Scouting the DuPage County and Fox Valley boys basketball postseason

It’s high school basketball tournament time.

You only get to survive and advance by winning.

The end goal — to reach the state semifinals and championship games scheduled for Thursday-Saturday, March 12-14, at the State Farm Center in Champaign.

Here is a look at the postseason path for area teams.

Class 4A

Winners of 26 straight games, Benet Academy (29-1) appears ready to defend its Class 4A state championship.

Led by the trio of guard Jayden Wright, forward Ed Stasys, and 7-foot center Colin Stack, the Redwings earned the top seed in the high-powered Bolingbrook sectional.

Coach Gene Heidkamp’s squad has won games in 3 states — Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Illinois, and wrapped up the final year of the East Suburban Catholic Conference in style with Tuesday’s 77-68 road win over Marist.

Benet begins regional action against Plainfield South or Romeoville Wednesday night at the West Aurora regional.

The sectional includes No. 2 seed Neuqua Valley (28-1), led by junior guard Mason Martin and sophomore guard/forward Cole Kelly. The Wildcats haven’t lost since November (74-65 to Oswego East), and could face the Wolves in their own regional final.

Fourth-seeded Naperville North (23-7) opens postseason play against No. 13 Yorkville in the Huskies own regional Wednesday.

Other first-round matchups include No. 5 Downers Grove South vs. No. 12 Metea Valley, No. 8 Waubonsie Valley vs. No. 11 West Aurora, and No. 14 Naperville Central vs. No. 19 Plainfield North.

The top four seeds in the Bartlett sectional are Glenbard East (27-3), York (27-4), Glenbard North (22-6), and Batavia (20-8).

Led by guard Michael Nee, the Rams captured the Upstate Eight East and are looking for more. The Rams open postseason play against Proviso East or Proviso West Wednesday in their own regional.

York, featuring Princeton-bound Hunter Stepanich, prides itself on stingy defense and rebounding. The Dukes begin regional play against Bartlett or West Chicago Wednesday at Glenbard West.

Glenbard North, which faces St. Charles East or Prosser Wednesday at St. Charles North, has played 14 games against the other top 9 seeded Bartlett sectional teams — and owns an 11-3 mark.

“I think our conference has proven that anyone can compete and beat any other team on any given night,” said Panthers coach Kevin Tonn, whose team features senior Matt Walsh and junior Lamari Carpenter. “If you look at our record against Wheaton North and St. Charles North, two of our three wins were decided by 3 points or less.

“I think that is what it is going to take to make a run — putting a high value on the characteristics that we put a lot of weight in, and not taking anything for granted.”

Winners of 15 of its last 16 games, Batavia is playing its best basketball at the right time.

The Bulldogs open postseason play against No. 13 Oak Park River Forest Wednesday at the Willowbrook regional.

Other first-round matchups include No. 5 Wheaton Warrenville South vs. No. 12 Willowbrook, No. 6 Wheaton North vs. No. 10 St. Charles North, No. 7 Leyden vs. No. 9 Glenbard West, No. 8 Lake Park vs. No. 11 Addison Trail, and No. 15 Bartlett vs. No.18 West Chicago.

“We’re good enough to go win a regional,” said North Stars coach Tom Poulin, whose team features senior forward Cooper Mellican. “We have our moments. We’re working on being consistent and doing what wins.”

South Elgin, Larkin, Dundee-Crown, and Elgin head to the Fremd sectional.

No. 14 South Elgin opens against No. 19 Elgin Monday, with the winner advancing to face No. 3 Hersey Wednesday at the Prospect regional.

No. 16 Larkin faces No. 17 Wheeling Monday, with the winner taking on top seed Fremd Wednesday at the Schaumburg regional, while No. 18 Dundee-Crown opens against No. 15 Elk Grove Monday, with the winner meeting No. 2 Palatine Wednesday at the Palatine regional.

Jacobs, Huntley, and Hampshire are part of the Rockton Hononegah sectional.

Regional host No. 5 Jacobs opens against No. 3 McHenry Wednesday, while No. 7 Huntley faces No. 2 Rockford Auburn Wednesday at the DeKalb regional. No. 8 Hampshire meets top seed Rockford Guilford Wednesday at the Guilford regional.

Class 3A

Sub-sectional A of the Woodstock North sectional is loaded with talent.

Top-seeded Kaneland (28-0), led by senior guard Marshawn Cocroft, heads a list that includes Fox Valley champion Cary-Grove (25-4), Crystal Lake South (22-7), Geneva (22-6), Burlington Central (17-10), Crystal Lake Central (18-11), and Marmion (18-11).

“I think the IHSA has done a disservice to the teams in our sub-sectional,” said Trojans coach Asdam McCloud. “The IHSA’s number one job should be to provide a safe and equitable experience for the athletes who work so hard in their given sports. Our subsectional has 28-win Kaneland, 25-win C-G, 22-win CLS, 23-win Geneva, along with Burlington Central and potential 20-win teams CLC and Marmion.

