The holiday tournaments shook up the Ballin4God rankings, and several teams felt the impact. Pinckneyville took the biggest fall, slipping out of the rankings entirely after sitting at 7–6 and receiving votes previously. Marion also dropped, sliding to #5 after going 1–4 in its last five games as the competition stiffened over the break.

Pinckneyville — The Duster Thomas Hoops Classic Championship delivered the drama.

With Week One of high school boys basketball being wrapped up, we will release our second poll of the season. The top three teams remain the same, but many teams still haven't played their first game yet so expect to see some big changes still to come.

The Woodlawn Cardinals opened their season with a 66–46 win over Metro-East Lutheran, and honestly they looked in control pretty much the whole night. The biggest difference was the defense. Woodlawn’s length and activity threw Metro-East off from the start, forcing over 20 turnovers.

This year’s preseason field has a strong balance of returning talent across all classes, and we’re excited for what should be an electric basketball season in Southern Illinois.