Chicago high school basketball rankings: Michael O’Brien’s Super 25 for Jan. 12, 2020

Oak Forest makes its debut and two teams return to the Super 25.

By Michael O’Brien

Oak Forest’s Juan Avila (23) works the ball around Oak Lawn’s Trey Ward (3).

New additions

Oak Forest (15-1): The Bengals have had a really nice record for quite awhile they just lacked any marquee wins and the loss to Rich East lingered. Jayson Kent, Robbie and Juan Avila blew that all away by dominating on Friday in Oak Lawn.

Cary-Grove (14-2): Beau Frericks and Frank Jakubicek are back in the Super 25. Cary-Grove has won 12 of its last 13 games, the only loss coming to rapidly rising Waubonsie Valley.

Simeon (10-6): The Wolverines are back after a nice win against Hillcrest on Sunday.

Dropping out

Bolingbrook (12-4): Tough decision here. The Raiders lost to Neuqua Valley in a wild overtime game. They face Lincoln-Way East on Friday and that could get them back in the Super 25 quickly.

Fenwick (13-4): Bryce Hopkins and Trey Pettigrew are so talented that I gave the Friars the benefit of the doubt for awhile. The home loss to Leo has made that impossible for now. This team is young and loaded with potential, but needs a big win to get back into the rankings.

Oak Lawn (14-4): It was a very rough week for the Spartans, who were dominated by Oak Forest at home and then lost to Brooks.

With record and last week’s ranking

1. Curie (14-1) 1
Elijah Pickens can play

2. Evanston (16-0) 2
Beat Niles North

3. Notre Dame (17-2) 3
At Fremd on Tuesday

4. Bogan (16-2) 4
Lost at Curie

5. Homewood-Flossmoor (13-1) 5
Survived vs. St. Laurence

6. Thornton (16-0) 6
Hosts H-F on Tuesday

7. Bloom (16-4) 7
Took down Rich East

8. Young (9-6) 9
DJ Steward sparkled Saturday

9. DePaul Prep (15-2) 11
Dominated Deerfield

10. Lincoln Park (14-3) 12
Winning during adversity