The winningest high school basketball programs of the decade: No. 27 Burlington Central

When high school basketball fans think back to the 1980s, programs like Quincy, Providence St. Mel, East St. Louis Lincoln and the arrival of city powers King and Simeon are easy to think back on.

The 1990s brought us memorable basketball giants in Peoria Manual and Thornton, a few steamrolling Proviso East teams and the continued dominance of King.

The first 10 years of the 2000s included Glenbrook North, Peoria High and the beginning of a Simeon juggernaut.

Earlier this year we broke down the decade’s best teams and best players. Now, with every season of the past decade complete, it’s time to look at the Chicago area programs who won the most.

This list is comprised of the 50 winningest programs over the past 10 years, starting with the 2010-11 season and concluding with the 2019-20 season. Every team in every class throughout the Chicago area will be broken down in a variety of ways. But total wins, with winning percentage used as tie-breaker, determined the rankings.

We present No. 27 Burlington Central today and will add one program a day going forward.

27. BURLINGTON CENTRAL: 207-92

Decade’s biggest storyline: The 2017-18 team set a school record for wins with 28 and came so close to winning the program’s first-ever sectional championship. The Rockets, led by Zach Schutta and Patrick Mayfield, reached the sectional championship where it fell to Rockford Boylan, 57-55, before a standing-room only crowd.

Underrated highlight:There are very few programs in the state who can say it wrapped up the final five years of the decade by averaging 26 wins a year with five consecutive seasons of 23 or more wins. Throw in a pair of sectional title game appearances and the past five years have produced the highest level of winning in Burlington Central basketball history.

Player of the Decade:Zach Schutta (2018)

All-Decade Team:Ray Hunnicutt (2012), Ryan Fitzgerald (2016), Zach Schutta (2018), Patrick Mayfield (2019) and Jake Lenschow (2020)

Other decade highlights

-Zach Schutta became the school’s all-time leading scorer with over 1,600 points and the winningest player in program history with 94 wins.

-Burlington Central played in three different conferences over the course of the decade, including the Fox Valley Conference, Kishwaukee River Conference and the Big Northern East Conference. The Rockets won four conference championships.