Michael O’Brien’s Super 25 high school basketball rankings for Jan. 21, 2024

Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

All the MLK weekend basketball coupled with make-up games from the cold spell led to a very busy week with a lot of teams playing three or four games. That’s a lot to ask from a high school team and it led to some interesting results. 

And also a nice shakeup in the Super 25. Riverside-Brookfield, Palatine, West Aurora and Glenbrook South all drop out. The Bulldogs lost to Hillcrest, which is an interesting team to keep an eye on. There would have been some weeks where I would have stuck with R-B for a little longer, but there have been a few teams knocking on the door of the rankings for a few weeks and it felt like time to give them a moment in the sun. 

There are four new additions this week. 

Crystal Lake South, which has AJ Demirov and great size, squeaks in at No. 25. The Gators don’t have a marquee win but they are the best team in the Fox Valley. 

Barrington has been a top-30 team all season and the win against New Trier gets the Broncos in, even though they were upset by Conant this week. 

Lake Forest was an easy call. The Scouts are playing well, they have wins against Rolling Meadows, Waukegan and Warren in 2024.

Glenbrook North possibly should have stayed in the rankings a few weeks ago. I dropped the Spartans after they lost to Loyola. The season sweep against Glenbrook South gets them back in. 

Super 25 rankings for Jan. 21, 2024
With record and last week’s ranking

1. Curie (21-1) 1
Lindblom, Simeon this week

2. Homewood-Flossmoor (19-1) 2
Four wins last week

3. Thornton (18-2) 3
At Bloom Tuesday

4. Waubonsie Valley (20-0) 6
At Metea Valley Friday

5. Mount Carmel (21-3) 3
Stumbled vs. Kenwood

6. Benet (16-3) 5
Lost to Thornton

7. Bloom (12-5) 8
Challenging week ahead

8. Downers Grove North (17-4) 7
Lost to Homewood-Flossmoor

9. Warren (20-3) 10
Won two in New York

10. DePaul Prep (18-2) 11
Lost to Normal, beat Rice in OT

11. Brother Rice (19-3) 9
Zavier Fitch opens eyes

12. Bolingbrook (16-3) 13
Beat Andrew

13. Neuqua Valley (17-4) 17
Four-win week

14. Kankakee (16-2) 20
Took down Rich

15. Rich (14-6) 12
Lost to St. Ignatius

16. New Trier (19-4) 14
Lost to Barrington

17. Kenwood (14-6) 21
Chris Riddle is the key

18. Marist (16-4) 15
Dominated at Brother Rice

19. Loyola (18-4) 22
Three big games ahead

20. Glenbrook North (17-4) NR
Beat Glenbrook South again

21. Lincoln-Way East (14-5) 25
Challenging week up next

22. Barrington (14-4) NR
Beat New Trier

23. Lake Forest (15-5) NR
Consistently good program

24. York (17-4) 24
Couldn’t handle Downers Grove North

25. Crystal Lake South (19-2) NR
AJ Demirov is a force