Illinois High School Basketball

The abbreviated, frantic high school basketball season is complete in the state of Illinois. One last time, we’re here to highlight top performers in Illinois.

Each week, Illinois-Basketball.com sends emails to the vast majority of coaches in the state of Illinois looking for the some of the top performances from players in the state.

An email was sent to every coach with an email listed on the IHSA website. Any emails omitted can be pointed out to the writer at kalebcarter4256@gmail.com to be added to our database for the future.

We’ve identified 22 deserving athletes between boys and girls basketball from the last week of the season, with a few milestones and accomplishments from the past week. 

Check out who we recognized last week. 

We’re always looking to update information on our website, be it missing players on the commitment lists, former Illinois preps players competing at the college levels that we omitted, or all-conference teams for the 2021 season that aren’t on the website yet. You can send any of this info and more to kalebcarter4256@gmail.com, nudnik.jakub@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ILL_HS_Hoops.

Illinois Girls Player of the Week Nominees

• Whitney Dunn, Kenwood (3A): Scored 26, had 5 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals in leading a fourth-quarter comeback at Simeon in a 73-66 victory; Had 21 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 rebounds in a 63-16 victory over Brooks Prep; 14 points, 4 steals in a 69-43 vs. Lindblom.

• Timia Ware, Whitney Young (4A): Scored 34 in a win to end the season.

• Xamiya Walton, Butler College Prep (2A): Led her team to a Noble League Tournament championship, had 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals vs. Pritzker; 29 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals vs. UICCP; 28 points, 6 rebounds, 9 steals, 6 assists vs. Speer; had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals in the conference championship win over Comer; Also, Camille Jackson reached 1,000 points, including a 13-point, 10-rebound, 3-steal effort in the final; The 5-11 junior post scored 20, had 8 steals and 6 assists in the semis win over Speer; 18 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists vs. UICCP and 8 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals against Pritzker. 

• Reina Grunfeld, Amundsen (3A): Scored 13 points in a 40-31 win over Schurz; Put up a team-high 10 in a 42-17 win against Mather; Dropped 14 points in a 52-45 loss to Westinghouse; pushed team to 12-5 overall record, 9-0 in conference play. 

• Desiree Bryant, Austin College and Career (1A): 34 points, 24 rebounds, 5 blocks on the week.

Illinois Boys Player of the Week Nominees

• Phillip Taylor, Lindblom (3A): Scored 20 points and hauled in a school-record 19 rebounds in a 54-51 win vs. Urban Prep-Englewood; Coach Zack Linderman won his 200th game. 

• William Bates, Bremen (3A): Finished up a strong season in which he posted 20.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.5 apg and hit 28 3-pointers; Also, DeMarco Mason averaged 10.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.0 spg.

• Kevin Gentry, Austin College and Career (1A): 33 points, 12 assists, 3 steals in two games, including 20 points, 5 assists and 3 steals in a 62-56 win; Also, Tyjuan Freeman had 29 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. 

• Davius Loury, Kenwood (3A): In wins over Lincoln Park (87-64), Corliss (74) and Lindblom, had points/rebounds/assists totals of 19/10/3,  22/10/4 and 15/7/3 respectively; Averaged 16.3 ppg, 10 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2.0 bpg and 1.2 spg on the season. 

• Jovon White, Perspectives Leadership Academy (1A): Scored 14, added 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals, 2 assists in a 73-63 win over MSA/Joslin; had 16 rebounds, 3 assists vs. CHSAS; Had 28 points, 7 rebounds, 8 steals, 6 assist and 2 blocks; Posted 12 points, 21 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals; Had 14 points, 18 rebounds in 59-48 loss to Fenger;  Also, JaQuwan Payton scored 28 points, had 5 steals, 3 assists, 2 rebounds vs. MSA/Joslin; scored 18 points vs. Fenger. 

• Jalen Kimbrough, Noble Bulls Prep (3A): Scored 15 and was named MVP of the Noble League Championship game, a 43-35 win over Comer; Posted 16 and had the game-winning basket in a 48-47 win over Johnson College Prep; Scored 30 in a 80-56 victory vs. Hansberry; Scored 10 in another win over Noble Butler.

• Keyonta Ellis, Ogden (3A): Eclipsed 1,000 points in a 52-38 win in his final game; had scoring totals of 32 and 23.

• Terrell Taylor, Clemente (2A): Scored 18 and had 5 rebounds, 4 assists in a 53-51 win over Wells; Scored 38 vs. Crane and 26 in a 62-52 loss to Curie;  Also, Trey Spires had 23 points, 16 assists, 7 steals and 6 rebounds in an 82-66 win over Crane; put up 19 vs. Curie.

• Jerell Edwards, Dunbar (2A): Had 21 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals in a 61-47 victory against Lindblom; 18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks, 3 steals vs. Catalyst Maria; 31 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks in 52-38 win over Kennedy.

• Ahmad Bynum, Simeon (3A): Scored 15, had 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals in 65-37 win over Phillips; Had 10 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals in 61-57 win over Brooks; 14 points, 6 rebounds as Simeon beat Morgan Park 56-46.

• Rasheed Rice, Catalyst Maria (2A): 28 points, 6 rebounds in 56-48 victory over Tilden.

• Darrion Jones, Bogan (3A): The final points of his high school career made the different in a 61-57 win over Morgan Park in which he had 29 points and 6 rebounds; Produced 22 points, 5 rebounds in 53-47 overtime win against Hyde Park; Had 16 points as Bogan defeated Phillips 52-26.