Scouting Fox Valley area Class 3-4A regionals
The IHSA postseason for Class 3A and 4A girls basketball teams begins Monday around the state. Here's a look at regional play involving Fox Valley area teams.
Class 4A Huntley sectional
Regional sites: Cary-Grove, McHenry, St. Charles North, Rockford Jefferson
Top seeds: Cary-Grove, Jacobs, Geneva, Rockford Boylan
Cary-Grove regional: On paper it would appear the host Trojans should have a cakewalk in this regional. Elgin (1-25) meets Larkin (0-26) in the 7:30 p.m. play-in game Monday with the winner facing Cary-Grove (24-3) at 6 p.m. Tuesday/. The second semifinal Tuesday pits Streamwood (11-16) against Dundee-Crown (2-25).
But don't tell Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert that his team has an automatic ticket to the Huntley sectional semifinals. The Trojans are coming off an impressive 64-58 win over St. Charles North on Friday, a win Saffert hopes give his team some spark heading into the postseason.
"That was probably the best game we've played all year," Saffert said. "It was a momentum game. We feel good going into the regional. If we take care of business (Tuesday) I anticipate playing Streamwood. They've won five or six in a row and they beat St. Charles North. They've got nothing to lose and anything can happen on any given night. We'd be playing them for the third time so we'll have to be ready."
Cary-Grove has been led all season by the scoring of 6-foot junior Claire Jakubicek (16 ppg) but her 5-10 freshman sister Olivia (8 ppg) and senior guard Liz Bart (8.2 ppg) also have big-game potential.
In the Monday opener, Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales is hoping his team will notch its second victory over winless Larkin this season and advance.
"We're looking forward to it," said Bumbales. "It's easy to motivate the girls to play Larkin whether you have zero wins or 26 wins. It's the state tournament and our goal is to play for a regional championship. There will have to be some upsets along the way and we don't want that to happen to us. We've been playing better lately."
Senior Brandi Hernandez (7.3 ppg) and sophomore Brianna Hamilton (6.9) have been consistent scorers for the Maroons, who beat Larkin 50-31 earlier in the season. Larkin head coach Alphonso Lott remains suspended by the IHSA over a certification issue. Freshman Allison Smith has been a spark for the Royals, who haven't won against a varsity team this season.
Streamwood coach George Rosner, who recently won his 325th career game, brings a team into the postseason that's on a roll. The Sabres have won 6 in a row.
"Everybody wants to be on a good streak going into regionals," Rosner said. "We know Dundee-Crown is playing better so we know we'll have to play well. It's one game at a time. Dundee-Crown is our focus right now. If we beat D-C, then we'll focus on Cary-Grove."
The Sabres, who beat Dundee-Crown 62-44 in the season opener, have been led by the scoring duo of juniors Emma Schmidt (13.5 ppg) and Michelle Tomczak (10.7). Freshman Jessica Cerda (7.2 ppg)) suffered a bruised knee Thursday against Elgin but Rosner is hoping she's OK to play in the regional. She leads the team with 25 3-pointers.
Dundee-Crown's only wins this season came against Elgin and Larkin, on Dec. 1 and Dec. 5. But the Chargers have been more competitive down the stretch. Sophomore Ali Sanders (10.3 ppg) and senior Megan Fasanella (7.1) lead D-C.
St. Charles North regional: South Elgin (10-16), the No. 4 seed, opens regional play Monday night against No. 5 Batavia (13-12). The Storm come into the postseason having lost 4 of its last 5 games.
"Everybody in the state is 0-0 right now," said South Elgin coach Tim Prendergast. It's a fresh start and we're excited, but we're not looking past Batavia."
South Elgin is led by sophomore guard Becca Smith, who averages 20 points per game. Senior Dijon Smith averages 9.7 points per game.
The South Elgin/Batavia winner plays top seed Geneva, which just completed its second straight undefeated regular season, in Wednesday's semifinals. The other semi Wednesday pits St. Charles North against St. Charles East.
McHenry regional: Easily the toughest regional in the Huntley sectional complex. No. 1 seed Jacobs (23-6) awaits the winner of Monday's play-in game between Huntley (14-13) and McHenry (13-17) in one Wednesday semifinal while Crystal Lake South (17-11) takes on Hononegah (18-11) in the other semi.
Huntley coach Steve Raethz is optimistic his team can be a sleeper in this regional.
"We're playing some of our best basketball of the season right now," said Raethz, whose team has won 4 of 5 including a big 59-54 victory at Fox Valley Fox champion Johnsburg earlier this week. "Hopefully we'll carry that momentum into regionals. We feel good about what we can potentially accomplish. It's a tough regional with quality teams. There's the potential for some surprises."
