I'll do mostly local teams previews but if I know enough about a downstate team I'll do one of theirs. All times are Central. Most you can see on NFHSNetwork.com. Here we go:
CLASS 4A:
CREDIT UNION ONE ARENA (UIC):
#3 Homewood Flossmoor (30-4) vs #1 Curie (Chicago) (31-2) 7:30 pm: The matchup everyone has been waiting for all season. Big time debate on which is #1 in the area. It will be settled in this game. Guard play and wings will be key. Homewood Flossmoor comes with Columbia commit Gianni Cobb, juniors Jayden Tyler, and Bryce Heard. Curie comes with seniors Illinois Chicago commit Carlos Harris III, Christian Brockett, and Will Gonzalez. Curie puts pressure on guards with their quick hands and physical play without fouling. Homewood Flossmoor likes to play fast but sometimes can get out of control. They will have to be on their P's and Q's with their ball handling in this one. Both teams are good three point shooters. Inside players are Lewis commit senior Mac Hagemaster of Homewood Flossmoor and senior Taevion Collier of Curie who's a good rim protector. Key role players are seniors Carson Brownfield and Dominic Pangallo of Homewood Flossmoor, juniors Jahlil Jackson and Derrick Dowdell of Curie. If Homewood Flossmoor protects the ball and tempo they win, if not Curie will head to Champaign.
DEKALB (NIU):
#7 Warren Township (Gurnee) (31-4) vs #14 Palatine (26-8) 7:30 pm: Freshman Jaxson Davis of Warren has been special all year long. Plays like a seasoned veteran and is the leader of his team. The bright lights have not gotten to him yet. He just keeps being efficient. His backcourt partners are junior Javerion Banks an athletic player who can shoot threes, and sophomore Braylon Walker. They are young, make plays, and have low turnover rate. Seniors Immanuel Brown, and Alex Daniels are inside/out forces and spread out defenses. Junior Jack Wolf, who's the football quarterback, comes off the bench and hits threes as well as hit the glass. Palatine has Washington University St Louis commit Connor May who's a big time scorer and one of the best players in area. He'll need help from his comrades namely Tommy Elter and one other player. Candidates are junior Carter Monroe and sophomore Tony Balanganayi. Don't think May can score big and beat the balanced Warren attack, so he'll need a lot of assistance in this one. Warren plays told me at their football teams first home game they would meet me in Champaign. They are one game away.
HOFFMAN ESTATES (NOW ARENA):
#21 Glenbard North (Carol Stream) (22-11) vs #13 New Trier (Winnetka) (28-7) 7:30 pm: Both teams got here by hitting buzzer beating threes in Sectional Final. Glenbard North hit game winning threes in both their sectional games. Glenbard North is missing their top player Jalen Crues who has a wrist injury. They've managed with senior JJ Hernandez, junior Jack Schager both of whom hit those game winning threes, and sophomore Josh Abushanab who'll have to come up big to make their first trip ever to state finals. New Trier sophomore Chris Kirkpatrick has stepped his game up to another level in the playoffs dominating the regional, and hitting game winning three pointer in sectional final. Johns Hopkins commit senior Logan Feller has done it all this season and in the playoffs. Carnegie Melon commit senior Ian Brown can get hot from three as can junior Colby Smith. Senior William Leemaster does the dirty work inside and makes passes out to shooters. Sophomore Danny Houlihan is a three point sniper off the bench. New Trier is trying to make a return trip to Champaign.
NORMAL (ISU):
#5 North (Downers Grove) (31-4) vs state ranked Normal Community (30-5) 7:30 pm: North breezed through the toughest sectional in the state. They are looking for a return trip to Champaign. Princeton commit Jack Stanton has come alive in the playoffs with his shooting after a brief injury in mid season. Backcourt mate senior Owen Thulin, who runs the show and has no football rust, so is hitting the three. Senior Alex Miller is an outstanding catch and shooter from three point range. Senior Jake Riemer will have a tough task of dealing with the bigs of Normal Community. They own a win in the regular season over Normal by 5.. Normal is here by a miracle as Wright State commit senior Jaheem Webber had the ball thrown to him at the rim by Quincy and dunked the ball in at the buzzer to win by 1. Could this be a team of destiny? They are a huge team with Webber (6'10"), Noah Cleveland (6'9"), junior Kobe Walker (6'9") off bench. Guards are also big with Braylon Roman (6'5") and Saginaw Valley State commit Niko Newsome (6'6"). North will have to control the tempo and hit some threes to get a second win over this team.
CLASS 3A:
CREDIT UNION ARENA (UIC):
#6 Mount Carmel (Chicago) (30-5) vs #20 St Patrick (Chicago) (23-9) 6 pm: Mount Carmel has gotten through without senior Lee Marks IV. Northwestern commit Angelo Ciaravino has stepped up his game accordingly. Senior Christian Uremovich hit a basket to win sectional semifinal game vs neighborhood rival Hyde Park Academy (Chicago). Junior Grant Best is a knockdown three point shooter as well as on drives to the rim. Junior Cameron Thomas has stepped up also along with sophomore Noah Mister. Mount Carmel has not been to State Finals since they won in 1985. St Patrick has never been to the state finals and longtime coach Mike Bailey would love to get there. Regional and sectionals were not that hard for them but they are here. Young team led by veteran seniors AJ Thomas and Harper Krolak. They also have talented juniors EJ Breland, Neveah Hawkins, Cooper Kavanaugh, and Anthony Anderson.
