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. 46 Barrington today and will add one program a day going forward.
46. BARRINGTON: 184-109
Decade’s biggest storyline: It had been two decades since Barrington basketball played for a sectional championship when the Broncos advanced to the sectional title game in 2018. That team fell to Lake Zurich but finished with a decade-best 24 wins and the most wins in a season since the 2001-02 season.
Underrated decade highlight: People may not realize that Barrington has as many division titles — three Mid-Suburban League West championships — as any other program in the entire Mid-Suburban League over the past decade.
Player of the Decade: Brad Zaumseil (2013)
All-Decade Team: Brad Zaumseil (2013), Greg Gerrard (2011), Owen Prunskis (2011), Chris Lester (2015) and Damian Zivak (2021)
Other decade news and highlights: Overall, the Broncos experienced the most success in a decade — just over 18 wins a year, three division titles and pair of regional titles — since the 1970s.
