Mother Nature willing, it's championship week
Mother Nature may have something to say about it, but until she smacks us we have to assume this will be championship week in a couple of area conference races.
While Bartlett wrapped up the first Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division title with its 59-44 win at Neuqua Valley Saturday, the UEC River title could come down to this Saturday night's matchup in Geneva between the host Vikings and Streamwood, which currently each have one loss in the division.
Geneva is no stranger to conference championships, but the players on this Streamwood team weren't even born yet the last time the Sabres won a league title in 1987-88, the same year that Donna Groh, Rene Kanak, Chris Francke and Co. advanced to the program's only Sweet Sixteen.
The Sabres have a tougher road this week than Geneva. Streamwood (17-4 overall) hosts St. Charles East Thursday night, a team Streamwood beat 47-40 in St. Charles on Dec. 10. Geneva, meanwhile, is scheduled to play Larkin tonight in a rare back-to-back scheduling quirk, and then Elgin on Thursday. Geneva beat the Royals 86-16 on Saturday and Elgin 82-18 on Dec. 10.
If Streamwood beats St. Charles East and Geneva beats Larkin and Elgin, the outright lead in the division will be on the line Saturday night in Geneva. Then, the winner will need to win its final division game next week to claim the crown. Streamwood closes River play at Batavia on Feb. 11 and Geneva hosts St. Charles East the same night.
FVC Valley race: If games get played tonight, and if Cary-Grove and Huntley prevail, the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division crown will be on the line Friday night in Huntley.
And it will a little bit of déjà vu, albeit against a different team, for Cary-Grove. The Trojans had a chance to win the Valley outright last year when they were tripped up by Jacobs 39-37 in the next-to-last league game of the season.
In their earlier meeting this season at Cary, Huntley led most of the way before the Trojans came back to claim a 58-52 win, Huntley's only loss in the division.
To make Friday night's game a true championship affair, Cary-Grove (21-3, 8-0) will need to beat Jacobs ((3-20, 2-6) tonight, while Huntley (15-6, 7-1) has a tougher task as it travels to McHenry (16-8, 5-3). The Red Raiders beat McHenry 62-37 at Huntley on Jan. 7 but the Warriors then won 4 straight before losing to Cary-Grove on Saturday.
Huntley has been without leading scorer and starting point guard Carly Goede (ankle) for over a week but coach Steve Raethz was hoping she'd be back this week.
"It's a whole different thing when you don't have your point guard, especially won the caliber of Carly," said Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert, whose team played all of last season without point guard Megan Straumann (ACL).
Cary-Grove sophomore Olivia Jakubicek, also nursing an ankle injury, returned Saturday after missing 3 games. She played 10 minutes in the Trojans' 57-41 win over McHenry and Saffert said Monday all went well.
"She's been feeling good but we're not sure if she'll start Friday or not yet," said Saffert. "She's got three more days to rest up so we'll see."
Saffert also said that if tonight's games are canceled, the current plan is for the Trojans to hold their senior recognition game against Jacobs at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Streaking: Not only can Hampshire clinch a share of its fourth straight (and final) Big Northern East title this week but the Whip-Purs can also add to a long conference winning streak.
Hampshire (22-2, 8-0), which joins the Fox Valley Conference Fox Division next year, can clinch at least a tie for the East title Friday night when it hosts rival Burlington Central (11-12, 5-3) for the final time in a conference game. Hampshire beat BC 58-30 on Jan. 15. The Whip-Purs carry a 37-game BN-East winning streak into Friday's game. Their last loss in a conference game was on Dec. 5, 2007 when Central beat the Whips 58-48.
The Whips then close out their incredibly successful run in the Big Northern Conference when they host Richmond on Feb. 8.
Another injury report: Dundee-Crown has been without starting junior guard Carlin Faulkner since she separated a shoulder in the Chargers' win over Fenton on Jan. 15. D-C coach Michelle Russell said Monday she hopes Faulkner can return to the Chargers' lineup later this week.
