AND THE WINNERS ARE ...
The countdown continues: The top 50 area teams of the last 10 years, based strictly on their W’s
We are counting down the 50 winningest high school basketball programs over the last decade, starting with the 2010- 11 season and concluding with the 2019- 20 season. Every team in every class throughout the area will be broken down in a variety of ways. Total wins — with winning percentage as a tiebreaker — determined the rankings.
The teams are being counted down from No. 50 to No. 1 every day at suntimes. com, with a collection of five appearing every week in the print edition.
44. OAK PARK ( 186- 93)
Decade’s biggest story: The biggest, most dramatic moment of the decade came in 2017, when the Huskies stunned top- seeded Curie in the sectional. Cameron Gross scored the go- ahead basket with 15 seconds remaining in overtime to advance to the sectional final, where Oak Park lost to Young to finish with 24 wins on the season.
Player of the decade: Gabe Levin ( 2012).
All- decade team: Levin ( 2012), Ka’Darryl Bell ( 2012), Erick Locke ( 2014), Cameron Gross ( 2016) and Anthony Roberts ( 2019).
43. NORTH CHICAGO ( 186- 123)
Decade’s biggest story: The run in 2011- 12 ended with an appearance in the Class 3A state championship — a program first. Although the Warhawks and star Aaron Simpson lost in the final to Peoria, it’s the best state finish in school history.
Player of the decade: Aaron Simpson ( 2012). All- decade team: Simpson ( 2012), Kurt Hall ( 2014), JaVairius Amos- Mays ( 2014), JayQuan McCloud ( 2014) and Tyrek Cooper ( 2018).
42. ST. JOSEPH ( 187- 121)
Decade’s biggest story: The passing of Gene Pingatore, a legendary basketball figure and the all- time winningest coach in state history, was one of the state’s biggest basketball stories of the decade. Pingatore was set to begin his 51st season at St. Joseph, where he won 1,035 games and a pair of state championships and guided the Chargers to six top- four state finishes. But the iconic and respected Pingatore died suddenly in the summer of 2019.
Player of the decade: Nick Rakocevic ( 2016). All- decade team: Joe Edwards ( 2011), Reggie Johnson ( 2012), Glynn Watson ( 2015), Jordan Ash ( 2015) and Rakocevic ( 2016).
41. ZION- BENTON ( 187- 109)
Decade’s biggest story: After the best decade ( 2000- 2010) in program history, which saw the Zee- Bees average 25 wins a year with seven regional and three sectional titles, including a second- place Class 4A finish in 2008, it was the individual talent that took an even bigger step forward in the last decade. There were five Division I players this past decade compared to just one right out of high school in the previous decade.
Player of the decade: Milik Yarbrough ( 2014). All- decade team: Yarbrough ( 2014), Admiral Schofield ( 2015), Rod Henry- Hayes ( 2017), Damontae Taylor ( 2020) and Amar Augillard ( 2021).
40. JACOBS ( 188- 116)
Decade’s biggest story: The decade produced the school’s first and only sectional championship in 2017. The Golden Eagles won a schoolrecord 30 games. Jacobs beat Rockton- Hononegah and rolled past Larkin to win the Elgin Sectional before falling to Fremd in a 36- 35 supersectional overtime heartbreaker.
Player of the decade: Cameron Krutwig ( 2017).
All- decade team: Chris Orange ( 2015), Krutwig ( 2017), Ryan Phillips ( 2018), Nik Balkcom ( 2018) and Jaden Henderson ( 2020).