With the 2019-2020 season ending early because of the increased cases of Covid-19 and the now looming Covid Pandemic, the team here at LSA decided to have some fun and rank the top five teams of the 2010s. The critera of this includes teams who played games in the decade. For example; the 2009-2010 Immanuel Palatine Bobcats would be eligible for the list, since they played 18 of their 35 games in 2010. Another team which is eligible for this list would be the 2019-2020 Springfield Our Savior's Eagles, who played 13 of their 33 games in 2019, both these teams are allowed onto this list by our critera.
The LSA Selection Committee has concluded that the teams' records will be important to the rankings, but the strength of conference and strength of schedule will also play a major factor into the order of this list. Also State Tournament and National Tournament success will also hold a considerable amount of weight on this list.
Now that the basics have been layed out, let us begin with the top 5 teams of the 2010s in LSA basketball.
1. Rockford Lutheran Crusaders 37-2 (2016)
The 2015-2016 Rockford Lutheran Crusaders finished the season 37-2. That one regular season loss was against Cedar Rapids Iowa, in which the Crusaders finished the Illinois season undefeated and won their final 28 games of the season. Zach Reidenbach was the State Tournament MVP for Rockford and was the horse this team leaned on throughout the tournament, putting up 12 points per game, while bringing in 13 rebounds and 5 blocks. This Rockford squad was strong and fast, and handled pressure better than any team we've seen this past decade.
Not a single player on this team averaged over 13 points per game in the regular season, with 3 guys averging 12 points per game, this includes Reidenbach, but also other guards Bryce Broege, and Eric Nystrom. This team in the State Tournament were a tough out, handling Good Shepard Pekin by 54 and Chester St. John's by 48 in the first two rounds. In the Semi-finals the Crusaders beat the host team Arlington Heights by 34 to play the Adam Miller led Christ Lutheran Comets, who will be mentioned later. In the State Championship, Rockford jumped out to an early 6 point lead, and held that the rest of the way, winning the ballgame 54-50.
A 34-1 record, a team that won it's final 28 games of the season. Had 10 guys that played a lot of key minutes, and also won the first three games of the State Tournament by 130 points, deserves to be the #1 team. Rockford would eventually win it's next three games at Nationals, but once again fell victim to Cedar Rapids in the National Championship, finishing with a record of 37-2.
2. Christ Lutheran Comets 34-4 (2016)
The 2016 State Runner-ups and 3rd place National Champions finished the season at 34-4. These losses included Rockford Lutheran (twice) Cedar Rapids once and Immanuel Seymour of Indiana. The Comets average margin of victory was 39 points per game, led by Adam Miller, who averaged north of 24 points per game, and brought in 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 7 steals. Adam Miller would end up winning the 2016 LSA State Player of the Year, as a 7th grader. This Comets team was led by Miller, but also was a deep team in the starting five. Kaevion Mack and Alisander Hagan were both over 11 points per game for the Comets.
Christ Lutheran handled Immanuel Palatine and St. John's Lombard in the first two rounds, by 35 and 38 respectively. The Comets ran into the 2016 Our Savior's Eagles in the Semifinals, and with their suffocating defense, held the Eagles to 36 points and picked up an impressive victory. This victory led the Comets to face off against the #1 team on this list, the 2016 Rockford Lutheran Crusaders, in which they would lose by 4 points, after Adam Miller scored 12 straight fourth quarter points to keep the Comets in the game.
A 31-3 record heading into the National Tournament, improved as Christ won the first two games by 18 and 14 points. In the National Semifinals the Comets ran into Cedar Rapids who beat them by 13 points and sent the Comets into the 3rd place game, which the Comets won easily by 19 points. The 2016 Christ Lutheran Comets were a fast and athletic team, their only weakess was the lack of shooting on the perimeter, if Adam Miller couldn't find his shot, the Comets struggled, and the only games where Miller did not make a three=-pointer, were the 4 games Christ Lutheran lost in 2016.
3. Springfield Our Savior's 27-6 (2020)
On January 16th 2020, the Our Savior's Eagles were 13-5, over the next fifteen games, the Eagles would finish 14-1, including a Conference Championship over the heavy favorites Christ Lutheran Comets. The Eagles 27-6 record may look weak, but the 2019-2020 season was statisically the toughest LSA league we've had in the history of middle school basketball. After grueling through injury after injury, the Eagles found themselves 27-6 with a lock as the #1 seed in the 2020 State Tournament. On March 13th, 2020 the LSA State Tournament was canceled due to the increase of Covid-19 cases in the United States.
