Boys basketball: Scouting the Class 3-4A postseason
Class 3A Rochelle sectional
Burlington Central regionalPairings: Monday - Game 1) No. 4 Genoa-Kingston (15-11) vs. No. 5 Sycamore (9-18) 6 p.m.; Game 2) No. 3 Kaneland (12-15) vs. No. 6 Wheaton Academy (5-21), 7:30 p.m.; Wednesday - No. 1 Hampshire (15-11) vs. Winner Game 1, 6 p.m.; No. 2 Burlington Central (14-14) vs. Winner Game 2, 7:30 p.m.; Friday - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 for the regional title, 7 p.m.
Outlook: If seeds hold, this regional could culminate in yet another chapter in the long Hampshire vs. Burlington Central rivalry, but seeds are hardly guaranteed to hold in what should be a closely contested pod. "It's honestly wide open," said retiring Hampshire coach Bob Barnett. "It'll be interesting Monday because Genoa and Sycamore will be a good game. I don't know anything about Wheaton Academy, but Kaneland is up and coming and they're a sleeper. And Burlington just beat Marengo, which has 24 wins. We played well this week against Prairie Ridge and McHenry. I think the extra practice time lately helped us. We got back to some basics." The Whip-Purs scored 53 points in their season finale at McHenry. They averaged 47.6 points during a recent 7-game losing streak. "Against McHenry we knocked down our first two 3s and you could see the monkey was off their back and they were trying to stomp on it," Barnett said. "You could see smiles on their faces as they started to enjoy themselves again. I hope that continues." Matt Bridges is Hampshire's leading scorer at 16 ppg. The Whip-Purs did not face Genoa-Kingston during the regular season. They faced Sycamore on the road twice and won both meetings, 59-56 on Nov. 28 and 49-42 in overtime on Jan. 13. Hampshire is 1-0 on Burlington Central's court this season; the Whip-Purs defeated the Rockets 54-51 on Dec. 6.
Like Hampshire, Burlington Central endured a lengthy midseason slump. The Rockets opened the season 6-2 but lost 10 of their next 11 games. However, after some midseason tweaks to both roster and scheme, they closed the regular season on a 5-game winning streak. "This second half of the season we've really been getting better," Central coach Brett Porto said. "Guys feel confident right now with how we're playing, especially after Tuesday's win over Marengo. That opened their eyes. It's a really good field. Hampshire is deserving of the No. 1 seed. It seems like everybody has beaten everybody. Whichever team can put together the best 3-game stretch will wind up on top." Central defeated Kaneland 66-57 on Dec. 26. The Rockets are led by senior guards Stefan Jochum (10.9 ppg) and Drew Wiss (9.7 ppg, 42 steals) and junior forward Ryan Fitzgerald (11.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg).
Advancement: The Marengo regional winner plays the IMSA regional winner in a Rochelle sectional semifinal on Tuesday, March 10 at 7 p.m. The Burlington Central regional winner plays the Belvidere regional winner in the second semifinal on Wednesday, March 11 at 7 p.m. The winners meet for the sectional title on Friday, March 13 at 7 p.m. Rockford Lutheran (23-2) is the top seed at Belvidere, and Marmion (17-11) is the top seed at IMSA. Regional host Marengo (24-5) is also a No. 1 seed.
Class 4A DeKalb sectional
Bartlett regionalPairings: Monday - Game 1) No. 4 South Elgin (10-19) vs. No. 5 Elgin (6-23), 6 p.m.; Game 2) No. 3 Bartlett (18-10) vs. No. 6 Streamwood (4-25), 7:30 p.m.; Tuesday - Game 3) No. 1 Larkin (18-8) vs. Winner Game 1, 7 p.m.; Wednesday - Game 4) No. 2 Jacobs (22-5) vs. Winner Game 2, 7 p.m.; Friday - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 for the regional title, 7 p.m.
