It's almost February, which means...
Tick.
Tock.
It's the last week of January. Time is ticking away on the basketball regular season, especially for the girls.
This week's edition of Eyes on Five looks at some end-of-season issues.
<h3 class="leadin">1. Here come the Redhawks:</h3>
Naperville Central's girls got hot at a good time.
The Redhawks (18-7) have won six of seven games in January, all of them DuPage Valley Conference games. The streak is the reason the Redhawks went into Thursday night's game against Wheaton Warrenville South tied for the DVC lead with the Tigers at 9-2.
"We've been working really hard at practice, just to get everything flowing and working on our sets," senior forward Sara Teteak said. "Our defense is solid, so it's all coming together pretty well."
"We started out so inexperienced," coach Andy Nussbaum added. "And then to add to the problem, we started out with Oswego East. We started out conference (in December) with Glenbard North and Neuqua, who I thought were playing real well at the time.
"...I think our girls have just improved. Erin McMahon and Teteak. Lucy (Schmid, a freshman forward), obviously, never played a lot of varsity basketball."
Nussbaum added this is "one of the most unselfish teams I've ever had."
The Redhawks have four games left after Thursday's game, all of them against DVC foes, including a return match against the Tigers.
"We feel really good, especially since we get to play Wheaton South two more times," senior guard Hannah Swarm said Tuesday. "We can control what happens from here on out."
The Redhawks have already played Neuqua Valley twice and won't see them again. The Wildcats are a game back in the loss column.
<h3 class="leadin">2. Almost playoff time:</h3>
The Class 1A and Class 2A girls basketball seeds are in, which means the playoffs can't be too far behind.
Lisle could have the farthest drive of all area small-school teams, though the Lions are used to that in the Interstate Eight Conference. Lisle is a No. 3 seed behind Spring Valley Hall and St. Edward at a Class 2A Byron sub-sectional.
The playoffs begin Feb. 8, and Lisle hopes to have sophomore Natalie Takahashi back from a sprained ankle by then. The 5-foot-5 point guard is a tenacious defender who isn't afraid to attack the basket on offense.
Westmont earned the No. 2 seed at a Class 2A St. Joseph sub-sectional.
Timothy Christian is a 5 seed at a Willows Academy sub-sectional.
The small-school girls playoff pairings will be announced Friday at ihsa.org. The big-school girls seeds and pairings come out next week.
IC Catholic Prep, which placed fourth in Class 2A a year ago, has been bumped up to Class 3A this season.
<h3 class="leadin">3. Bragging rights:</h3>
If there's one comment permeating the boys basketball season, it's this..."Every conference game is a grind." Seems like every coach after every game says something along those lines.
And this is true, especially when talking about the DuPage Valley Conference and West Suburban Conference. Unlike many recent seasons, both leagues have an interesting mix of power and depth. There are teams with legs to make deep playoff runs, and teams that can sneak up and bite a front-runner.
With all due respect to the WSC and DVC, though, nothing in the area compares to the East Suburban Catholic Conference. For our purposes here in DuPage County, that grind focuses on Benet's weekly dilemma.
The Redwings (17-3, 3-1) have it tough enough with their nonconference schedule while playing in the New Trier/Loyola, Pontiac and Wheaton Warrenville South Martin Luther King tournaments. Not to mention wins over state-ranked Fenwick, DePaul Prep, York and Conant.
Now throw in the nine-game ESCC schedule.
Seven teams boast at least 13 wins with five of those teams having at least 15. Notre Dame, which split two games with Benet, has 16 wins ... and sits in seventh place in the ESCC standings.
Tough to top that.
<h3 class="leadin">4. Wildcat wild cards:</h3>
Come on ... admit it. You're really curious about West Chicago's boys basketball team.
The Wildcats (16-4, 4-1 Upstate Eight Valley) continue to surge to their best season since winning 22 games and a regional title in 2005. The question is whether it'll pay off when coaches seed the Class 4A East Aurora sectional.
West Chicago's taken a different path than most of the teams competing at East Aurora. The Wildcats hosted their own Thanksgiving tournament against out-of-area teams, then went to DeKalb for the holidays.
Only four teams on their schedule will be at East Aurora - the host Tomcats, Glenbard East, West Aurora and Willowbrook. They've beaten all of them except Glenbard East, which edged West Chicago two weeks ago.
As somewhat of an unknown in the sectional, it'll be interesting to see how much respect the Wildcats garner at seeding time. They'll have one of the best records among sectional contenders Benet, Glenbard West, Naperville North, etc., but will it be enough to earn a top-four seed?
All you can do is win the games on your schedule. Seeding, however, all depends on how others read your rèsumè.
<h3 class="leadin">5. The stat:</h3>
Montini sharpshooter Lea Kerstein has knocked down 74 3-point shots so far this season, a big reason the Broncos girls are 22-1 and ranked No. 1 in Class 4A.
The University of Alabama-Birmingham recruit has made more than 47 percent of her shots from behind the arc, which would be a pretty good percentage for shots from inside the arc. From closer range Kerstein has made 67 percent of her shots, but she's only attempted 39.
At the free-throw line Kerstein is a perfect 16 of 16. Not too shabby.
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