Preps 24/7: Girls hoops rankings, the season finale

Several of the top teams in our final list are just a few degrees of separation away from the teams in Saturday's Class 3A state championship game, Montini and Hillcrest.

The Broncos captured their first state title a few hours before Bolingbrook capped a 29-1 season with a 60-50 victory against Whitney Young for the 4A crown. Tri-Cities players and coaches who didn't make the trip downstate could watch the action on WPWR-Channel 50.

KCChronicle.com is the only place you can get these rankings, however, so here they are. Let the debating begin through the offseason:

10. Aurora Christian: SCC sportsmanship award softens fall of a rough ending to the Eagles' season.

9. Kaneland: A new conference and a core of returners, namely budding sophomore center Kelly Evers, figure to be good medicine for 2010-11.

8. St. Francis: Spartans ought to take this time to get a jump on solving their seasonlong struggles with sluggish starts.

7. Batavia: Liz Barnes' injury in the regional play-in game followed a solid outing in the regular season finale against Geneva.

6. Burlington Central: Graduation of seasoned guards means Rockets should rely quite a bit on posts Settanni and Thasavong next winter.

5. Aurora Central Catholic: Talk about a turnaround. Coach Fitzgerald and his Chargers built momentum in the hopes of turning the SCC on its head next year.

4. St. Charles East: Senior starters Baltes, Roan, Rust, Schnier and Sigona had played together since their middle school days at Wredling.

3. Rosary: Another senior-heavy group waves goodbye to several standouts, including Washington University-bound Jordan Rettig.

2. St. Charles North: Ohsoclose to a regional final upset and No. 1 mark, the North Stars clamped down on Geneva in the season's best game.

1. Geneva: Ultimately, the Vikings know 31-1 ain't bad; it's just not what this dynamic group set out to accomplish.