Basketball: Princeton back on top 2A rankings

Princeton is back on top in this week’s AP Class 2A boys basketball poll.

After being bumped to No. 2 in last week’s poll following their loss to Normal U-High, the Tigers moved back to the No. 1 position they held for three weeks in this week’s rankings, which were announced today.

Princeton (27-1) received six of 14 first-place votes cast and 128 points.

Fairbury Prairie Central (25-2) received five first-place votes and 121 points to move up from No. 3 to No. 2.

The other first places went to No. 3 Breese Central (23-4), which knocked off last week’s No. 1 Columbia, with one vote (97 points) and No. 4 Normal U-High (20-7), which handed Princeton its only loss, with two (90 points).

Columbia (25-3) slipped to No. 5 with 78 points. Rounding out the top 10 are Rockford Christian (26-1), St. Joseph-Ogden (22-4), Rockridge (21-4), Pontiac (20-6) and Pinckneyville (24-3).

Decatur Lutheran gained seven first-place votes to remain No. 1 in 1A while Lisle Benet Academy (26-1) received all 12 first-place votes in 4A. Metamora (25-2), last year’s state runner-up, flipped spots with Chicago Simeon (24-3) to take over the top spot in 3A.

After being shut out last week, the Princeton girls (26-3) received 11 points to come in 11th best, just outside No. 10 Paris (25-3) with 18 points.

Quincy Notre Dame (28-1) received all 11 first-place votes (110 points) in 2A with Byron (28-4) moving up one spot to No. 3 with 83 points and Fieldcrest (27-3) also improving from one spot to No. 6 with 47 points.

The other three top-ranked girls teams retained their spots with Galena (29-1) in 1A, Nazareth (26-1) in 3A and Palatine Fremd (27-2) in 4A.