Good teams will meet their demise at East Aurora
Mentally assessing the talent in his half of the Class 4A Chicago State University supersectional, Hinsdale Central coach Ed Lynch said, "At least we're not in the Sectional of Death."
The Sectional of Death?
That would be the East Aurora sectional, which will send one survivor to Chicago State to play the likes of Lynch's Red Devils or Downers Grove South or Hinsdale South -- or Lyons Twp. or Curie or Richards -- out of the Richards sectional.
However tired and battered that one survivor may be.
The 21-team East Aurora sectional, headed by Northwestern-bound Nick Fruendt and top-seeded Batavia, packs 15 teams with winning records.
Three of them already have won 20 games -- No. 2 seed Waubonsie Valley, No. 4 Wheaton North and No. 6 Neuqua Valley. From them on down to 13-10 Benet, the No. 16 seed, there will be no cakewalks.
At any of the sectional's four regional sites -- Bartlett, Naperville North, Waubonsie Valley and Willowbrook -- even getting paired against some teams with losing records is no reason to celebrate.
Naperville North and Glenbard North each have beaten No. 3 seed West Aurora. Glenbard East beat No. 5 seed Naperville Central, but that was well before the Redhawks went on a 10-of-11 DuPage Valley Conference run.
"It's no doubt the deepest sectional I've ever seen," said Wheaton North coach Jim Nazos, whose Falcons seek their first sectional title since 1986 behind third-year starter John Bagge and 3-point bombers Dave Pilalis and Kristian Rosenberger.
That sectional trophy would look swell in the display case next to Wheaton North's first DuPage Valley Conference title since … 1986.
York coach Al Biancalana, who has taken the Dukes out of nowhere to a No. 7 seed with an 18-8 record, doesn't quite agree with the "Sectional of Death" moniker.
"No, it could be worse," said Biancalana, who has a California Division IV state championship on his resume.
"You could be in with Whitney Young and Farragut (at the Proviso East sectional). When Morton is the eighth seed after winning 22 games this season, that's a very tough one."
Biancalana still likes the makeup at East Aurora.
"Ours is very competitive," he said. "What I like about ours as opposed to other ones is there's a sense of balance. From the top 16 teams on down, I couldn't consider them upsets."
When polled, Biancalana chose No. 11 seed Oswego East, 16-8 and in the Waubonsie Valley regional, as a dark horse. The athletic Wolves have beaten both Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley.
Neuqua coach Todd Sutton sees no dark horses.
"I see (seed Nos.) 1-10 as having a legitimate chance to win the sectional," said Sutton, whose Wildcats, in the Willowbrook regional, go at least 10 deep, play defense and have consistent scorers in center Dan Pawelski and forward Derek Raridon.
If this is the Sectional of Death, at least it can be mercifully quick.
Glenbard West-Naperville North in a play-in game at Naperville North? Who can call that?
Regional semifinals such as Bartlett-East Aurora, York-Oswego East, and Neuqua Valley-Willowbrook are, as Sutton said, "regional finals in any other year."
Willowbrook, having lost five of its last six games, will need to gear up for Neuqua Valley. But 6-foot-5 Milton Colbert is a beast inside, and third-year starter Kyler Market is a matchup problem with inside-outside skills.
"I know it sounds strange given the losses we've had, but I like the way we're playing," said Willowbrook coach Tim Lavorato, who in his second season has done a 180-degree turn from last year's mark of 11-17.
"I think we're going to be real battle-tested going into a game like Neuqua Valley. I think our regional is up for grabs, but I like how we're coming in."
Speaking of battle-tested, No. 1 seed Batavia is ranked No. 12 in this week's Associated Press Class 4A poll. The Bulldogs will play the winner of the regional quarterfinal between Lake Park and Benet at the Bartlett regional.
Batavia has a century of tradition. But should Benet advance the Redwings will hardly be shaking after beating St. Patrick and pushing St. Joseph in the tough East Suburban Catholic Conference, and coming within 46-44 of an outstanding Class 2A school, North Lawndale.
It seems the East Aurora sectional is potentially upset-riddled. Yet, in the end, these things do generally result in the higher seeds playing for ultimate advancement.
A District 204 sectional semifinal between Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley -- their sole meeting this season was won by Waubonsie, 61-59 on junior forward Jelani Johnson's jumper -- would be a natural.
As would the potential sectional semifinal between Wheaton North and Batavia. They may play in different conferences, but these programs pride themselves on their finishes at the Elgin Holiday Tournament -- this year won by Batavia over the Falcons.
To get there Wheaton North faces a potential regional final against Naperville Central, which split its season series against the Falcons as the teams finished 1-2 in the DuPage Valley.
The Redhawks' leading scorer for two straight seasons and joined by surging sophomore center Matt Neufeld, junior Drew Crawford is at once smooth and electric. He has three game-winning shots, including one against Wheaton North.
In this Sectional of Death, Crawford carries a dagger. Is it enough?
"It's a very difficult field, but as a fifth seed we don't expect anything to be easy," said Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer. "Even in the play-in games anyone can beat anybody."