Basketball royalty gathers for Stevenson sectional
The designation 'No. 1' has a few ties to the teams participating in today's Class 4A Stevenson girls basketball sectional semifinals.
Fremd is ranked No. 1 in the state among Class 4A teams.
Buffalo Grove finished as the No. 1 team in Class AA in 2000.
And Zion-Benton's Tanya Johnson coached Loyola to the No. 1 spot in Class AA state tourney in 1997 and 1998.
Fremd (26-2) will take on Hersey (25-4) at 6 p.m. Tuesday, while No. 2 Buffalo Grove (25-4) faces No. 6 Zion-Benton (22-7) in the 7:30 p.m. semifinal.
The championship match is set for Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Vikings were No. 2 in the state last year, falling to Benet in the state title game.
They come to Lincolnshire having loss just one game in Illinois this season - a 61-57 setback to Morgan Park, the No. 2-ranked team in Class 3A, in early January.
The Vikings feature three Division I recruits (Bryana Hopkins, Brianna Lewis, Grace Tworek), two D-II bound players (Erin Lenahan and Julia Wacker) and one D-III (Amanda McCartney).
They won the Mid-Suburban West championship for a seventh straight year and the MSL title for the fourth consecutive season.
The Vikes did not play the Huskies this season.
Hersey took second in the MSL East, with both losses coming to Buffalo Grove, which they defeated in the Bison Classic early in the season.
Fremd has a pair of 1,000-point scorers - MSL West Player of the Year' Hopkins and senior guard Lewis.
The Huskies, who at one point of the season were in the Class 4A poll, feature their own 1,000-pointer scorer - 5-foot-10 junior Claire Gritt.
The second match also includes a MSL team with 1,000-point scorers.
BG seniors Maddie Welter and Sammy Stejskal both reached the milestone this winter.
The Bison and Zee-Bees are meeting for the first time this season.
The Zee-Bees defeated Stevenson 54-48 in the Wheeling regional final as T.T. Maggett had a game-high 23 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals for Zion.
Class 3A: The host Lions won their third regional title in school history under first-year coach Jason Raymond to reach the semifinals of their own Class 3A sectional.
Fifth-seeded St. Viator takes on No. 1 Antioch at 6 p.m. while the second semifinal matches No. 2 Johnsburg against No. 3 Resurrection.
Viator (17-14) will be meeting Antioch (26-5) for the first time this season.
Antioch, which lost to Stevenson in the North Suburban Conference title game, topped Marian Central 57-45 to win the regional championship at Woodstock North.