Huntley, which owns two wins over McHenry this season, is led by the scoring of senior Kadie Lowery, who is playing the best basketball of her career right now, and junior Carly Goede. Lowery averages over 12 points per game and Goede just under 9. Junior CeCe Tsevas has also come on strong lately.
"Kadie really carried the load for us against Johnsburg and CeCe has stepped up her scoring," Raethz said. "In general we've been shooting the ball better and we've tightened up on defense."
CL South, likewise, comes in on a roll having won 4 straight.
"We finished strong," said Gators coach Kyle McCaughn, whose team reached a sectional final last season. "Hopefully we have some momentum now but we've got a really tough opponent. They like to push the ball and shoot the 3 and they've got a 6-3 kids (Nicole Smith) to contend with. But if we take care of the ball and convert on the offensive end, our defense will be there."
Offensively, the Gators are led by seniors Michelle Gaede (13.8 ppg) and Katie Burton (10.1), who recently reached the 1,000-point mark for her career.
Then there's top seed Jacobs, the Fox Valley (Valley) co-champs who have won 8 in a row.
"It's an honor to be the No. 1 seed but it really doesn't mean anything," said Golden Eagles coach Ed Haugens. "Huntley's playing its best basketball of the season, and Hononegah and South are both hot."
Jacobs hasn't played since Feb. 5.
"We needed a break," Haugens said. "We've played so many games. It does concern me a little as to how we'll react but we needed a break."
The Golden Eagles are led by the senior tandem of Hailey Cnota (10.7 ppg) and Maria Tamburrino (12.3).
Jefferson regional: NIC-10 champ Rockford Boylan (24-3) is the top seed and odds-on favorite to win this regional, which includes the remainder of the Rockford schools and Machesney Park Harlem. Auburn (22-5) could give Boylan a game.
Advancement: The Huntley sectional winner advances to the Streamwood supersectional on Monday, March 1 to face the winner of the Libertyville sectional.
Class 4A Lake Park sectional
Regional sites: Fenwick, Rolling Meadows, West Chicago, Glenbard East)
Top seeds: Fenwick, Elk Grove, Proviso West., Hoffman Estates
Glenbard East regional: Bartlett is the No. 6 seed in the Lake Park sectional and the 18-9 Hawks, who have won 9 of 10, open regional play in Lombard Tuesday night against No. 10 seed Lake Park (16-11), an Upstate Eight rival the Hawks beat 58-37 on Dec. 5.
"Lake Park is playing real well and we have a lot of respect for our conference and our conference opponents," said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna. "We're not looking past Lake Park. We have to come out and play a good game."
Sarna is hoping the Hawks gets back injured starting guard Nicole Beck (4.4 ppg) and injured 6-foot junior Christina Carlson (8.1 ppg., 6.4 rpg).
Lake Park's biggest win lately was against St. Charles East, a win that allowed Bartlett to secure second place in the UEC.
The Hawks are led by junior standout Jacki Gulczynski, who averages over 17 points per game and had a career-high 31 against South Elgin Saturday.
The Bartlett-Lake Park winner will likely face No. 2 seed Elk Grove (20-5), which has lost two in a row.
The Glenbard East regional winner faces the West Chicago regional winner in the Lake Park sectional semifinals.
Class 3A DeKalb sectional
Regional sites: Freeport, Prairie Ridge, Yorkville, Rochelle
Top seeds: Belvidere North, Prairie Ridge, Oswego, Hampshire
Rochelle regional: If No. 4 seed Burlington Central (17-10) gets past Sycamore (11-14) in Monday's play-in game, the Rockets will get a third shot at No. 1 seed Hampshire (26-1).
"We gotta get by Sycamore first and we have to come out and play hard and as a team," said BC coach Stephanie Smith. "Our goal is to play Hampshire again on Wednesday. It would be nice to coach against Sue Ellett again and our seniors would be excited to play Hampshire again. But Sycamore has beat some people and turned some heads so we're definitely not looking past Sycamore."
If the Rockets do get another shot at Ellett's Whip-Purs, who beat BC in the regional title game at Kaneland last year, it should be a barnburner. Hampshire (26-1) beat the Rockets 47-42 and 55-53 this season in two of the most intense games in the area.
BC is led by seniors Jordan Maisto (13.2 ppg) and Taylor Colby (13.0).
Hampshire, ranked No. 7 in Class 3A this season, is led by seniors Chrissy Heine (13.9 ppg) and Cassie Dumoulin (10.0) and junior Alex Dumoulin (12.2).
No. 3 seed Rochelle takes on Kaneland in Monday's second play-in game, with the winner facing No. 2 DeKalb on Wednesday.
Hampshire owns a 31-29 Thanksgiving tournament win over DeKalb.
The Rochelle regional winner plays the Freeport regional winner in the DeKalb sectional semifinals, and the DeKalb sectional winner faces the St. Viator sectional champ in the Elgin supersectional on March 1.