Illinois Preps Insider’s girls basketball top-20: Final regular season rankings

Well it was quite the regular season. We said it earlier this year, outside of the top-5 everything else was up for grabs and the last week of the regular season held true to that statement.

With so much variation from week to week, the final regular season ranking try to reflect a teams overall performance over the season rather then being dropped after a poor few days.

Furthermore, since playoffs can be so hit or miss, I like to think this is the best representation of a team’s performance rather then a team having a very good three week run.

Like previous rankings, strength of schedule, good wins vs. bad losses and improvement from the beginning of the season are all major factors, but there is much less influence from their performance in the previous week.

1. Montini (28-2) 1

Finished the regular season undefeated in the state of Illinois and have already defeated some downstate competition.

2. Maine West (26-1) 2

Double digit wins against the likes of Evanston, Trinity, Benet, Marist and beat the defending Wisconsin state champions. It’s been a pretty special year in Des Plaines.

3. Proviso East (25-2) 3

Haven’t lost in the new year. Were actually down at halftime to Glenbard West before outscoring them by 20 in the second half.

4. Nazareth (25-2) 4

Will challenge the likes of Morton and Richwoods in 3A

5. Geneva (24-3) 5

Little bit of a struggle in the middle portion of the season, but finished strong.

6. Benet (25-4) 6

Had some major injury struggles this year but they are finally healthy and back on track. If they shoot well they could give Montini a challenge in sectionals.

7. Wheaton-Warrenville South (24-3) 8

Maybe the best defensive team in the area? Teams just struggle to score against the Tigers.

8. Loyola (22-5) 9

Had some struggles in January but finished strong with wins over Ignatius and Mother McAuley.

9. Bolingbrook (21-4) 11

Struggled in the last few weeks of the regular season, but second win over Lincoln-Way East will put them into a good position going into playoffs.

10. Lincoln-Way East (25-4) 7

Really missing that signature win that would have bumped them up higher in the final rankings.

11. Marist (21-6) 11

Set up really well for the future, still a very young team.

12. Mother McAuley (22-7) 12

Some really good wins (Nazareth, Geneva) and some questionable losses (Fenwick, but who didn’t lose to them) leaves them right in the middle of the top-20

13. Naperville Central (25-5) 14

Another team that’s really lacking that signature win. Beat WWS but that was a long time ago.

14, Lincoln-Way West (26-3) 13

I’m sensing a theme…Lincoln-Way West hasn’t lost in a really long time, but they really haven’t played anyone of note. It will be interesting to se how they perform in regionals and sectionals.

15. Simeon 15 (20-6)

May have lost their final game of the regular season, but their 2-0 record over Kenwood gives them the edge in the final rankings.

16. Kenwood (25-5) 16

Won their potential regional final preview over St. Ignatius. Really intrigued to see if both teams showed their full arsenal.

17. New Trier (22-5) 19

Played pretty well this season against teams not named Evanston. Those just happened to be the only New Trier games I got to this season, which is why they were out of the rankings for awhile.

18. Glenbard West (23-5) 17

We were waiting for them to play a really good team and it happened against Proviso East, it didn’t go well so they drop down in comparison to where they’ve been this season. Not how you want to go into playoffs.

19. Evanston 19-8 NR

I could not get over the loss to Niles West for the longest time, but if you look at the quality of their wins (Loyola, Benet New Trier x2), they have had a pretty nice season and have improved greatly.

20. Trinity (18-7) 18

It was a tough call for this last spot, but Trinity gets it. They had a little hiccup against Harlan towards the end of the season, but they have really improved since when I first saw them against Loyola.