'Moment of truth' less than a week away

Unless you own a snowplow business or operate a ski resort, this winter season seems a lot longer than normal.

It reminds me of a sign posted recently in front of a St. Charles business that read, "Winter is not a season -- it's an occupation."

But if I squint long enough, I can see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

In fact, spring is less than a month away.

March will be upon us as early as next week.

To me, that means one thing -- the high school boys basketball tournament is about to begin.

Regional tournament tip-off time is Monday night, and area coaches realize what's at stake.

"We call it the moment of truth," said St. Charles East coach Brian Clodi. "Every team is judged by how far you go in the tournament. I know we'd all trade 20-win seasons to go to a sectional."

Heading into this weekend's play, Aurora Central Catholic is the area's lone 20-win team, having captured its 23rd triumph of the season -- along with a share of its first Suburban Catholic Conference championship.

With a victory over Kaneland Friday night, Batavia will join the Chargers in the 20-win club.

Next week, none of that will matter.

Every team might as well be 0-0 when the one-and-done postseason tournament begins.

"The regular season is so long," said Geneva coach Tim Pease, whose 12th-seeded Vikings take on West Chicago Monday night at Naperville North. "The tournament re-energizes everybody's batteries.

"You know the teams that have had great regular seasons are looking forward to the tournament, while other teams look at it as a second chance."

A second chance to forget about the down-to-the-wire losses teams experienced during the regular season.

This season, potholes on area roads have seemingly taken on lives of their own.

Perhaps it's fitting then that the 2008 road to Peoria is littered with king-sized potholes ready to swallow all travelers.

Take the Class 4A East Aurora sectional, for instance.

While state-ranked Batavia earned the No. 1 seed in the 21-team sectional, it could open regional play Tuesday against 16th-seeded Benet Academy, which took St. Joseph to the wire earlier this season.

Second-round matchup possibilities include up-and-coming Bartlett on the Hawks' home floor or 10th-seeded East Aurora, a team that handed the Bulldogs an early 60-52 exit last season.

If the Bulldogs are fortunate enough to have survived from the Bartlett regional, a pair of possible conference champions -- Wheaton North (DuPage Valley) and Waubonsie Valley (Upstate Eight) -- could await.

"We're ready to put everything we have into it -- just leave it all out on the floor," said Batavia senior Nick Fruendt, who will be participating in his fourth season of "America's Original March Madness."

How tough is the East Aurora sectional?

Naperville North, seeded 17th, previously defeated third-seeded West Aurora (16-5), while No. 14 seed Wheaton Warrenville South owns a 14-9 record. Sixth-seeded Neuqua Valley (20-7) downed No. 5 Naperville Central earlier in the year and lost to No. 2 Waubonsie Valley on a buzzer-beater.

"It's extremely competitive," Pease said of the sectional. "Our complex has been so goofy in past years with top seeds getting beaten by lower seeds. There's no way to figure it all out."

At Larkin, even the coaches of the regional's two top teams -- St. Charles North and St. Charles East -- admit that third-seeded Elgin might be the one to beat.

And that was before the Maroons handed Waubonsie Valley its first conference defeat last weekend -- by 15 points (73-58).

"They're as talented as anybody," said North Stars coach Tom Poulin, whose top-seeded squad opens against either South Elgin or Streamwood Tuesday night and could face Elgin in the Feb. 29 regional championship. "They pose tremendous matchup problems at every position.

"Hopefully, we get to that point because we'll have a tough first-round game no matter who wins (South Elgin or Streamwood)."

St. Charles East, which has prepared for the postseason with nonconference games against Batavia, St. Joseph, Brother Rice, Downers Grove South, Geneva and Libertyville, drew the unenviable position of taking on Elgin in Wednesday's regional opener.

"They're a dangerous team that can put points on the board," said Clodi. "We played probably our best game of the year the last time we faced them (Saints won 85-77).

"We know it's going to be a big-time challenge. They're hot as heck.

"We're excited."

So am I -- even if it means prolonging the winter another couple weeks.