This Eagles team was led by Jace Easley (The Eagles all-time leading scorer and 2nd all-time assists leader) and Conor McCaffrey (The Eagles all-time assists leader, and 2nd all-time leading scorer). This previous sentence should say a lot. Jace Easley and Conor McCaffrey averaged 27.6 and 27.4 points per game as a duo. Easley averaged 11.2 rebounds while McCaffrey brought in 8.5. Easley averaged 6.5 assists, while McCaffrey brought in 10.2. These two were the Our Savior's Eagles, the Eagles were a basketball team, but Easley and McCaffrey were the Eagles.
This Eagles team won 16 conference games, the most in Our Savior's history, including the 2016 Eagles team that won 15. Some people might think we jumped the gun on this ranking, but the 14-1 Eagles team only loss was to Chatham Glenwood, a non-conference opponent who won the IESA Class 3 State Championship. This Eagles team was long-fast and could cover just about anything on the defensive side of the ball. On the offensive side, well Easley and McCaffrey have that covered, and it showed. This Eagles Team will be forgotten, but the amount of weight McCaffrey and Easley shouldered this season will forever be remembered.
4. Christ Lutheran 30-3 (2020)
The 2019-2020 Christ Lutheran Comets led the conference standings all the way up until the final week of the regular season. Until a Jace Easley-less Our Savior's went into Peoria and beat the Comets by 23 points on their home floor. The Eagles would end up taking over the conference standings and Christ would finish the season #2. The Comets led by State Player of the Year Lathan Sommerville and Nasail Jackson were a force to be reckoned with, this Christ Lutheran team was a lock as the #2 seed in the 2020 LSA State Tournament, the tournament that was canceled due to the rise in Covid-19 cases.
Christ Lutheran had put a target on the back of the Our Savior's Eagles team who had dethroned them from a conference title, Christ Lutheran had won 9 conference championships in a row and hadn't lost at home in a conference game since 2014. Lathan Sommerville brought in 23 points per game, and 14 rebounds, while blocking over 4 shots and shooting 78% from the floor. Nasail Jackson was the teams defender, scoring 13 points per game, but bringing in 10 rebounds and 5 steals, but holding offensive players to 34% from the floor. Our Savior's Conor McCaffrey was the only player to shoot over 40% from the floor with Jackson as the primary defender.
Christ Lutheran also won 16 conference games in 2020, sending them into a tie-breaker with the Eagles, as mentioned prior. This Christ Lutheran team would have entered the State Tournament as a #2 seed, but this Comets team lacked one major aspect of good basketball teams, and that was the heart but into the basketball game. The losses to Rockford and Fort Wayne were good losses and valuable learning moments, but the loss at home to Our Savior's at the end of the season was because they overlooked the Eagles without Jace Easley and lost the game because of their lack of heart. A talented Comets team that let a higher ranking on this list slip away.
5. 2013 Immanuel Palatine Bobcats 32-5 (2013)
The 2013 Immanuel Palatine Bobcats were undersized, weaker than their opponents, but this team had the heart and the coaching to will themselves to a State Title. From a team that lacked a true center, to a team who lost it's leading scorer to a broken wrist in January, this team is a perfect cinderalla story. This Bobcats team showed so much heart and so much confidence in their own abilites, that they knocked off teams 10x better than them.
Defeating Good Shepard Pekin by 26 and Chicago Holy Family by 26, the Bobcats went into the State Semifinals as the #6 seed, matched up against the #3, #2 and #1 seeds. The Bobcats drew Zion Marengo in the State Semifinals, the #3 seed in the State. Zion had a record of 31-2, but their strength of schedule was considerably weaker than the rest of the teams in the field, and it showed, the Bobcats showed up and took care of buisness, winning by 26 again, and holding Marengo to 27 points.
In the State Finals, the Bobcats played the #1 seed, Christ Lutheran who they ended up beating 46-34 and winning by 12. This Immanuel Palatine Bobcats team is the picture perfect definintion of a cinderella team winning it all. This team was led by Brett Hensley, Dylan Tapia, and Joshua Turner. Another stat worth mentioning is the fact that not a single Palatine player reached the top ten in total points over the tournament. The Bobcats made it to the National Tournament, but were defeated in both games, losing by 14 and 12 points. Even though this Bobcats team lost in Nationals, their State Title run will forever be remembered.
This concludes the top five teams of the decade, if you wish to message us, check out our website at Luthsports.Org, where you can message us directly. Please note, if you message us with any ill-intent or harsh words, we will ignore your message.