Dec. 26 -- Sports Editor unveils The News-Gazette's latest Top 10 area high school boys' basketball poll before holiday tournaments tip off:

and the Blue Devils entered Christmas fresh off a 66-33 win at Schlarman last Friday. Now, BHRA will deal with Milford and Phalen Academy (Ind.) on Thursday during the first day of the Heritage/BHRA Holiday Tournament before playing Providence Cristo (Ind.) and Irvington Prep (Ind.) on Friday.

and the Warriors continued their superb play last weekend with a 60-41 home win against Altamont and a 78-39 win at Tri-County. The Warriors will play Oakwood and Ridgeview on Thursday at the Monticello Holiday Hoopla before taking on the host Sages on Friday afternoon in their final pool-play game.

and the Purple Riders had their eight-game win streak snapped with a 42-31 loss against Lawrenceville last Saturday at the Redskin Christmas Shootout in Sullivan. Arcola starts Dieterich Holiday Tournament play on Thursday against Ramsey before facing Sullivan and Red Hill on Friday.

and the Maroons cruised to a 76-33 win at Bloomington last Friday in Big 12 play to avoid a two-game losing streak ahead of the Centralia Holiday Tournament. Central will need to play well late Thursday in its first-round game against Harding (Tenn.) that is set to tip off at 9:15 p.m.

and the Spartans easily defeated Beecher 73-34 last Saturday to halt a two-game losing streak after a 45-44 overtime loss at Normal U-High last Friday night. SJ-O returns to Normal on Thursday, opening play at the State Farm Holiday Classic with a first-round game against Winnebago at noon.

and the Panthers edged closer to the double-digit win mark with a 61-45 home nonconference win against Blue Ridge on Monday afternoon. No holiday tournament games for LeRoy this week, with the Panthers returning to the court on Jan. 3 with a home nonconference game against Clinton.

and the Falcons carry a three-game win streak into its Thursday game against rival Paxton-Buckley-Loda at the Monticello Holiday Hoopla. This is after GCMS defeated St. Thomas More 55-41 at the Eureka College Shootout last Saturday and topped El Paso-Gridley 56-52 at home last Friday.

and the Tigers won their own six-team Winter Wonderland Shootout last weekend, and have won four straight games by double digits. They'll bring those good vibes into the Tri-County Holiday Tournament, with games on Friday against Martinsville and Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg in Kansas.

and the Trojans are proving they're for real, with a 58-57 home win against Oakwood last Friday the latest example. A-P will try to avenge a Dec. 13 loss to Salt Fork when the two teams meet Thursday in Broadlands in the first of five games the Trojans will play at the Heritage/BHRA Holiday Tournament.

and the Cornjerkers began Vermilion Valley Conference play with an impressive 51-48 home win against Salt Fork last Friday. After placing seventh at the Watseka Holiday Tournament on Dec. 16, Hoopeston Area is off until it resumes VVC play with a game at Oakwood on Jan. 7.