Are we embarking on another great prep basketball season?
As I continue to pry myself away from the high school football season, there’s plenty of reason to look forward to the long winter ahead.
I’m thinking this will be a pretty good prep basketball season, both on the boys and the girls side.
We’re only a few weeks in but there are already signs of greatness throughout the area. Whether it was in Thanksgiving tournaments, early conferences tests or shootouts, it’s been a strong showing for many teams and players.
Let’s take a look at some storylines.
Best of the best
Which area school has the best combination of boys and girls basketball teams? Is it possible someone will advance to the state tournament in both sports?
Between Benet, Downers Grove North, Fremd, Hersey and some others, there’s no shortage of candidates.
Picking one school isn’t easy. But if pressed, I’d lead toward Waubonsie Valley.
The girls team is coming off a fourth-place finish in Class 4A and returns the area’s most electric player in junior guard Danyella Mporokoso. As she continues to pile up scholarship offers, time will tell if the playoff route works out for the Warriors.
The Warriors beat Benet in last year’s sectional final, a team that likely will be a stumbling block again, and then beat Alton in the supersectional.
Waubonsie Valley’s boys team, knocked out by Downers North in last year’s sectional semifinals, returns one of the area’s top one-two punches in Illinois State-bound guard Tyreek Coleman and wing Moses Wilson.
The path for the boys team could be brutal, with Downers North, Benet, Bolingbrook and others potentially standing in the way.
Feasts
As Charlie Pomis and Jackson Hupp led the way, Hersey’s boys team raced to the title at Palatine’s Ed Molitor Thanksgiving Classic by beating the host Pirates.
It was a good early test for new coach Bob Widlowski and the Huskies, who lost to Palatine in last year’s regional final. After finishing just over .500 last year, Hersey looks to make a leap this season.
On the girls side, Maine South’s effort at the Buffalo Grove Classic Thanksgiving Tournament stood out. Balance is again the key with the Hawks. Three players — Ally Pape, Katie Barker and Asia Kobylarczyk — earned all-tournament team selections.
Eliminated in last season’s sectional final, Maine South’s state hopes this season rest with a smothering team defense that allowed Libertyville just 28 points in the Buffalo Grove tournament final.
What to watch
The holiday tournament brackets for boys basketball are rolling in.
The 93rd Pontiac Holiday Tournament, the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic, the Wheeling Hardcourt Classic, the State Farm Holiday Classic and others released their schedules this week.
But before we get to that point, we’re already getting a bunch of great girls basketball games. In the last handful of days, we’ve seen the Dave Yates Chicagoland Classic at Fremd and the Lake Zurich Exam Jam.
Saturday at the Kenwood Showcase in the Park event, Utah-bound Ella Todd and Fremd will take on Mporokoso and Waubonsie Valley in a must-see matchup.