Class 3-4A postseason: The IHSA released pairings for the Class 3A and 4A postseason late Friday and there are few surprises for area teams.
As suspected, Bartlett is the No. 2 seed behind Fenwick in the Class 4A York sectional complex. The Hawks have been assigned to the Glenbard North regional, where they will play either No. 15 Addison Trail or No. 18 Chicago Austin in the semifinals on Feb. 16. Seventh-seed Rolling Meadows or No. 10 Conant figures to be Bartlett's regional championship matchup and if they win the regional, the Hawks would advance to York to likely play No. 3 Trinity in the sectional semifinals before they'd get a shot at Fenwick, which beat Bartlett 65-47 in the title game of the Dundee-Crown Christmas tournament. Bartlett owns a 61-50 win over Trinity back at Thanksgiving time.
If seeds hold, Fenwick would play No. 4 Proviso East in the other sectional semi at York.
At the Dundee-Crown regional, as suspected, Elgin and Larkin will meet for the third time this season in the Valentine's Day play-in game. The Royals own two wins over the Maroons this season, 42-37 and 44-25, but Elgin eliminated Larkin from the postseason last year.
The Elgin-Larkin winner plays top seed Cary-Grove in one semifinal with No. 2 Streamwood meeting No. 3 Dundee-Crown in the other. Streamwood would like nothing better than another shot at Cary-Grove in the regional title game after losing to the Trojans 53-49 in overtime in last year's championship game.
At the Huntley regional, the Red Raiders are the No. 2 seed and will face either No. 6 Crystal Lake South or No. 3 McHenry in the Feb. 15 semifinals. Top-seeded DeKalb meets No. 4 Prairie Ridge or No. 5 Jacobs in the other semi. DeKalb, now 20-2, had an 18-game winning streak snapped Saturday when former Burlington Central coach Julie Schroeder's Sterling Golden Warriors handed the Barbs a 49-44 overtime loss.
Hononegah is the top seed at the Boylan regional and Geneva is the team to beat at St. Charles East. Those regional winners meet each other at the Jacobs sectional, as do the regional winners from Dundee-Crown and Huntley.
If South Elgin junior Becca Smith is back to 100 percent by regional time, don't count the third-seeded Storm out of the running at St. Charles East. South Elgin plays No. 2 St. Charles North in one semifinal and Geneva meets either Batavia or St. Charles East in the other.
In the Class 3A Sycamore regional, Hampshire would appear to be the favorite to win its third straight regional crown, but the Whip-Purs will have to beat either rival Burlington Central or Sycamore in the semifinals and then an improved Crystal Lake Central team or Rochelle in the title game. The Whips just survived a nonconference meeting with Sycamore on Jan. 22, winning 45-44.
The Sycamore winner advances to the Burlington Central sectional, where it will likely have to face top-ranked and defending 3A state champion Montini in the semifinals.
Stat check: Two of the top players in the area the past four years reached another milestone recently, going over the 1,500-point mark for their careers. Bartlett senior Jacki Gulczynski, a Wisconsin signee, now has 1,539 career points, while NIU recruit Claire Jakubicek of Cary-Grove stands at 1,534 career points. With Hampshire's Alex Dumoulin, Streamwood's Emma Schmidt and South Elgin's Becca Smith having eclipsed the 1,000-point mark earlier this season, just one player Huntley's Kadie Lowery still has a chance at it this season. Lowery currently has 884 career points.
In 3-point land, Hampshire junior Jessie Van Dorin now has 140 career 3s and Lowery 149. While admirable, don't bother looking up the state record thinking that either could threaten it. Hononegah's Courtney Weibel, coach Randy Weibel's daughter, made 471 from 3-point range in her storied Indian career.
Senior Night: Provided the weather doesn't create chaos beyond Wednesday, Bartlett will hold its Senior Night Thursday against Lake Park. In addition to recognizing their seniors, the Hawks will also recognize their house league players, and there will be an appearance by Chicago Bulls mascot Benny the Bull.
jradtke@dailyherald.com