Rivals to meet again in playoff openers

It’s a cliché, and that’s why it’s true — in the boys basketball playoffs you’ve got to beat anyone the state throws at you to achieve your postseason goals.

But crosstown or conference rivalries so soon? Apparently so.

In the Class 3A and 4A pairings announced last week by the Illinois High School Association, Geneva will meet Batavia in the opening round of the 4A Metea Valley regional.

St. Charles East and St. Charles North square off in the 4A St. Charles North regional semifinal — for the fourth time this season.

Kaneland, which earned the No. 1 seed at the Class 3A Rochelle regional, will play either Burlington Central (for the second time this season) or Sycamore (for a third time) for the right to perhaps face Rochelle for a third time in a regional final.

At the 3A Sandwich regional, hopefully the facility is big enough for both Marmion and Aurora Central. The Suburban Christian Conference rivals and all their rowdy fans will crowd in to see the regional semifinal on Feb. 29.

Last season only West Aurora played a conference opponent in a first-round playoff game. (St. Charles North faced Upstate Eight Conference crossover foe Bartlett.)

This year the Blackhawks, who get the winner of Hinsdale South and Downers Grove North at the 4A Oswego regional, are the only large-school team who don’t.

Coaches don’t seem to care.

“When you get into the state tournament series you play who’s there in front of you,” said Batavia’s Jim Roberts, who’ll see Phil Ralston’s Vikings a third time this season and, on Feb. 27 at Metea, for the second time in 11 days.

“I think both teams will be pretty familiar with each other,” Roberts said in understatement.

Geneva and Batavia are the No. 14 and 19 seeds, respectively, at the East Aurora sectional, which combines with the Schaumburg sectional into the Hinsdale Central super.

In the East Aurora complex, 1-loss Plainfield East, extended into double-overtime by St. Charles East on Tuesday, is the top seed with Downers Grove South and Metea Valley Nos. 2-3.

West Aurora is No. 4.

“I can’t say I’m happy or unhappy,” said Blackhawks coach Gordie Kerkman. “I’m satisfied. That’s probably where we belong.”

If West is successful in its first-round game, there’s a good chance West Aurora will get No. 5 seed Naperville North. The teams play Friday with the title of the DuPage Valley Conference on the line.

“We’re a little more concerned about conference right now,” Kerkman said.

Under the Northern Illinois University supersectional umbrella — where Warren is the top seed out of the Barrington sectional — the Dundee-Crown sectional includes five Upstate Eight teams crammed into the St. Charles North regional.

Seeded regionally rather than by sectional, Elgin is the No. 1 seed followed by St. Charles East, St. Charles North, South Elgin and Streamwood.

“We jump right into a mini-conference tournament, really, against some of the top teams in our conference,” said St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin, whose North Stars have won seven of their last nine games. “Any time you have a team like Elgin in the field you know it’s a strong regional.”

Although St. Charles North beat East twice in three meetings this season, St. Charles East was awarded the No. 2 seed over the North Stars. When they play for a fourth time on Feb. 29 the 2012 debate will be settled.

“It’s going to be tough to beat them three times, and to play your rival four times is exhausting for me. But for our kids, they’re excited about it and looking forward to it,” Poulin said.

His counterpart, Saints coach Patrick Woods, wasn’t alarmed by the pairing.

“I’m not surprised one bit about that,” he said after Tuesday’s 79-69 loss to 23-1 Plainfield East.

“The fourth time, we know them well, they know us well, it’s going to be kind of a battle of wills. It’ll be a great environment, it’ll be fun,” Woods said.

Fun was a matter of perspective the last time the Marmion and Aurora Central shared a basketball court. At Marmion on Jan. 27, a defensive stop by the Cadets on Aurora Central resulted in a 64-62 overtime win for Marmion. The home fans swarmed the court in celebration, raising ire among Chargers players.

The eruption was so swift and boisterous, Marmion coach Ryan Paradise said he warned Aurora Central coach Nathan Drye to get his players off the court before the traditional postgame handshake.

“It’s pretty heated,” Paradise said of the Aurora rivalry, which also saw Marmion win 54-41 on Dec. 10 in front of another fire code violation crowd at Aurora Central.

“I think it’s going to be more intense and fun for the fans rather than the coaches and players, really,” Paradise said.

Drye believes his team is ready to pop. Like Aurora Christian in Class 2A, last season the Chargers entered the regional as a No. 3 seed and advanced to a supersectional.

Drye thinks his team is healthier than it’s been since the start of this season, when Aurora Central earned wins over Plainfield North, Plainfield South and St. Francis.

“I like my team, I think we can do some stuff,” he said. “I think we have to get back to playing fast and playing hard. I think if we do that we can have just as good a shot as anybody else.”

At the Sandwich regional, No. 2 Marmion will face No. 3 Aurora Central on Feb. 29. Yorkville is the top seed.

That brings us to Kaneland. Located in the same 3A Sycamore sectional as Aurora Central and Marmion, the Knights polish off their regular season against Northern Illinois Big 12 East teams Yorkville and Rochelle. Kaneland needs the first game to remain in contention for the title; it needs the second to either win it outright or share it.

However that turns out, Kaneland then heads directly into the Rochelle regional as the No. 1 seed, the first time in coach Brian Johnson’s three seasons he’s drawn a top seed.

As such, the Knights presumably would defeat either Burlington Central or Sycamore and advance to the regional final. Crazier things have happened, such as when Sycamore beat Kaneland 51-42 just two weeks ago.

“I think everybody looks at their regional and says, man, we could win our regional and be successful in our sectional,” Johnson said. “ACC showed that last year.”

Kaneland has one win over Rochelle, the No. 2 seed at Sandwich. But even should the Knights finish strong and beat Yorkville and Rochelle the next two Fridays, it leads to another old sports cliché: it’s hard to beat a team three times.

“It is what it is,” Johnson said. “And we can’t really do anything about where they put you for the regional.”