Scouting Cook and Lake County boys basketball Class 3A and 4A tournaments

Four corners

There are four different sectional destinations for area teams as the Class 3A and 4A boys basketball tournaments begin Monday. Daily Herald Sports Writer Marty Maciaszek takes a look at the roads ahead toward reaching the ultimate destination of Peoria.

Waukegan Class 4A sectional

The big dogs: Waukegan and Illinois-bound Mr. Basketball favorite Jereme Richmond have been preparing all year for a return to Peoria after finishing second in the state last year. The Bulldogs showed they can put on a defensive show as well last week when they shut down Whitney Young in the rematch of last year's state championship.

Hoping for their shot: Two of the three losses for Deerfield and Wisconsin recruit Duje Dukan have been close calls to Waukegan - the last in OT on Wednesday. Third-seeded Mid-Suburban League champion Fremd has won 14 in a row and Chris Klimek, Zach Monaghan and crew are hoping to answer critics who wonder just how good they are.

Danger zones: Fremd didn't get an easy road with the possibility of facing Schaumburg on its floor and then a potential regional final with Zion-Benton, which has been inconsistent but emerged to win the North Suburban Conference title with Ohio State recruit Lenzelle Smith and big man Owen Worthington.

Youthful Warren has come of age in the second half and its nine-game winning streak includes potential foes Stevenson and Lake Forest, which also have the unenviable task of going to Gurnee. Hersey and Kyle Miklasz could also make some noise. Mundelein and Iowa-bound Ben Brust can put up points but also give them up in a hurry.

Conant has a tradition under Tom McCormack of making favorites sweat as Schaumburg (2001) and Glenbrook North (2005) can attest to how close they were to not bringing home state title trophies. The Cougars survived a brutal late-season schedule with a solid senior trio of Christian Sotos, Taylor Peterson and Garett Gatz but it has one of the best early-round games when it goes to Buffalo Grove to face its veteran crew of Kevin Mulligan, Mike Cornely and Nick Prus. The reward for the winner would likely be Waukegan.

And the winner goes to-: The Elgin High School supersectional against the Rockford Boylan sectional champ.

Niles West Class 4A sectional

The Central Suburban three: Can anyone break up top seeds Glenbrook North, New Trier and Maine South from getting to the sectional semifinals. The Spartans made the supersectional last year and have the big 1-2 punch with Notre Dame recruit Alex Dragicevich and Austin Weber and beat Deerfield by 20 last week, New Trier rebounded from an off year to win 20 games behind Alex Rossi and Maine South recovered from losing big man Kevin Schlitter for the entire season with a knee injury to win 24 games behind a starless cast.

Who can break through?: Prospect has struggled down the stretch defensively and has a tough opening test at Glenbrook South with Niles North and Division I prospect Abdul Nader. But the Knights have the offensive firepower with Joe and Mike LaTulip and Jack Redding to get a shot at New Trier.

Notre Dame played a rugged schedule and Quinton Chievous and crew nearly dropped 100 points on North Chicago last Saturday. Von Steuben and Evanston are dangerous and two teams that have improved significantly under new coaches are Niles West and Bob Williams and Lake Park and Josh Virostko, with the winner getting a shot at Glenbrook North.

And the winner goes to -: The UIC supersectional against the Proviso East sectional championship.

Rockford Boylan Class 4A sectional

Location, location, location: Having this sectional broken up and seeded as four predetermined regionals because of travel did not favors for Rockford Boylan, which has the best record in the field at 22-4. The Titans will have a regional final at Machesney Park Harlem against NIC-10 rival survivor 21-win Rockton Hononegah or 18-win Rockford Auburn.

Likely the happiest team to be getting out of Rockford because it's on the southeast side of town is Jefferson, which is 20-6 and got the top seed at Crystal Lake South. Second-seed McHenry has been up and down after ending a 31-year regional title drought last season.

A return to Rockford?: No one was sure what to expect when Barrington and new coach Bryan Tucker started the season at the Rockford Boylan tournament. The Broncos gained some attention when they beat Zion-Benton in December and go into their regional as the top seed and on a three-game winning streak behind senior guard Bryan Wegner. Larkin and Streamwood are the kind of teams capable of being dangerous if they come to play.

The Upstate five: The Bartlett regional features five Upstate Eight teams as top seed South Elgin and Tommy Childs beat No. 2 Bartlett and Luke Labedzki on Friday night.

And the winner goes to -: The Elgin supersectional against the Waukegan sectional champion.

Vernon Hills Class 3A sectional

A whole new ballgame: A drop in enrollment made St. Viator the biggest school in 3A this year and it is capable of making a run after winning 20 games against the toughest schedule in the field, which includes a 2-point loss to Deerfield at Christmas. The Lions have the solid experienced point guard in Alan Aboona, a capable, versatile and veteran No. 2 scorer in Richard McLoughlin and two other senior starters and tough athletes in Brendan King and Jack Etchingham. They're at home for the regional, where they won the last of their two titles in 2001, and hoping to face the North Chicago regional winner in the sectional semis.

Some tough breaks: The regional field at North Chicago is easily the toughest with the top-seeded hosts coming off consecutive supersectional trips but also losing sophomore sensation Aaron Simpson to a broken (non-shooting) hand suffered last weekend. The Warhawks hope to get Simpson back for sectional week but they also didn't get any break to get there. The reward for the strong seasons for Grayslake Central and Vernon Hills is a regional semifinal matchup and rematch of Central's 56-54 win two weeks ago. Central is 21-6 behind Josh Rapaport and Andrew Sipes and has won 15 straight since losing to North Chicago by 3 points and defending 3A champion Champaign Centennial by 9 at Christmas. Vernon Hills has the dangerous Davaris Daniels but enters the postseason on a five-game losing streak and has lost twice to North Chicago.

A different path: Johnsburg's only two losses are to Grayslake Central and it doesn't figure to stumble in its regional with 6-7 C.J. Fiedorowicz, Mike Dombrowski and Mike Dixon. The same would be true for its sectional semifinal as the Gordon Tech regional top seed is Amundsen, which isn't exactly in the conversation with the Chicago Public League powerhouses.

And the winner goes to -: The Hoffman Estates High School supersectional against the Riverside-Brookfield sectional champion.