Scouting Tri-Cities area sectional championship games

By Dave Oberhelman

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

Class 4A DeKalb sectional final

No. 1 Rockford Auburn (29-1) vs.

No. 1 Geneva (28-3)

When: 7 p.m. Friday.

Road to the sectional: Rockford Auburn beat No. 4 Rockford East 73-68, No. 2 Rockford Boylan 87-57 and No. 1 Larkin 64-49. Geneva beat No. 5 DeKalb 66-52, No. 2 St. Charles East 73-70, and No. 1 Rockford Jefferson 63-54.

Outlook: Each team was the top seed of its respective regional in the DeKalb complex, Auburn behind only Simeon and Stevenson in the final regular-season Associated Press Poll with Geneva No. 9.

For Geneva to win its first sectional title since 1963 (after losing to Benet in the 2014 East Aurora final) the Vikings will have to earn it. Auburn, whose sole loss came to St. Rita at the Proviso West Holiday Tournament, averages 83 points. In the regular season the Knights beat Rockford East 127-48, one of their four games over 100 points. They beat Bolingbrook sectional finalist Neuqua Valley 79-46.

"This is an experienced, veteran team that lost to Stevenson in the supersectionals last year, so we brought all the best guys back from that team and they've been driven to get past that point this year," said Auburn's 16-year head coach Brian Ott, third in Class 4A in 2012 behind Fred VanVleet, now a two-time Cousy Award finalist at Wichita State.

Northern Illinois-bound guard Laytwan Porter averages nearly 18 points, 4.7 assists, 3.3 steals and has made a team-high 68 3-pointers. Six-two swingman Antoine Pittman, Wisconsin-Green Bay recruit, averages 12.6 points and 4.7 rebounds while 6-3 DI/Juco candidate Nylek Cobb scores 16.6 points, 5.6 rebounds with 41 3s. Guards Delundre Dixon, Alonte Bjorlie and Trayvon Tyler all average between 8.7 and 9.9 points a game.

Averaging 17.6 steals a game, Auburn will pressure full court either in man-to-man or zone defenses, using quickness to get the transition game going such as Geneva has seen against St. Charles East and Rockford Jefferson.

"We're really trying to maintain an up-tempo pace, and we try to dictate that through our defensive play ... We certainly don't want to get into just a half-court game," Ott said.

"It's going to be another one of those games where you see a contrast of teams," said Geneva coach Phil Ralston, one win shy of 250 in his 15-year career, seventh with the Vikings.

"They've got speed, they've got athleticism, so it's really going to come down to a battle of wills. If we can really exploit them inside I think we have a shot at them."

That was a winning formula against Rockford Jefferson, as Geneva made 16 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter, 6-foot-7 Nate Navigato going 11 of 12 overall from the line out of the Buffalo recruit's team-high 19 points. Navigato averages 20 points. Loudon Vollbrecht, 6-8, 300 pounds and averaging 11 points and 6.5 rebounds, pulled down 12 boards with 12 points to pace Geneva's 33-25 rebounding advantage over Jefferson.

Ralston is hoping the top rotation's overall height and depth - Daniel Santacaterina, point guard Pace Temple, Mike Landi, Sean Chambers, Bennett and Chandler Fuzak and Steven Moyer all from 6-1 to 6-10 - will enable the Vikings to sustain that half-court game and get the ball inside. (Of interest, though, Auburn held Larkin's 6-6 Christian Negron to 6 points and 6-5 Daniel McFadden to 7.) The key, as it's been all season for Geneva, is controlling the ball against a quicker opponent, which is where Temple and pressure-relievers Navigato, Landi and Santacaterina come in.

Defensively Ralston figures to switch defenses between 1-3-1 zone, a 1-3 with a chaser and man-to-man looks. This recipe forced Jefferson into 31 percent shooting on the night. Against Auburn, Geneva will be forced to either defend the 3 - where the Knights make 37 percent - or the drive.

"There's not many teams on their schedule that have the size that we do," Ralston said. "As much speed and quickness and guard play that they have, they're going to have to contend with us, too."

Advancement: The winner advances to play the winner of the Barrington sectional final between St. Viator and Lake Park in Tuesday's Northern Illinois University supersectional.

Class 4A East Aurora sectional final

No. 4 Hinsdale Central (23-6) vs.

No. 6 West Aurora (21-8)

When: 7 p.m. Friday.

Road to the sectional: Hinsdale Central beat No. 13 Hinsdale South 65-51, No. 12 Downers North 53-38, and No. 8 Metea Valley 88-67. West Aurora beat No. 11 Naperville North 49-42 in OT, No. 3 Wheaton North 65-50, and No. 7 York 66-48.

Outlook: Finally at full strength, Hinsdale Central's rolling through the playoffs. Six-foot-seven Furman-bound center Matt Rafferty - honorary captain of the Daily Herald's DuPage All-Area Boys Basketball Team - scored 40 points on near-perfect shooting in Tuesday's semifinal as the Red Devils notched their highest point total of the season. They were 2-4 with Rafferty out with a broken hand, and they're 21-2 with him. The center averages better than 19 points and 10 rebounds a game. Thomas Ives added 18 points against Metea Valley including three 3-pointers.

The diverse lineup also features 6-6 Navy-bound George Kiernan, who averages around 12.5 points, 5 rebounds, with guard Jordan Bradshaw right around 10 points a game. The Rafferty-Kiernan combo presents a lot of height for West Aurora to deal with, the Red Devils' high-low game definitely a concern to Blackhawks coach Gordie Kerkman, who seeks the program's third sectional title in four seasons. "They were very impressive, I thought, the other night," Kerkman said.

West's Illinois State-bound 6-6 forward Roland Griffin was a dunking marvel with 24 points against York, and averages 16.7 points. Though 6-3, Tommy Koth can defend 2-guards to posts, and though he's no taller Drake Spears comes off the bench to add defensive muscle that could help wear down the bigs. Koth, Blackhawks season 3s record-setter Marquis Howard and freshman Camron Donatlan threaten from the arc, opening the lane for Griffin. Concerning Howard, with former Blackhawks season 3s holder Jontrell Walker in attendance at East Aurora on Wednesday, Howard made three 3-pointers for 79 this season, snapping Walker's record of 77 the Incarnate Word freshman set in 2013-14.

Hinsdale Central averages around 26 rebounds a game, and West Aurora will have to do all it can to keep Rafferty, Kiernan and to some extent Ives off the glass. Against a smaller York squad Koth headed a second-half rebounding effort that unofficially gave the Blackhawks a 25-21 edge over the Dukes.

"We really have to keep people off the boards, plus a number of other things - just stopping Rafferty," Kerkman said. "They've got a lot of things to be concerned about."

Advancement: The winner advances to play the winner of the Bolingbrook sectional final between Neuqua Valley and Bolingbrook in Tuesday's Hinsdale Central supersectional.

- Dave Oberhelman

Kevin Schmit contributed to this report