Outlook: One of the more competitive regionals in the area could feature a pair of rematches for No. 2 Jacobs, undefeated champions of the Fox Valley Conference's Valley Division. The Golden Eagles would face Bartlett in a semifinal if Bartlett gets by Streamwood, as expected. Jacobs defeated Bartlett 71-64 in overtime on Dec. 20 in one of the more entertaining games of the holiday tournament season. The Golden Eagles went on to lose to eventual tournament champion Larkin 66-51. "This team set goals long ago they have yet to accomplish," said Jacobs coach Jim Roberts, whose team enters the playoffs on a 14-game winning streak. "It's not going to be easy. Bartlett is a very good team and playing for the first time in their gym, which we're not familiar with, won't be to our advantage. We'll have to adjust quickly." Jacobs is led by senior guards Chrishawn Orange (15 ppg, 4 rpg) and Kenton Mack (10 ppg, 2.2 apg) and 6-foot-8 sophomore Cameron Krutwig (9.9 ppg, 9.2 rpg). Senior guard Cory Boeckh has canned 61 of his 172 3-point attempts (35.5 percent). Bartlett is led by senior guard Ryan DiCanio (17.4 ppg). He has drained 52 of 139 attempts from 3-point range (37.4 percent). Jason Hasenberg (8.8 ppg), Robby Jimenez (8.3 ppg) and Tyler Pauletti (7.6 ppg) each have the ability to score 20 points in a game. "If we find a way to beat an improved Streamwood team that's playing good basketball, we have to run the gantlet of Jacobs and Larkin," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "We lost to Jacobs on their floor and Larkin just beat Geneva. To win our regional we have to play disciplined basketball. We've beaten good teams like (UEC Valley champion) Neuqua Valley and (DuPage Valley champion) Lake Park so we're capable. We have to play disciplined defense and take disciplined shots to put ourselves in position."
Larkin's schedule was as ambitious as any area team. Included in the Royals' 8 defeats are losses to state powers Morgan Park, Rockford Auburn, Geneva and St. Charles East. The Royals have won 3 straight and 6 of their last 7, including a confidence-building win in the season finale against 25-win Geneva. "I thought our record was more indicative of who we played and not how good a team we were," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "I think beating Geneva kind of showed that." The Royals will face the winner of Monday's play-in game between South Elgin and Elgin. South Elgin was the belle of last year's ball, upsetting Larkin en route to a surprise sectional final appearance. Can the Storm recapture the same postseason magic? "We hope so, but we have a lot of work to do," South Elgin coach Matt Petersen said. "We're severely undersized this year, we're just not as athletic and we don't shoot the ball as well as we did last year so it's going to be a much tougher test. However, I do think we're starting to play our best ball of the season right now. If we keep making strides, we'll see what we can do in the postseason." Junior guard Matty Smith averages 14.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists, sophomore guard Logan Atkins contributes 10.1 points, freshman Anthony Lynch averages 10 points and 6-10 junior center Tyler Hankins blocks 2 shots per game.
An upset win would be a nice way to finish a tough year for Elgin, but the Maroons have modest aspirations. "Our goal is just to be competitive," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "There have been too many games where we don't compete for four quarters. We can play with anybody for a quarter or a half, then we revert back. We're just not mentally strong enough to play through things right now. The game will be tied early and the first thing that goes wrong, we fall apart." Elgin junior Lavion Baldwin averages 16.9 ppg and guard Desmond Douglas averages 8.9 ppg and 4.2 assists.
Huntley regionalPairings: Monday - Game 1) No. 4 Huntley (10-18) vs. No. 5 Belvidere North (8-19), 6 p.m.; Game 2) No. 3 Prairie Ridge (15-12) vs. No. 6 Crystal Lake Central (8-18), 7:30 p.m.; Tuesday - Game 3) No. 1 Rockford Jefferson (19-8) vs. Winner Game 1, 6 p.m.; Game 4) No. 2 Crystal Lake South (17-10) vs. Winner Game 2, 7:30 p.m.; Friday - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 for the regional title, 7 p.m.
Outlook: Fox Valley Conference Fox Division winner Prairie Ridge is the only conference champion assigned to arguably the most winnable of the four regionals within the DeKalb sectional complex, though Rockford Jefferson finished second in the competitive NIC-10 to state contender Auburn. The host Red Raiders have dropped 3 straight heading into the postseason, but coach Will Benson thinks his team has a fighting chance. "If we put together four quarters the way we're capable of playing, we're capable of beating any of those teams," he said. "If we don't, we're also capable of losing to any of them. It's cliché, but it's 100 percent true in this case." The Red Raiders lost to Belvidere North by 2 points at Thanksgiving. Huntley is led by 6-6 forward Connor Boesch. The senior averages 10.8 points and 8.6 rebounds.
