High school basketball: Each decade's greatest dynasty going back to 1900

James Naismith invented basketball in 1891 and high school teams first began playing the sport around 1893. In the nearly 130 years since, the sport has seen the rise and fall of multiple dynasties that ruled the sport for decades at a time.

We set out to identify the top dynasties from each decade going all the way back to 1900, including programs that featured basketball legends like Jerry Lucas, Wilt Chamberlain and Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).

Read on for our look back at high school basketball history. 1900s: Central (Philadelphia)

State tournaments and national competition in the first decade of the 20th century was rare to nonexistent, but the major metropolitan areas crowned city champions. The Public League in Philadelphia began play in 1901 and Central won nine of the first 10 league championships and 12 of the first 16 league championships.

While Little Rock Central has long been known as a football and track and field powerhouse, it was also a basketball dynasty in the early part of the 20th century. The Tigers won six state championships over an 11-year period, including 1910, 1912, 1913, 1917, 1918 and 1920. Earl Quigley, a Hall of Fame coach who guided four different programs during his tenure at Little Rock, took over the basketball program in 1916 and led the school to four state championships, three of them during the decade. He posted an overall career record of 306-95. The 1917 team, the first under Quigley to win a state title, went 18-3 and outscored opponents 805-399. That set up a spectacular 1918 season in which Central outscored opponents by an average of 64-18. The Tigers beat Stuttgart in the state finals 99-7 and also had a 104-4 win over England, an 82-19 win over Pine Bluff and a 97-7 win over Argenta. High scorers for the 1918 season included "McCarron" (only first names given) and "Powell," who averaged 23 and 19 points, respectively.

The 1920s featured a number of outstanding programs across the country, including Blazer (Ashland, Ky.), Stockton (Calif.) and Lanier (Ga.), but none could match the success of Passaic, which set a national record of 159 straight wins that has never been threatened in the nearly 100 years since it was established. Known as the "Wonder Team" and coached by Prof. Ernest "Pop" Blood, Passaic began its streak in 1919 and it ended in 1925 after Blood had left the team. Blood coached from 1915 to 1924 and had a record of 200-1. The best team during the streak was the 1921-22 team, which outscored opponents 2,293-612 while going 33-0. Bobby Thompson led the team in scoring and became the first prep player to score over 1,000 points in a season. Blood is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and Passaic's accomplishment has also been enshrined.

After winning five state championships during the 1920s, the Lanier Poets did one better in the 1930s with six state titles. Lanier won back-to-back crowns in 1933 and 1934, added another in 1936 and then captured three in a row from 1938-40. Joseph Murrow, a 6-foot-8 center, earned all-state honors three straight seasons to lead the threepeat. Selby Buck coached the Poets for 30 seasons starting in 1930. He compiled a record of 499-140.

Middletown is probably best known for the end of its dynasty when it won state championships in 1952, 1953, 1956 and 1957 and put together a 76-game win streak behind the play of three-time All-American Jerry Lucas. But the Middletown dynasty established its roots in the 1940s when it won three state championships and appeared in four title games. The Middies won their first crown in 1944 when they knocked off an Alex Groza-led Martins Ferry team that had won 26 games in a row in the semifinals and beat Toledo Woodward in the final. Middletown went 24-1 in 1945, losing in the final, and then 26-0 and 19-6 in 1946 and 1947, respectively, with two more crowns.

Wilt Chamberlain is the most famous graduate of the Philadelphia school but the Big Dipper is hardly the only hardwood standout to play at Overbrook. The Panthers won city titles in 1954 and 1955 behind the play of Chamberlain and they might have won in 1953 if West Catholic had not quadruple-teamed Chamberlain throughout the game. Overbrook won three more city titles from 1958 to 1960 behind the play of future NBA players Wayne Hightower, Wali Jones and Walt Hazzard. The Panthers hold the No. 1 ranking for the decade over the likes of Crispus Attucks (Indianapolis), Middletown (Ohio) and McClymonds (Oakland).

Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) played a major role in three dynasties at the high school, college and professional level and it all started at Power Memorial. As a sophomore, Alcindor led the Panthers to the City title and then repeated as champions his junior year. Power Memorial eventually won 71 straight games before losing to DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.). During Alcindor's career, the Panthers went 96-6 under coach Jack Donohue. If the Alcindor years weren't enough, Power Memorial also went undefeated in 1970 (28-0) behind the play of future NFL center Len Elmore. The 1970 team was named in some circles as the No. 1 team in the nation, joining the 1963 and 1964 teams with that honor. The Panthers won five Catholic High School Athletic Association championships during the decade.

The Stags could easily be the team of the 1960s considering it sandwiched national championship teams in 1962 and 1965 around Power Memorial's two national title teams and also defeated Power Memorial in the "Game of the Century" in 1965. However legendary coach Morgan Wootten might have had his three best teams in the 1970s. The 1978 team that went 28-0 was Wootten's first undefeated team. The squad was incredibly balanced with no All-American players, but 10 total players who saw equal amounts of playing time. The 1972 and 1973 teams posted back-to-back 30-1 seasons behind the play of All-American Adrian Dantley.

Under the guidance of coach Willie West, the Cougars won six Southern Section championships in the 1970s and added five more in the 1980s. Crenshaw also won four state titles in the 1980s behind the play of All-Americans John Williams (1984) and Stephen Thompson (1986). West coached 37 years at Crenshaw and finished with a record with 803-140. Crenshaw edges out Dunbar (Baltimore, Md.) and Camden (N.J.) for the top spot.

The Warriors began play in 1976-77 and by the 1990s they were winning national championships. Oak Hill Academy earned a No. 1 national ranking in 1993, 1994 and 1999. The 1993 team went 36-0 behind the play of Jerry Stackhouse for the best record in school history. The 1999 team also went unbeaten at 31-0 with Travis Watson earning All-American honors. The Warriors had three All-Americans on the 1994 team in Ron Mercer, Mark Blount and Curtis Staples. The Warriors posted a record of 314-20 during the decade.

St. Anthony could challenge Oak Hill Academy for dominance in the 1990s but Bob Hurley's squad was also tremendous in the 2000s as well. The Friars won four state championships during the decade and finished the 2008 season at No. 1 in the country with a 32-0 record. The team featured six players that went on to play Division I basketball. Hurley went on to win 28 state championships at St. Anthony and is the state's all-time winningest coach.

The 2010s have a pair of teams of the decade to account for the two directions that competitive basketball took. One direction included teams, like Montverde, that focused on national competition and did not compete in state association playoffs while powerhouses like Mater Dei faced the best teams in the country, but also competed in state playoffs. Mater Dei won four state championships during the 2010s and also finished No. 1 overall in 2013-14. Meanwhile Montverde finished No. 1 in the MaxPreps national rankings four times.