Five awesome prep basketball events this month
If it’s January, it must be the dog days of the winter prep sports season.
But fear not, intrepid basketball fans. We’ve got you covered.
Despite the scattering snow showers and dropping temperatures, our athletes are trudging through to keep themselves sharp for conference races and the upcoming playoffs.
With a focus on a busy Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, this edition of the High Five looks at the area’s best boys and girls basketball events the next couple weeks.
The fourth edition of the eight-team boys tournament in Lake Villa began last month, spread throughout the area.
Fremd beat Lakes, Burlington Central beat Normal West, Deerfield beat Lake Forest Academy and Mundelein beat Wauconda. That sets up Saturday’s semifinals and Monday’s title game, with corresponding matchups in the consolation bracket.
Despite last week’s loss to Barrington, Fremd (14-2) and Jordan Williams are a good pick to defend their title, although getting past Burlington Central (11-5) won’t be easy.
Watch out for Deerfield (13-4) in the other semifinal.
The Bulldogs’ girls team will be busy this weekend, starting with the 35th annual Coach Kipp's Hoopsfest on Saturday (more on that later).
Next Monday, Batavia High School will be host to 22 girls games on four courts at three different levels.
Sixteen of the 20 competing varsity teams are from the Daily Herald coverage area including many of our ranked teams: Batavia (13-5), Lake Zurich (10-6), St. Charles East (14-4), St. Charles North (16-3) and Wheaton Warrenville South (11-8).
On top of that, Lyons Twp. (19-1) and Glenbrook South (15-5) are also visiting.
This boys event recently shifted from a tournament format to its current showcase over two days.
Some of the area’s top teams will grind through three or four games Saturday and Monday. Downers Grove North (13-4), Metea Valley (9-6), Stevenson (9-7) and Waubonsie Valley (17-0) will be among the top teams in addition to Normal Community.
Two gyms and 20 games are a handful, but the folks at WW South do a terrific job of getting it done.
Perhaps the top girls basketball event outside of the state tournament, Coach Kipp’s Hoopsfest consistently brings in the best teams from throughout the area and the state.
There will be seven games Saturday at Nazareth Academy and 10 games in two gyms Monday at Benet.
Batavia, Benet (17-1), Glenbrook South, Grayslake Central (14-4) Hersey (13-7), Lake Zurich, Libertyville (15-4), Loyola (16-2), Lyons Twp., Maine South (16-4), Montini (12-6), Nazareth (15-2), Prospect (15-4), Rolling Meadows (13-5), St. Charles East, St. Ignatius (14-3), Waubonsie Valley (16-1), Young (11-6) … the competition should be amazing.
The lone non-MLK event on the list, but it merits the top spot for its must-see boys basketball Jan. 25 at Benet.
The lineup is brilliant: Marist (16-2) vs. Waubonsie Valley (17-0), Bolingbrook (16-2) vs. Warren (12-4), DePaul Prep (16-1) vs. Homewood-Flossmoor (16-2) and Benet (17-2) vs. Rich Twp. (11-4).
Those four games will rival anything you’ll see in March.