Four of the eight Class 4A sectional finals on Friday featured private schools against public schools. The private schools swept, with Benet, DePaul Prep, Marist and St. Ignatius all picking up wins.
All four schools will be favored in the supersectionals on Monday, so there is a strong possibility the Class 4A field in Champaign will be all private schools.
So far, there is no uproar from high school sports fans. The basketball landscape is different from football. Public high schools have dominated Illinois high school basketball since the state tournament began in 1908.
Benet’s Class 4A championship last season was the first big-school title won by a private school since St. Joseph’s AA title in 1999.
DePaul Prep, Benet and St. Ignatius have been regulars in the state semifinals for the past several years. Marist has never advanced to state before. The RedHawks lost to Proviso East in the supersectionals in 1981.
Five private schools advanced to supersectionals in the smaller classes. Leo and St. Francis are still alive in 3A, McNamara and Quincy Notre Dame in 2A and Routt in 1A.
These may be the glory years for private schools in Illinois high school basketball. How successful will they be? How long will it last? That’s all still to be seen. The Public League won every Class 4A state title but one from 2009 through 2017. Only Jalen Brunson’s Stevenson team in 2015 broke the CPS stranglehold.
Public League Champaign dreams
Curie’s loss to St. Ignatius eliminated CPS from Class 4A, but the Public League is very much alive in the state playoffs overall.
Hyde Park will face Leo in the Class 3A UIC supersectional on Monday. Crane and Farragut will face off in the Class 2A Joliet Central supersectional and Marshall takes on Indian Creek in the Class 1A Joliet Central supersectional.
The Cougars, led by All-City selections Brad Blackmon and Jamier Montgomery, are legitimate contenders to win Class 2A.
Star watching
The three biggest stars in the area next year will be Warren’s Jaxson Davis, Neuqua Valley’s Cole Kelly and Brady Pettigrew of Bolingbrook.
It’s still early, but right now from what I’m hearing, all three players will return to their high schools next year and not head to prep schools. Obviously, things can change over the next few months, but there seems to be a solid chance the area will hold on to its star power.
Davis said last week that he has no reason to leave. Kelly has referenced next year at Neuqua Valley several times in interviews and Pettigrew’s father, Titcus, is the head football coach at Bolingbrook and said on Friday that he “isn’t interested in the prep school thing.”
Keeping all three players in the state would be huge for Illinois high school basketball. And for anyone starting to get worked up about the public vs. private issue, it is worth noting that all three stars are at public schools.
Super 25 high school basketball rankings for March 8, 2026
With record and last week’s ranking
1. Benet (34-1) 1
Balance paid off
2. DePaul Prep (31-3) 2
Dominated at Loyola
3. St. Ignatius (31-4) 14
Beat Curie
4. Marist (30-5) 11
Richwoods up next
5. Curie (29-2) 3
City champs lost sectional
6. Kankakee (29-2) 4
Historic bid falls short
7. Bolingbrook (25-8) 8
Brady Pettigrew is a star
8. Neuqua Valley (32-2) 5
Lost at Bolingbrook
9. Warren (30-4) 6
Lost to Auburn
10. Homewood-Flossmoor (29-4) 7
Lost to Marist
11. Evanston (27-7) 12
Lost to DePaul Prep
12. Loyola (27-7) 9
Lost to Evanston in OT
13. New Trier (26-8) 10
Couldn’t hang with DePaul
14. York (31-4) 20
One game from Champaign
15. Hersey (22-7) 25
MSL’s best in playoffs
16. Fremd (28-3) 13
Lost to Hersey
17. Kaneland (34-0) 17
Morton, IL up next
18. St. Patrick (29-5) 15
Season complete
19. Palatine (29-5) 16
Lost to Hersey
20. Glenbard East (30-4) 18
Lost to York
21. Waukegan (24-8) 19
Lost to Guilford
22. St. Laurence (27-7) 24
Played Curie tough
23. Leo (27-6) NR
Beat Hillcrest
24. Hyde Park (25-9) NR
Faces Leo in super
25. Deerfield (23-11) NR
St. Francis up next