HOFFMAN ESTATES (NOW ARENA):
#2 DePaul College Prep (Chicago) (32-2) vs #12 South (Crystal Lake) (31-3) 6 pm: Depaul Prep is looking for their third straight trip to Champaign, won Class 2A last year but moved a class up on success formula. They have allowed an average of 24 points a game throughout the playoffs. Defense just suffocates you. This is still a young team but experienced. Second year in a row they got healthy at end of regular season. Seniors PJ Chambers and Jaylan McElroy leads this junior laden crew. They are Robert Walls, Makai Kvamme, and Jonas Johnson. All have state title rings. Sophomores Rashaun Porter and AJ Chambers are key contributors. South has never been to the state finals. Offense runs through junior AJ Demirov, but he'll need more help offensively from his teammates to make history for their school. Candidates are senior Colton Hess, Christian Rohde, junior Tony Santarelli, and freshman Carson Trivellini off the bench.
OTTAWA TOWNSHIP:
#4 Thornton Township (Harvey) (29-4) vs state ranked Richwoods (Peoria) (28-4) 7 pm: This game will likely decide Illinois Mr Basketball. Illinois commit Morez Johnson Jr and Rutgers commit Lathan Sommerville. Both of these big men are special players. Thornton won the first matchup around Thanksgiving. Sommerville got in foul trouble. He'll have to stay in the game for this one in order for his team to get to Champaign. Dominated the huge sectional final matchup vs defending state champ Metamora to get here. Johnson dominated the second half of sectional final vs Brother Rice (Chicago) aka Recliner Boys. Whichever teams supporting cast plays better will book the ticket to Champaign. Thornton has senior guards Chase Abraham, Meyoh Swansey, and Isaiah Green. Richwoods has Tavie Smith, Jared Jackson, and Daquan Little.
SPRINGFIELD (BANK OF SPRINGFIELD CENTER):
Centralia (32-2) vs Mount Zion (34-1): Don't know much about these teams but looks like a toss up from the seasons they have had. Centralia has lost to East St Louis and Mount Vernon. Mount Zion's only loss is to Metamora on the road.
CLASS 2A:
CENTRAL (JOLIET):
#18 Wendell Phillips Academy (Chicago) (22-9) vs #10 Beecher (34-0) 7 pm: Phillips has not won a sectional since 1975, which was a Chicago Public League Title. Went on to win state. This will be the most entertaining supersectional of the night. Both teams are not that big, like to run, get the ball of the board and run, get it out of the basket and run, pass the ball around fun half court and get shots up from three and on drives to the basket. Both move the ball in the halfcourt, Beecher cuts to the basket and everyone knows where each other is on the court. Four of the starters have played together since kindergarten. Phillips has a bunch of transfers that have come in and leaned to play team basketball with each other. They've played a tough schedule in the Chicago Public League Red South/Central. Made the Chicago Public League Playoff semifinals and almost beat a full strength Kenwood Academy (Chicago) team. Big time scoring backcourt of juniors EJ Horton and Armani Edwards.Both score at all three levels. Senior Michael White Jr helps and attacks the basket off the dribble. Junior Phoenix Childs does a little bit of everything from the wing spot. Sophomore Claude Mpouma handles the paint, scoring and rebounding on both backboards. Beecher has not played the toughest schedule but has shown their mettle in the playoffs by winning their first sectional title ever. Undefeated teams are notoriously tough to take out in the playoffs. Looking to finish a historic undefeated season. Senior point guard Adyn McGinley is the engine and can score on all three levels, as well as make slick passes whether in transition or in half court. Seniors Ethan Rydberg, Jack Hayhurst, and Zack Johnson have played together their entire childhoods. Junior Orlin Nesbitt transferred in from Thornwood (South Holland) a few years ago.
STERLING:
Latin (Chicago) (22-10) vs Byron (29-2) 7 pm: Latin has won it's first sectional title ever. Coach Aubrey Denard told me they would be a surprise this season in the area. This was a conversation in September at Jeremy Fears Sr's soul food restaurant on South Side right down street from Guarantee Rate Field where Chicago White Sox play. Here we are they are playing a supersectional trying to get downstate for first time ever. Top players are senior Ryan Mbouombouo who's very underrated in the area. Other players are Seniors Nick Rotter, Ryan McLaughlin, and Rogan McClendon. Byron won only the second sectional title in their history. They are led by senior Ryan Tucker along with fellow seniors Jack Hiveley, sophomore Carson Newton, Camden Considine, and Carson Buser.
CLASS 1A:
DEKALB (NIU):
Christian (Aurora) (24-8) vs Pecatonica (31-5) 6 pm: Christian is led by senior Cam Morel, sophomores Marshawn Cocroft and Jacob Baumann, Asa Johnson and Jalen Carter. All are knockdown three point shooters. Young team. Pecatonica has won it's first ever sectional title. Top players are juniors Cooper Hoffman, Jordan Gassman, Brody Black and Jaxon Dietrich. Also seniors Drew Williams and Mason Peterson. They all made all conference.
NORMAL (ISU):
Heyworth (23-11) vs Hope Academy (Chicago) (27-8) 6 pm: Don't know much about Heyworth. Coach Ronnie Fields is trying to coach a team to the state finals after leading Farragut Academy (Chicago) downstate in 1995 along with someone named Kevin Garnett.