“The other sub (regional) has one 20-plus win team in Sycamore. The number two seed has 16 wins, and the 3 seed is under .500. This is not a knock on any specific team; however, a true 1-19 sectional would allow the teams with the best bodies of work some reward for their play.”

Cary-Grove opens Wednesday against Marmion at Crystal Lake South.

“Playing an 18-20-win team in round one is wild given we have had such a strong year,” said McCloud, who sent an email to the IHSA regarding multiple protests with the current format. “We were very unhappy with it last season, and somehow it is even worse this year. Not sure what it will take for the state to re-evaluate the current format, but it has negatively impacted our school and conference over the past few seasons.”

Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe agrees.

“We would love to see the IHSA move away from sub-sectionals in our area and move to a sectional,” said Colombe.

“We value guys who want to compete and are not afraid to fail.”

Other first-round matchups Wednesday include Kaneland vs. IMSA/Prairie Ridge, and No. 4 Geneva vs. No. 5 Burlington Central at Burlington; No. 3 Crystal Lake South vs. No. 6 Crystal Lake Central at South.

“Our path is very tough so we must play consistent basketball for four quarters,” said McCloud. “I love that we have so many seniors that play for us.”

“The regional sectional draw sets up to be extremely challenging,” said Geneva coach Scott Hennig. “There will be no easy paths — every matchup will feel like a sectional-type game.

“Postseason experience matters a great deal. That experience doesn’t guarantee success, but it often shows up in poise, preparation, and decision-making.”

“It is an extremely difficult regional,” said Rockets coach Brett Porto.

What will it take to win it?

“A talented team that takes advantage of its opportunities,” added Porto.

Marmion coach Joe Piekarz knows the going will be tough.

“We knew that no matter what seed we received, the first-round game would be very challenging,” said Piekarz. “All four teams in the Crystal Lake South regional are having good seasons. We are very young, but hope to be playing our best basketball next week and see if we can compete against a solid Cary-Grove team.”

The Hinsdale South sectional features top seeds Joliet Catholic and Oak Forest, followed by No. 3 Wheaton Academy (17-11) and No. 4 Glenbard South (19-9).

Led by 6-7 junior forward Hayden Schroeder, the school’s all-time scoring leader, Wheaton Academy opens Ridgewood regional play Wednesday against Monday’s Streamwood/Kennedy winner.

Glenbard South faces No. 16 Fenton Wednesday in Bensenville, with No. 12 Hinsdale South against No. 5 Lemont in the 7:30 p.m. game at Fenton.

“We played well against Fenton last week, but we had a close game with them in December,” said Raiders coach Jason Mead. “Hinsdale South took it to us in December, also (51-26 loss). In our sectional, there are 12 teams that realistically could win a regional.

“The first order of business for making a postseason run is taking it one day at a time. In the postseason, you must play well to win every day. It’ll be challenging, but we are excited for the opportunity.”

At Joliet Catholic, No. 7 St. Francis (12-14) faces No. 10 Fenwick Wednesday, while No. 11 Montini (11-18) meets No. 8 Providence Wednesday at Providence.

Class 2A

Having played a strong schedule, Aurora Christian (18-7) brings a solid record and experience into the postseason.

Led by senior guard Jacob Baumann, the Eagles earned the third seed in sub-sectional A, and opens against Prophetstown in their own regional on Wednesday. Byron is seeded second.

“We look forward to hosting our own regional,” said Eagles coach Dan Beebe. “Aurora Christian has competed well in both 1A and 2A.”

A year ago, the Eagles captured the 1A sectional title before falling to Eastland in the supersectional.

“We have some quality postseason experience,” said Beebe. “Jacob Baumann has won three regional titles, two sectional titles, played in two supersectionals, and was on our fourth-place team his sophomore year. Preston Morel and Joe Decort are starters from last year’s supersectional team.”

Aurora Christian did suffer a recent blow when it lost senior Asa Johnson to a season-ending knee injury.

“We had four starters out due to injury in our last game,” said Beebe. “We think the team will be healthy by regionals, except Asa.”

Junior guard Nick Czerak (18 ppg) leads No. 9 Aurora Central Catholic (11-18) into regional quarterfinal action against No. 8 Genoa-Kingston on Monday at Rock Falls.

Sub-sectional B includes No. 5 Timothy Christian (18-11), which opens Wednesday against No. 4 Richmond-Burton at Johnsburg, and No. 6 IC Catholic Prep (15-14), which opens Monday against No. 11 Harvest-Westminster at Marengo.

As part of the Seneca sectional, No. 4 seed Lisle faces Chicago Christian Wednesday in the Beecher regional, while No. 10 Westmont faces Universal Monday in the Wilmington regional.

All regional title games are set for Friday, Feb. 27.

Class 1A

St. Edward (5-23), led by juniors JT Birns, Owen Searcy, and Ben Pfeiffer, begin Hinckley-Big Rock regional action Monday against Christian Heritage Academy in Northfield. A win will propel the Green Wave to Wednesday’s regional semifinals against the second-seeded Royals.