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.
Now, with the calendar inching closer to wrapping up an unforgettable 2020, the end of this month closes out another decade. And it’s another high school basketball time period to look back on.
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. 31 Northridge Prep today and will add one program a day going forward.
31. NORTHRIDGE PREP: 206-86
Decade’s biggest storyline: While the 2014-15 team is the staple for success and defensive efficiency — the Knights won 23 games and reached a sectional championship game while allowing a paltry 32.2 points a game — the program has statistically been one of the best defensive teams in the state. Incredibly, over the past 10 seasons coach Will Rey’s teams have never allowed more than 43.2 points a game in a season.
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Underrated highlight: This one falls under the underrated statistic category as James Stoll, who was a part of 42 wins and four different championships in two seasons, took an incredible 61 charges on the defensive end in two years.
Player of the Decade: Dylan Haig (2015)
All-Decade Team: James Stoll (2013), Steve Leazer (2014), Dylan Haig (2015), Joe Thursby (2018) and Dan Kane (2020)
Other decade highlights:
-Dylan Haig became the all-time winningest player in program history with 85 wins while winning five different championships in his career.
-The Knights won three regional championships in the decade.
