Michael O’Brien’s Super 25 high school basketball rankings for Dec. 4, 2022

Lincoln-Way East joins and Benet leaps into the top ten.

Simeon’s Wes Rubin (10) lines up and hits a three.

Simeon’s Wes Rubin (10) lines up and hits a three.

Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

Well, the Super 25 currently contains no results nullification and that’s always great. Other than that I’m not sure how solid everything is. It’s a long, long season and we are still getting a handle on all the teams.

The biggest decision on the top end today was over the third spot. It was a tough decision between Joliet West and Young. The Tigers have a stronger overall resume with wins against St. Rita, Metamora, St. Louis Cardinal Ritter and Romeoville. But Young’s game against Kenwood came down to the final second and Joliet West lost to the Broncos by six.

I was at both games though, and there were long stretches where the Tigers outplayed Kenwood and that wasn’t the case in the Young game. So that, along with the better resume, has Joliet West in the three spot for now.

Benet received a fairly big jump, leaping from 13 to 8. I reserve the right to move a team up or down drastically the first time I seen them play. There is no reason to remain beholden to preseason rankings that were basically a guess. The Redwings looked very good.

Lincoln-Way East joins after beating Oswego East. West Aurora drops out after losing to the Wolves and to Yorkville.

The Foxes, Marist, DeKalb, Waubonsie Valley and Barrington are all teams I have an eye on that might have cracked the rankings if other teams had fallen out.

Super 25 for Dec. 4, 2022
With record and last week’s ranking

1. Simeon (3-0) 1
Wes Rubin is deadly from three

2. Kenwood (4-0) 3
Calvin Robins delivered

3. Joliet West (5-2) 2
Already battle-tested

4. Young (3-1) 5
Two buzzer beaters already

5. St. Rita (2-3) 4
Don’t give up on the Mustangs

6. Brother Rice (7-0) 6
Hosts St. Rita Friday

7. Rolling Meadows (7-0) 7
Beat Glenbrook South

8. Benet (7-0) 13
Impressed at CEC

9. Hillcrest (5-0) 9
Handled Oak Lawn

10. St. Ignatius (5-1) 8
Faces R-B on Saturday

11. Curie (5-2) 10
Talented but not clicking yet

12. Glenbrook North (6-0) 12
Hosts Evanston Thursday

13. Bolingbrook (4-1) 14
Keon Alexander stepping up

14. Bloom (4-1) 15
Knocked off Thornton

15. Oak Lawn (5-1) 16
Fell short vs. Hillcrest

16. Marian Catholic (5-1) 17
Balanced group

17. Mount Carmel (5-1) 18
Lee Marks adds a lot

18. New Trier (5-1) 20
Faces Rolling Meadows Saturday

19. Evanston (6-0) 21
Quietly coming together

20. Lincoln-Way East (4-1) NR
Knocked off Oswego East

21. Oswego East (6-1) 11
Beat West Aurora twice

22. Lyons (4-0) 22
At Glenbard West Saturday

23. Hyde Park (4-1) 23
Jurrell Baldwin can play

24. Proviso East (3-1) 24
Had the week off

25. Lemont (6-0) 25
Plays Lane on Saturday

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