. Beecher 15. Clinton 14. Macomb 13. Rockford Christian 11. El Paso-Gridley 10. Fairbury Prairie Central 9. Northridge Prep 6. Julian 5. Columbia 3. Teutopolis 2. Pinckneyville 2. Lawrenceville 1.

CLASS 1A BOYS

School W-L Pts

† 1. Tuscola (7) 8-0 124

† 2. Pecatonica (3) 6-0 112

† 3. Illini Bluffs (2) 8-2 96

† 4. Effingham St. Anthony 7-2 61

† 5. Scales Mound 9-1 54

† 6. Springfield Calvary 8-0 46

† 7. Serena 9-0 44

†(tie) Manley 5-1 44

† 9. Aurora Christian 9-1 40

†10. Fulton 6-1 28

Others receiving votes: Griggsville-Perry 24. Winchester-West Central 16. South Beloit 14. Franklin 13. Waltonville 11. Altamont 7. Camp Point Central 7. Lexington 7. Goreville 7. New Berlin 7. Waterloo Gibault 5. Crab Orchard 2. Dieterich 1.

CLASS 4A GIRLS

School W-L Pts

† 1. Bolingbrook (4) 9-0 71

† 2. Loyola (2) 9-0 69

† 3. Alton (2) 8-0 59

† 4. Kenwood 9-2 44

† 5. O'Fallon 8-2 40

† 6. Whitney Young 6-2 29

† 7. Maine South 10-0 28

† 8. Normal Community 9-1 26

† 9. Hononegah 9-0 17

†10. Quincy 9-2 16

†(tie) Batavia 9-1 16

Others receiving votes: Fremd 12. East Moline United 5. Normal West 4. Waubonsie Valley 3. St. Charles East 2. Nazareth 2. Edwardsville 1.

CLASS 3A GIRLS

School W-L Pts

† 1. Peoria Central (3) 10-0 74

† 2. Lincoln (4) 9-0 73

† 3. Galesburg (1) 10-0 58

† 4. Bethalto Civic Memorial 9-0 55

† 5. Hyde Park 9-2 33

† 6. Morton 7-3 28

† 7. Quincy Notre Dame 8-1 26

† 8. Taylorville 7-1 23

† 9. Washington 5-1 17

†10. Mt. Zion 10-3 11

Others receiving votes: Effingham 10. Sycamore 9. Chicago (Butler) 9. Jacksonville 6. Dixon 6. Highland 2. Montini 2. Chicago Heights Marian Catholic 2. Mattoon 2. Kankakee 2. Mount Vernon 1.

CLASS 2A GIRLS

School W-L Pts

† 1. Breese Central (3) 8-0 80

† 2. Nashville 9-0 71

† 3. Petersburg PORTA (3) 9-0 52

† 4. Peoria Notre Dame (3) 10-1 47

† 5. Deer Creek-Mackinaw 6-1 34

† 6. Rock Island Alleman 9-2 33

† 7. Quincy Notre Dame 8-1 26

† 8. DePaul College Prep 7-1 21

† 9. Central Southeastern 5-0 19

†10. Breese Mater Dei 6-2 18

Others receiving votes: Staunton 16. Stillman Valley 15. Carlyle 14. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 11. Bishop McNamara 11. Chicago (Crane Medical Prep 10. Downs Tri-Valley 9. Watseka 9. Princeton 7. Canton 4. Columbia 3. Riverdale 2. Coal City 2. Paris 2. Peotone 1. El Paso-Gridley 1.

CLASS 1A GIRLS

School W-L Pts

† 1. Galena (4) 7-0 81

† 2. Okawville (3) 7-1 76

† 3. Orangeville 11-0 60

† 4. Annawan (1) 9-2 41

† 5. Elmwood 10-1 34

† 6. Aquin 8-2 29

† 7. Effingham St. Anthony 8-3 24

†(tie) Serena 6-0 24

† 9. Peoria Heights 10-1 18

†(tie) Altamont (1) 8-2 18

Others receiving votes: Tuscola 14. Pecatonica 12. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 11. Brown County 8. Neoga 7. Tilden 6. LeRoy 5. Illini Bluffs 5. Winchester 5. Hardin Calhoun 4. Goreville 4. Moweaqua Central A&M 3. Hope Academy 3. Carrollton 2. River Ridge 2. Mendon Unity 1. Father McGivney Catholic 1. Tri-County 1. Christopher 1.

Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Illinois boys, girls rankings in first AP basketball polls of season