Boys basketball/Class 4A Schaumburg sectional semifinal
No. 2 Oak Park-River Forest (20-6) vs. No. 3 Schaumburg (23-5)
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Schaumburg High School
Probable starters
OAK PARK-RIVER FOREST SCHAUMBURG
Coach: Matt Maloney Coach: Matt Walsh
Name Ht. Yr. Avg. Pos. Name Ht. Yr. Avg.
Ka'Darryl Bell 6-1 Sr. 13.5 G Joey Faleni 6-0 Sr. 4.5
Jakari Cammon 5-8 Jr. 9.0 G Kyle Bolger 6-2 Jr 10.0
Alex Gustafson 6-4 Jr. 4.0 G/F Christian Spandiary 6-3 Sr. 16.0
Alex Nesnidal 6-3 Sr. 11.0 F Michael Mallett 6-2 Sr. 7.0
Gabe Levin 6-7 Sr. 19.0 F Jimmy Lundquist 6-5 Jr. 10.0
How they got here: No. 2 Oak Park-River Forest d. No. 13 Lyons 60-51 and No. 10 Morton 56-46 to win the Lyons regional. No. 3 Schaumburg d. No. 15 Proviso West 72-57 and No. 11 Conant 58-45 to win the Glenbard West regional.
Postseason history: Oak Park won its 15th regional and first since 2008. The Huskies have taken third twice - in 1976 under Tom Meyer, the son of legendary DePaul coach Ray Meyer, and in the first state tourney in 1908 - and were fourth in 1956. Schaumburg won its third straight regional title and 10th and is trying to reach a third straight sectional final. The Saxons won the AA title in 2001, took fourth in 1999 and made the Elite Eight in 2006.
Outlook: Walsh expects the Huskies, with Bradley-bound Bell, Division I prospect Levin and football standout Cammon, to do what it can to set a quick pace with a mixture of man-to-man, half-court 1-3-1 zone and full court trapping defenses. "We want to attack their pressure but we want to be smart, patient and break them down," Walsh said. "One of the keys will be getting back defensively in transition and taking care of the basketball because they're extremely dangerous in transition. We want to make them beat us in the half-court." Eliminating second shots against the bigger and more athletic Huskies will also be crucial for the Saxons. Their stingy half-court defense, which is allowing just 46 points a game, will need to keep Bell and Cammon from getting into the lane and finding Levin and Nesnidal. "They're tough, gritty and we know they'll try to make the game as ugly as possible," Maloney said. "A half-court game where they force you to turn it over and force you out of your sets. It will definitely be an adjustment to see if we can handle it early and make sure we take good shots and not settle for 1-on-1 plays." Faleni was battling the flu Tuesday but the return of Bolger has added to the Saxons' depth with Cole Reyes, Justin Hill, Kevin Curnow, Carlos Sarasti and Bobby Greene. "Throughout the season different players have stepped up at different times," Walsh said of the Saxons, who have won 9 straight and 14 of 15.
Advancement: The winner plays in Friday's 7:30 p.m. sectional championship against Proviso East (29-0), which beat Lake Park xx-xx in Tuesday's semifinal.