Girls basketball notes: St. Charles East, Benet among favorites as postseason begins

How good of a regular season has Huntley’s girls basketball team enjoyed?

With two games remaining against Prairie Ridge and Dundee-Crown, the Red Raiders own an unblemished 29-0 record, 16-0 in Fox Valley Conference play.

With two more victories, the Red Raiders will enter next week’s Class 4A regional having already surpassed their previous school win record, eclipsing the 30-4 mark set in 2016 in Ali Andrews’ senior year.

Led by Kent State commit Anna Campanelli (17.8 ppg), Paula Strzelecki and Isabella Boskey, Huntley has been dominant in most of its games.

The top seed in its own sectional, Huntley begins regional play Monday at Rockford Jefferson. A win could pit the Red Raiders against Jacobs for a third time in the regional finals on Feb. 20.

“It has been a special season with this team,” said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. “They’re a very tight-knit group, they love playing together, and they play for each other.”

If the top seeded teams advance, things promise to get tougher for Huntley with a possible sectional title matchup on Feb. 27 against Libertyville (24-5), Rockford Guilford (24-6), or Rockton Hononegah (18-12).

“It was disappointing how our last two postseasons have ended (losses in the regional finals), but at the end of the day, we can’t change those outcomes,” said Raethz. “All we can do is move forward and put our energies into making this postseason a success.”

St. Charles East closed the books on a 24-6 regular season and 14-0 DuKane Conference record with its 46-35 win over Wheaton Warrenville South Tuesday night.

Now, the Saints focus on the postseason as the top seed in their own sectional.

“There are a lot of familiar teams in this sectional,” said Saints coach Katie Claussner. “Our team has the skillset to compete with the best teams in the state, but it imperative that we do not take any game, quarter, or even play for granted.”

Led by Akron commit Corinne Reed (13.4 ppg), Brooklyn Schilb (12 ppg, 5.7 rpg), and Addie Schilb (10.1 ppg), the Saints have played a rugged schedule with games against Waubonsie Valley, Prospect, Benet, Lyons, Glenbrook South, in addition to their tough conference slate.

“The biggest difference from the regular season to postseason play is the room for error,” said Claussner. “In the regular season, you can have an off-night and work out the issues the next day at practice. In the postseason, you have little room for error and you must be able to make quick adjustments mid-game.”

Batavia (21-9) drew the 2 seed at St. Charles East in a sectional that includes fellow DuKane teams St. Charles North (3 seed), WWSouth (5 seed), Wheaton North (6 seed), Lake Park (8 seed), and Geneva (10 seed), sandwiched around No. 4 Glenbard West and No. 7 York.

“We have always thought of winning a sectional as winning a conference tournament at the end of the season,” said Batavia coach Kevin Jensen. “Our conference has 5 of the top 6 seeds, and Glenbard West and York are both talented teams, and either will be a difficult matchup.”

Hallie Crane, Natalie Warner, and Kaidyn King lead the senior-laden Bulldogs.

St. Charles North, led by junior Sydney Johnson and sophomores Lelanie Posada and Bronwyn How, carry a 22-8 mark into its own regional.

“The conference schedule proved that anyone that can beat anyone on a given night,” said North Stars coach Mike Tomczak. “We have had close games with all the teams at the top of our conference, and we feel those experiences can pay dividends in the tournament.

“With such a young team, we are looking to make the most of our playoff experience.”

Do not sleep on Glenbard West (19-12), which features senior guard Julia Benjamin and could return senior leading scorer Makenna Yeager from a broken hand. The Hilltoppers gave Lyons (28-2) a battle in a 46-41 loss last month, and took St. Charles East to the wire in an 8-point loss on Jan. 28.

After guiding Geneva to 10 consecutive 20-win full seasons, coach Sarah Meadows’ squad carries a 7-20 record into postseason play.

“I have not been in this situation for awhile,” said Meadows, whose team has played several close games – 13 decided by 9 points or less.

“We keep talking about this over and over again, we must complete an entire game,” said Meadows, who led the Vikings to back-to-back 4A state titles in 2017 and 2018. “We must put four solid quarters together. We are right there, we must finish and believe we can win.”

At Bolingbrook, top seeds Benet Academy (26-2) and Waubonsie Valley (27-1) could be on a sectional championship collision course for the third straight season.

Benet, which placed second in the state in 2023 and fourth in 2022, defeated Waubonsie in the sectional title game two years ago before the Warriors returned the favor in a 63-61 sectional final last year on their way to a fourth-place state showing.

“It’s too early for our players to think about a possible rematch, but as a coach, I’ve been thinking about it since last summer,” said Waubonsie coach Brett Love. “They are one of the best teams in the state again. Preparation doesn’t just happen weeks before, I run through all the possibilities in my head and map out all the obstacles we may potentially face.”

A regional host, Waubonsie will likely face either West Aurora (19-4) or Downers Grove South (16-14) in the finals on Feb. 20.

“We haven’t lost at home since 2023, which is something we focus on,” said Love, whose team features junior guard Danyella Mporokoso (21.5 ppg) and senior forward Lily Newton (11.8 ppg).

The road for Benet, led by senior guard Aria Mazza and junior forward Emma Briggs, could include matchups against No. 9 Naperville North (16-14) and No. 4 Downers Grove North (20-9).

“Experience is definitely a factor,” said Benet coach Joe Kilbride. “Last year, we were not quite mature enough to win two tough sectional games against Bolingbrook and Waubonsie Valley. All our starters were key players last year and have that experience to lean on.

“We have probably played the toughest schedule of any team in the state with 15 of our wins against teams ranked in the top 25 in the state in 4A and 3A.”

In 3A, Glenbard South (25-3) is the top sectional seed at DePaul, while Kaneland (22-9) is a top sub-sectional seed at Rockford Boylan.

“All year, I have talked about the importance of putting together a complete game in terms of offensive execution, defensive principles, and limiting turnovers,” said Raiders coach Eric Daca, whose team features senior 1,000-1,000 (points and rebounds) standout Brooklynn Moore. “With the tough caliber of teams in the sectional, that mindset now needs to come to fruition, because playing a game at a subpar level will result in our season ending earlier than we would like.”

Montini (20-10), anchored by Nikki Kerstein, is the 2 seed at DePaul.

Kaneland, led by Kendra Brown, could face Sterling (25-5) in the sectional finals, looking to avenge an earlier 46-30 loss to the Golden Warriors. Crystal Lake South (4 seed) and Burlington Central (6 seed) are also at Rockford Boylan.

In 2A, regional host Aurora Central Catholic (26-4) drew the 3rd seed behind Stillman Valley (28-1) and Byron (28-2) at Rock Falls.

Led by 2,000-point scorer Riley Cwinski, the Chargers own wins over Montini, Kaneland, Neuqua Valley, and DePaul, and figure to be a tough out.

At Lisle, Westmont (19-10), IC Catholic Prep (15-13), and Timothy Christian (14-12) are the top 3 seeds.

In 1A, St. Edward (21-9), led by sophomore 1,000-point scorer Savannah Lynch, and Harvest Christian (19-6), paced by senior Daphne Brown, could meet in next week’s regional finals at Aurora Christian. The teams are seeded second and third, respectively, at Hinckley-Big Rock.

The Green Wave will be out to avenge their 55-51 loss to the Lions last month.

Serena (23-6) is the top seed at Hinckley-Big Rock.