The excitement fo winning regionals Friday and Saturday have subsided. Time to reset and get ready for Sectional play. No rest for the weary. Here are some of the stories:
No real upsets in regional play. It's pretty much gone to form no double digit seeds advanced to sectional play in Chicago Area, (at least not in 4A or 3A). St Viator (Arlington Heights) is a 7 seed the lowest I see advancing. Lyons Township (LaGrange) over Curie (Chicago) was a minor upset, but game was on Lyons home court. Will there be any major head turning upsets in sectional play?
Addendum: Carmel Catholic (Mundelein) made it to Sectional as a 12 seed. They will be playing Lake Forest on Tuesday at Central (Grayslake) Sectional semifinal.
Class 3A Marmion Academy (Aurora) wins first regional in 47 years. Fans and students were so excited for the Cadets out there on Saturday. Talking to a couple of players they do not feel they are done yet. Their Catholic League schedule has prepared them for a deep run. I would not be surprised if they upset the apple cart in Class 3A and win the Burlington Central (Hampshire) sectional.
Class 3A South (Crystal Lake) wins first regional in 21 years with their win against Freeport. Funny thing is their next opponent? Yes, Marmion Academy (Aurora) as it's been a long time since either of these teams have been this far. Which team takes advantage moving forward?
Junior guard Troyer Carlson (6'3") of Kaneland scored the 1000th point of his career in loss to Marmion Academy (Aurora).
Will Rodell Davis of Glenbrook South (Glenview) play Tuesday? He fell and someone hit their arm on the side of his head in first quarter of regional final win over Evanston Township. He sat out the rest of the game as a precaution. Test will determine his status going forward.
Class 4A Whitney Young (Chicago) must feel surrounded. The other three teams in the Hinsdale Central Sectional are teams from the strong West Suburban Silver(Hinsdale Central, Downers Grove North, and Lyons Township. They would only have to deal with two of those teams and the sectional is in the gym of one of the West Suburban Silver teams. Chicago Public League has been known for their toughness, and the Dolphins will have to show it to swim into supersectionals. Some of these players were in state title game a year ago.
Class 4A Bolingbrook had a tough first round regional game in getting back home for sectionals. Lincoln Way Central gave them a tough time before The Brook eventually pulled away and won by 10. Regional final was a little easier for them. Some of these players were in Champaign last season. Can they take advantage of that experience and win their own sectional?
Class 4A Rolling Meadows must also feel surrounded. Same situation as Whitney Young. The other three teams left in the New Trier (Sectional) are from Central Suburban South( New Trier, Glenbrook North, Glenbrook South). That is another strong conference and on the home court of a team from that conference. They are 2-2 agains these three opponents this season. Can they get out of that sectional unscathed?
Class 3A Hillcrest (Country Club Hills) can they get revenge on Thornton Fractional North (Calumet City)? Last regular season game TF North had a 20 piece victory on their home court on senior night. Tuesday the tables are turned as Hillcrest is the host this time. This should be a war.
Class 4A Will Barrington do another sneak job this season and make it back to Champaign? Most did not see them getting downstate last year and they fooled most of us last season. They are a 5 seed and was not supposed to be in the sectional but here they are. To add the sectional is on their home court. Could they pull a couple of more upsets and make it back to supersectional?
Top games:
Most of the top games are on Wednesday as most are 2 vs 3 seed, but there are some 1 vs 4's that could be interesting.
Tuesday:
Class 4A:
Libertyville vs Barrington: Libertyville is the 1 seed but like I said above Barrington has home advantage. Tough atmosphere for The Ville.
Whitney Young (Chicago) vs North (Downers Grove): 1 vs 4 but the Dolphins are coming out of the city to the West Suburbs. They usually bring a pretty good crowd especially for a Chicago Public League Team. They will have to because Downers Grove North will have a bunch of purple in that gym.
Wednesday:
Brother Rice (Chicago) vs St Rita (Chicago): I was at the first matchup and St Rita's front line just killed on the glass. Chicago Catholic League Blue Division Rivals. Though they are the lower seed this is a home game for St Rita. Can Brother Rice turn the tables and get out with a win?
Hinsdale Central vs Lyons Township (LaGrange): Neighborhood rivalry here. Look for a sellout here. West Suburban Silver Conference rivals. Hinsdale won the first two matchups and it's hard to beat a good team three times. Homecourt advantage could get them over the top.
Glenbrook North (Northbrook) vs Rolling Meadows: New Trier Sectional. Glenbrook North won the first matchup playing most of the game without their best player junior Josh Fridman. That was a surprise as Rolling Meadows was supposed to win that game. Glenbrook North has gotten used to playing without Fridman. This will be a war and a rowdy atmosphere.
Class 3A:
Tuesday:
Thornton Fractional North vs Hillcrest (Country Club Hills): see above.
South (Crystal Lake) vs Marmion Academy (Aurora) at Burlington Central (Hampshire): see above
DeLaSalle Institute (Chicago) vs Fenwick (Oak Park): Chicago Catholic League Rivals. DeLaSalle is the shakiest #1 seed in the state but they will be playing at home. Fenwick is talented but has 9 sophomores but the 1 junior (Darshan Thomas) will need a big game for Fenwick to pull off the upset. Fenwick lost by 9 in first meeting.
Wednesday:
Mount Carmel (Chicago) vs Hyde Park Academy (Chicago) at Glenbard South (Glen Ellyn): Neighborhood rivals that are right around the corner from each other. Chicago Catholic League vs Chicago Public League. Did not play in the regular season. Bragging rights will be intense here.
Central (Grayslake) vs St Viator (Arlington Heights): St Viator as a 7 seed is one of the lowest seeds left in the playoffs. Tough assignment as they are playing on Central (Grayslake)'s home court.
Lemont vs Marian Catholic (Chicago Heights) at Hillcrest (Country Club Hills): Can Marian slow down the Castillo twins (Matas, Rokas) of Lemont? Can Lemont control the pace of this game and not allow Marian athletes to get out on the break? Whomever controls the tempo will decide this one.
Class 2A:
Wednesday:
DePaul College Prep (Chicago) vs Michele Clark (Chicago) at Christ The King (Chicago): Chicago Catholic League vs Chicago Public League. Can DePaul Prep slow down small high scoring guard Corby Johnson (5'10" senior) of Clark. They are known for their defense and deliberate play and have all their pieces back. Some players are back from team that made it to Champaign last season. They will need that experience to get by this game.
Should be an exciting week on the Road To Champaign.
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