Top 25 Illinois high school boys basketball rankings (1/29/2024)

Check out this week's Illinois boys basketball Power 25

With some teams playing as many as five games over seven or eight days because of weather-related makeups, there were plenty of upsets to scramble the rankings order.

There is a new No. 1 team after a big matchup late Sunday night between a pair of top-three teams.

Here is our breakdown of this week's SBLive Power 25 Illinois high school boys basketball rankings (records through Jan. 28):

PREVIOUS RANKINGS: DEC. 8 | DEC. 14 | DEC. 22 | JAN. 3 | JAN. 13 | JAN. 19 

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Illinois high school boys basketball rankings

January 29, 2024

1. Homewood-Flossmoor (21-2)

Previous rank: 2

The Vikings are the new No. 1 team after beating third-ranked Thornton 65-63 late Sunday night on a buzzer beater by Columbia recruit Gianni Cobb. H-F has now beaten Thornton twice this season.

2. Curie (22-2)

Previous rank: 1

The Condors suffered their first loss to an in-state opponent, falling 73-66 to Lindblom. But they bounced back to beat Simeon 60-57 to clinch a share of the Red South-Central title as senior guard Mason Minor scored a game-high 18 points. Curie also beat Millard North (Neb.) 79-74, Father Tolton (Mo.) 58-55 and Joliet West 86-60.

3. Thornton (20-3)

Previous rank: 3

The Wildcats suffered their second loss of the season to Homewood-Flossmoor on Sunday night, losing 65-63 on a buzzer-beating shot by Gianni Cobb.

4. Mount Carmel (23-3)

Previous rank: 4

The Caravan beat Loyola 47-36, lost 82-70 to Kenwood and knocked off St. Laurence 63-50 and St. Rita 51-38.

5. Benet Academy (19-3)

Previous rank: 5

The Redwings lost at home for the first time since 2020, falling 63-54 to Thornton. They also edged Normal 61-60, cruised past Carmel 48-19 and knocked off Joliet Catholic 67-30.

6. Metamora (20-4)

Previous rank: 6

The Redbirds have won seven in a row after beating Mount Zion 72-69, Downers Grove South 70-43, Morton 67-48 and Canton 69-16.

7. Waubonsie Valley (22-0)

Previous rank: 7

The Warriors are still the last undefeated big school in the Chicago area after beating Naperville Central 44-27, West Aurora 46-29, Metea Valley 48-45 and Plainfield East 65-35.

8. Kenwood (17-6)

Previous rank: 15

The Broncos are rounding into form with five straight wins, including 82-70 over Mount Carmel, 99-64 over Englewood, 78-45 over Perspectives-Leadership and 61-43 over Christ the King.

9. DePaul Prep (21-2)

Previous rank: 8

The Rams and Mount Carmel are the last two unbeatens in the tough Catholic League Blue. DePaul got past Brother Rice 55-46 in overtime, lost 59-58 in double overtime to Normal, coasted past Leo 62-23 and topped Pewaukee (Wis.) 55-43.

10. Quincy (21-2)

Previous rank: 9

The Blue Devils were upset 65-62 by Sterling in the Western Big 6 and had a big 74-62 win over Pennsylvania power Imhotep. Quincy also coasted by Geneseo 75-13, beat Galesburg 77-35 and knocked off Batavia 58-41.

11. Brother Rice (21-3)

Previous rank: 10

The Crusaders had their first Catholic Blue loss, 55-46 in overtime to DePaul Prep, and beat St. Francis 59-52 and Fenwick 67-51.

12. Bolingbrook (18-3)

Previous rank: 13

The Raiders picked up wins against Andrew (77-59), Lincoln-Way Central (82-61) and Naperville North (52-28).

13. Warren Township (22-4)

Previous rank: 12

The Blue Devils beat Libertyville 79-66, got past Lake Zurich 51-46 and edged Palatine 57-56. They also were edged 70-67 in overtime by Stevenson.

14. Downers Grove North (19-4)

Previous rank: 17

The Trojans handed York its first West Suburban Silver loss, 49-25. They also lost 59-51 to Homewood-Flossmoor and beat Proviso East (86-78) and Oak Park-River Forest (60-47).

15. Normal (21-3)

Previous rank: 19

The Ironmen picked up a big win against DePaul Prep, 59-58 in double overtime, and also downed Peoria Notre Dame 50-24 and Peoria Central 66-52.

16. Glenbrook North (20-4)

Previous rank: 20

The Spartans remained perfect in the deep Central Suburban South, posting conference wins against Evanston (65-38), Glenbrook South (64-59) and Deerfield (43-37). They also beat Taft 68-36 and edged Hillcrest 59-58.

17. New Trier (21-5)

Previous rank: 14

In a busy stretch, the Trevians went 3-2 with wins against Deerfield (49-37), Farragut (67-44) and Glenbrook South (62-48) along with losses to Barrington (57-54) and West Aurora (66-65).

18. Kankakee (19-2)

Previous rank: 18

The Kays pushed their winning streak to six games with victories against Rich (65-61), Brooks (81-33), St. Anne (95-34), Thornridge (88-52) and Pontiac (62-54). 

19. Neuqua Valley (20-4)

Previous rank: 23

The Wildcats' only loss in 2024 was by six to unbeaten Waubonsie Valley. They've won seven straight since, including 41-40 over Naperville North, 81-54 over Plainfield East, 69-44 over Rochelle Zell, 61-43 over Naperville Central and 70-49 over Andrew.

20. Bloom (13-7)

Previous rank: 11

The Blazing Trojans sandwiched losses to Thornton (69-52) and Loyola (53-39) around a win against Crete-Monee (63-58).

21. Collinsville (23-3)

Previous rank: 16

The Kahoks beat Althoff Catholic 59-46, lost 62-57 in overtime to Highland and knocked off Belleville West 62-43 and McCluer (Mo.) 60-20.

22. Rich (16-7)

Previous rank: 21

The Raptors dropped Southland games to Kankakee (65-61) and Thornton (54-43), fell 48-45 to St. Ignatius and beat Crete-Monee 62-56 and Manley 75-62.

23. York (20-4)

Previous rank: 22

After losing 49-25 to Downers Grove North, the Dukes bounced back to beat Oswego East 57-51, Glenbard North 58-43, Hinsdale Central 56-53 and Lake Zurich 64-62.

24. Centralia (23-2)

Previous rank: 24

The Orphans earned wins against Salem (53-41), Cahokia (68-51) and Teutopolis (58-24) and had a 45-37 loss to East St. Louis.

25. Marist (19-4)

Previous rank: 25

The RedHawks beat St. Viator 70-54, Marian Catholic 63-48 and Hansberry 87-52.

Metamora's Cooper Koch and Thornton's Morez Johnson reach for the tipoff at the Highland Shootout on January 6, 2024 / Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

Illinois high school basketball notebook: Quincy tops Imhotep at Quincy Shootout

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- Mike Clark | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveIL