Elite programs vie for sectional championships at Stevenson, St. Viator
Two coaches with a more than 900 combined wins will face off in Thursday's championship of the Class 4A Stevenson sectional girls basketball championship.
Top-seeded Fremd (27-2) meets No. 6 Zion-Benton (23-7) at 7 p.m. Thursday in Lincolnshire.
The winner earns a berth in the Fremd supersectional on Monday.
The Vikings, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A, are led by coach Dave Yates who has a career record of 221-83 in his 10 seasons.
The Zee-Bees are directed by Tanya Johnson, who has won 712 games along with back-to-back Class AA state titles with Loyola in 1995 and 1996.
Both teams were put to the test in Tuesday's semifinals.
Fremd led 21-19 against No. 3 Hersey when it cut loose on a 9-0 run to take charge late in the third quarter and post a 40-28 triumph.
Zion overcame a 4-point deficit late in the third quarter with an 11-0 run and held on for a 44-42 win over No. 2 Buffalo Grove,
at St. Viator: The No. 5-seeded Lions (18-14) upset top-seeded Antioch to advance to the championship match of their own Class 3A sectional.
They will face No. 2 seeded Johnsburg at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Arlington Heights.
Former Carmel head softball coach Jason Raymond has hit a home run in his first season as the Lions girls basketball coach.
Until Tuesday's 58-45 victory over Antioch, St. Viator had never won a sectional game. The Lions' only other appearances in 26 seasons were 2002 and 2010.
Coincidentally in 2010, it was Johnsburg who handed the Lions a loss in the sectional semifinal, also hosted by St. Viator.