Crystal Lake South demonstrated it can beat any team in the area when the Gators defeated Larkin 55-52 on Jan. 13. But will that team show up or will the CL South team that followed up that Larkin victory with a 32-point loss against Jacobs reappear? The Gators defeated Crystal Lake Central by 8 points on Dec. 6 and defeated Prairie Ridge by 16 on Dec. 9.
Advancement: The Rockford Guilford regional winner plays the Bartlett regional winner in a DeKalb (H.S.) sectional semifinal on Tuesday, March 10 at 7 p.m. The Huntley regional winner plays the Geneva regional winner in the second semifinal on Wednesday, March 11 at 7 p.m. The winners meet for the sectional title on Friday, March 13 at 7 p.m.
NIC-10 champion Rockford Auburn (26-1) is the top seed at Guilford. Upstate Eight River co-champion Geneva (25-3) hosts a loaded regional that also includes co-champion St. Charles East (23-3) and Northern Illinois Big 12 champion DeKalb (21-7).
Class 4A Barrington sectional
Cary-Grove regionalPairings: Monday - Game 1) No. 14 Grayslake Central (13-14) vs. No. 19 McHenry (6-22), 6 p.m.; Game 2) No. 11 Cary-Grove (15-11) vs. No. 22 Round Lake (5-20), 7:30 p.m.; Wednesday - Game 3) No. 3 Palatine (21-8) vs. Winner Game 1, 6 p.m.; Game 4) No. 6 Hersey (17-9) vs. Winner Game 2, 7:30 p.m.; Friday - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 for the regional title, 7 p.m.
Outlook: Cary-Grove's hopes of making a push for a regional title on its home floor may depend on how mobile star guard Jason Gregoire is after spraining an ankle in Friday's regular-season finale. Gregoire, who averages 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2.5 assists, took part in shooting drills on Saturday, albeit gingerly, according to his coach. "We'll see how fast he heals, but he's not going to be 100 percent on Monday," Cary-Grove coach Ralph Schuetzle said. "It's more than a tweak. He was in quite a bit of pain. Maybe we can find a way without him. Wednesday is more doable. That's four days. We'll see. It's up in the air." Schuetzle said his team won't turn its attention to Hersey with Round Lake looming. "In this regional all it takes is for the (higher seed) to not play well and the other team to play well and they all could be close games," he said. "Our goal is to get to the regional final. At home, who knows?"
Rolling Meadows regionalPairings: Monday - Game 1) No. 15 Rolling Meadows (10-16) vs. No. 17 Dundee-Crown (7-19), 7 p.m.; Tuesday - Game 2) No. 1 Barrington (22-6) vs. Winner Game 1, 6 p.m.; Game 3) No. 8 Elk Grove Village (17-8) vs. No. 9 Conant (17-9), 7:30 p.m.; Friday - Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 for the regional title, 7 p.m.
Outlook: Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber isn't a fan of seeding sectionals 1-23, ala the Barrington sectional. He said he prefers the predetermined regional format within the DeKalb sectional in which coaches are more familiar with their postseason opponents. "I don't think you can accurately seed teams in a big sectional, especially when it's done online and you can't hear the other coaches talk about their teams like you used to in a seeding meeting," Huber said. "It's easy to seed the top four or five and the bottom four or five, but your can run into a lot of trouble in the middle and that's where situations arise." Huber's Chargers are a dark horse to challenge for the regional title after struggling for most of the season. "This time of year you just want to find a way to get more points than the other team and advance," D-C's coach said. "It's a chance for us to play a solid Rolling Meadows team."
Advancement: The Rolling Meadows regional winner plays the Wheeling regional winner in a Barrington sectional semifinal on Tuesday, March 10 at 7 p.m. The Fremd regional winner plays the Cary-Grove regional winner in the second semifinal on Wednesday, March 11 at 7 p.m. The winners meet for the sectional title on Friday, March 13 at 7 p.m. Lake Zurich is the top seed at Wheeling. DuPage Valley Conference champion Lake Park is the top seed at Fremd.