Benet excited for Simeon rematch

At the tail end of the schedule, it’s never strayed far from the tip of the mind.

Almost a full year has passed since Simeon’s boys basketball team beat Benet 58-50 in double overtime in the Class 4A Hinsdale Central supersectional, a game that propelled the Wolverines toward their fourth state title.

They meet again in Saturday’s City-Suburban Showdown. It’s an 8:45 p.m. game to close a tripleheader of high school action at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

“We’ve obviously been looking forward to this ever since our schedule came out,” said Benet senior point guard Dave Sobolewski, who’s committed to Northwestern. “But we’ve done a great job all season just focusing on each game this year. It’s just hard to believe the Simeon game is already here.”

Simeon (23-1), ranked third nationally by USA Today, entered the week top-ranked in The Associated Press Class 4A poll just ahead of Benet (25-0), which is ranked 24th nationally. Until the Wolverines lost to Whitney Young in Wednesday’s Chicago Public League semifinals, the teams had won a combined 50 straight games since that memorable March meeting in Hinsdale.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for the kids,” said Benet coach Gene Heidkamp. “We get to play one of the top teams in the country in a great atmosphere.”

Benet’s road to perfection hasn’t been easy, most evidenced by the back injury suffered last month by Sobolewski. With 7-footer Frank Kaminsky, a Wisconsin recruit, 3-point specialist Matt Parisi and fellow starters Pat Boyle and Pat McInerney stepping up, Benet has overcome the adversity while Sobolewski healed.

The Redwings face their stiffest test against the experienced Wolverines, who are led by sophomore Jabari Parker. Duke, Michigan State and Illinois are among Parker’s many college offers.

Both teams already have sealed No. 1 sectional seeds, leaving this game strictly for bragging rights. With about 3,000 Benet fans expected to attend Saturday’s showdown, the anticipation is enormous.

“The school support this year has been awesome,” Sobolewski said. “Hopefully we can give them a win.”

It’s unanimous:

The local coaches in the Class 2A Lisle and Immaculate Conception regionals believe both are up for grabs.

“I think it’s a high-quality regional that literally all five of the teams could win. I think it’s whatever team gets hot,” said Mark LaScala, whose fourth-seeded Lions (8-18) open the playoffs Tuesday against No. 5 Richards, which was 4-17 when seeded.

“Richards doesn’t have a good record at No. 5, but they got bumped from the (Chicago Public League) Blue to the Red. They’re playing Westinghouse and Curie and they’re getting thumped — but I’m not sure we wouldn’t,” LaScala said.

The No. 1 seed is Lisle’s top rival, Westmont, which awaits in a Wednesday regional semifinal. The Sentinels (14-13) took what coach Craig Etheridge would surely term a tough loss on Wednesday, to 7-19 St. Edward.

Recently, Westmont has had Lisle’s number, 2-0 this season, including a 48-45 triple-overtime victory in the Interstate Eight Conference Tournament. Last season Westmont beat Lisle twice by 3 total points, including 51-50 in overtime at the I8 tourney.

In the other Lisle regional semifinal are No. 3 seed Aurora Christian and No. 2 Collins. Aurora Christian (11-15) can light it up behind point guard Dean Danos and a bevy of 3-point shooters like Nick Marema.

“I’m happy that we’re not playing one of those two first,” LaScala said. “I think we’d have a hard time outscoring Aurora Christian as we did in December (80-70).

The winner of the Lisle regional feeds into the 2A Aurora Christian sectional. The Lisle winner faces the survivor of the Immaculate Conception regional where Providence-St. Mel (15-9) holds the top seed.

No. 2 seed Timothy Christian (15-8) plays the winner of Monday’s regional quarterfinal between No. 3 Immaculate Conception and No. 6 Chicago Talent Development (7-17). Timothy lost 61-52 to IC in its fourth game of the season, but the 2010 sectional champions are enjoying their usual late-season surge with wins in eight of their last nine games.

“I think last year kind of whet our appetite,” said Trojans coach Jack LeGrand.

Immaculate Conception (10-15) plays a Talent Development squad, a new charter school, that fields only freshman and sophomores.

IC coach Darren Howard, bolstered by the return of center Pat Burke from a broken hand, believes his Knights match up well against Talent and Timothy, but a potential Feb. 25 regional final against St. Mel would be most difficult. Coach Tim Ervin returns talent from last year’s Class 2A Plano sectional finalist and, as Howard said, has the “basketball IQ” to balance up-tempo offense and half-court patience.

“They’re going to be the tough one,” Howard said. “They’re the No. 1 team here and they probably deserve it.”

St. Mel must beat the winner between No. 4 Walther Lutheran (10-15) and No. 5 Douglass (7-17) to advance. After losing to Timothy for the 2010 Plano sectional title, much earlier this season the St. Mel Knights beat Timothy 77-74 in double overtime.

Should the seeds work out, the Trojans can use that for motivation.

“I think our regional is very competitive,” LeGrand said. “I think any team has a chance to win it all.”

Perfect timing:

Wheaton Warrenville South coach Mike Healy and senior guard Travis Kern tentatively circled a date for Kern’s return from a broken collarbone suffered during the Tigers’ Class 7A state semifinal football victory at Belleville East.

Kern’s planned basketball debut came to fruition in last Friday’s home game against cross-town rival Wheaton North.

“I think everyone was excited about Travis coming back,” Healy said. “Getting him back definitely makes us a better team.”

Kern, one of the Tigers’ leading scorers last season, started against the Falcons and scored 13 points. Now that he and fellow football players Reilly O’Toole and Jason Schuman have their basketball legs, the Tigers are looking to peak heading into the playoffs.

“(Travis) could have easily been our first or second leading scorer,” Healy said. “His shooting ability gives us a little different dimension. He’s able to take pressure off the other guys to score.”

The Tigers (14-9) won their fifth straight game by beating Wheaton North 57-48. They have three DuPage Valley Conference games remaining to build more momentum for the Class 4A West Aurora regional as the 10th seed in the East Aurora sectional.

“I feel like we’re getting better as a team,” Healy said. “It’s taken a long time to get to this point, but I like the direction we’re heading.”