Small schools adapting to new tournament

Let's deal with this right off the bat.

Some approve of the shift of the state basketball playoffs to four classes from two.

Like Driscoll coach Nick Latorre.

"I think it's good," he said. "I think it gives a little new dimension to it."

Others don't. Timothy Christian coach Jeff Powers illustrates.

"It seemed like it was working," he said. "I went downstate 11 years in a row and it seemed like the place was packed. Why switch it?"

Opinions differ when only 57 percent of IHSA membership participates in a survey.

Regardless, it's a done deal. Immaculate Conception will be playing in 1A, Driscoll, Lisle and Timothy Christian will be in 2A.

Once it became reality, a 1A downstate berth was a goal of Immaculate Conception coach Darren Howard, who last year led the Knights to their first supersectional title game in history.

It won't be easy.

IC, a No. 2 seed, appears to head the class among the Bridgeviews and Luther Easts in its own regional within the Somonauk sectional. Danger lurks beyond, though.

Should IC win out in Elmhurst, a sectional semifinal potentially includes No. 1-seeded St. Anne, a 2007 sectional champ that was ranked fifth in the latest Associated Press Class 1A poll.

Another No. 1 seed, a good Westminster Christian team out of the Private School League, could await in a sectional final.

Howard drove to Kankakee Tuesday to see St. Anne fall to 18-7. He believes the Suburban Catholic Conference gauntlet is a feather in the Knights' helmet.

"I do think that playing the schedule we play -- we far and away had the toughest schedule at our seeding meeting -- does prepare us to play in tough games, and I think that is an advantage in the 1A playoffs," he said.

"I expect we will be more seasoned than most of the teams we see, but I know we will have to play very well to advance out of the sectional. If we do get past that, we have a very good chance to get downstate."

Driscoll and Timothy Christian must be very, very good.

Both are in the Luther North sectional complex, which has at one end North Lawndale and at the other Hales Franciscan -- the Nos. 1-2 ranked teams respectively in the latest Class 2A poll.

At the Lisle Thanksgiving Tournament North Lawndale beat Timothy 82-46 and beat Driscoll 74-42, albeit with the Highlanders missing its 4A state title football players.

Driscoll, the No. 1 seed at the Northridge Prep regional, would have the first crack at 20-6 Hales. Obviously, it isn't looking that far ahead.

"I think we've got our hands full in our regional with Northridge Prep," Latorre said. "I saw them last Tuesday and they're really good.

"We're going to try to get out of our regional and if we're fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play Hales, we'll definitely show up."

Timothy Christian -- which had Hales star Josh Crittle until he transferred as a junior -- has been hot with seven wins in nine games.

"The kids are trusting each other and you can see it's getting positive results on the floor," Powers said.

Should the No. 3-seeded Trojans beat Luther North at the Timothy regional, it's also in hot water with a potential regional final against Private School League rival Walther Lutheran. On Jan. 31 Timothy beat the No. 2 seed for the first time in two years, 48-46.

A possible Luther North sectional final against North Lawndale could come Feb. 29.

Similar to 2003, when after years of losing to the likes of Providence-St. Mel the Lisle Lions were shipped south for the playoffs and reached the Elite Eight, Lisle hopes its placement in the Herscher sectional of the Lewis University super will yield results.

After beating Coal City on Monday, Lisle coach Mark LaScala told his sixth-seeded team he believes it has as good a chance as any of advancing to the sectional.

"I told them every team we play this week is capable of winning our regional," he said. "We win tonight against Coal City, that's just a statement of saying we're capable of winning a regional."

LaScala, for one, is excited about the playoffs not so much for the class shift but for who Lisle won't play, at least immediately.

"We don't have to see Hales, we don't have to see North Lawndale in the regional, we don't have to see Driscoll in the regional. I think our kids were excited about that," he said.

"You've got to remember, it's for the kids. And if the excitement is there for the kids, then that's what's important."