Westminster Christian earns No. 1 regional seed
Westminster Christian was voted the No. 1 seed by coaches in the upcoming Class 1A regional the Warriors will host, according to seeds published on the IHSA Web site Thursday.
Westminster Christian (14-8, 5-1 Northeast Athletic) will begin postseason play in the eight-team regional the week of Feb. 22.
Chicagoland Jewish of Deerfield earned the No. 2 seed, followed by Christian Liberty Academy of Arlington Heights and Winnetka North Shore Country Day.
"We've got our work cut out for us because the fourth seed, North Shore Country Day, will be a handful," Westminster Christian coach Bruce Firchau said. "We just played Chicagoland Jewish Academy and their guards are very quick. They've played a decent schedule up there and they impressed us the other night. We had to play very hard to beat them. We'll really have to be on top of our game defensively in that regional."
Westminster Christian defeated Chicagoland Jewish 60-43 in Elgin on Tuesday. The Warriors beat Christian Liberty 56-30 on Jan. 8. Westminster and NCSD have not faced each other this season.
St. Edward learns seed: St. Edward (10-12, 2-5 Suburban Christian Gold) was named the No. 3 seed in the Class 2A North Boone regional Thursday.
Genoa-Kingston (13-7), which has a 3-4 record in the Big Northern West, garnered the top seed, followed by Rockford Christian (17-3), which stands alone atop the new Northeast Athletic Conference with a record of 6-0. Harvard (8-15) is seeded fourth and North Boone (5-15) fifth.
The Green Wave will likely play Rockford Christian in a regional semifinal. The Green Wave lost to the Royals, 45-38, in Rockford on Dec. 4.
"We're familiar with them," St. Edward coach Keith Chuipek said. "We didn't play very good in the second half of that game. We were tied at halftime and we wilted a little bit in the second half, which has been a bit of a problem all year. But I think once the kids find out we're playing them I think they'll be happy about that."
The Green Wave can finally give their overused team bus a rest. St. Edward plays its final five regular-season games in the cozy confines of its home gym. However, the Wave will face two top-flight opponents during that stretch: SCC Gold leader Wheaton Academy (19-1) pays a visit tonight at 7:30 p.m., and Winnebago (21-0) - the No. 3 in Class 2A - comes to Elgin on Feb. 16.
"All we want to do against those two teams is just compete," Chuipek said. "Then we think we can play pretty good against Immaculate Conception and Aurora Central Catholic and Illinois Math and Science in our last game.
"But it's good to be home. We haven't been home since Jan. 6, and we've only had three home games all season, which can be kind of hard. I think our home-court advantage is probably better than most schools around. Our kids feel comfortable out there."
Brown emerging: Elgin coach Mike Sitter credited the play of sophomore Kory Brown (6-foot-2) for helping the Maroons rally from a 9-point deficit to win 63-55 at Larkin on Tuesday. The forward scored 17 points and hauled in 9 rebounds against the Royals.
"I think Kory Brown is finally taking control of this team, at least trying to," Sitter said. "We've been trying to get him to assert himself all year.
"You've been seeing him handle more of the point-guard duties. For a 6-3 kid, he had some turnovers (Tuesday), but at least he was attempting it and that's what I wanted to see. I wanted to see him start to take over this team because all 10 players on this team know he's the most talented kid. They recognize that and they get on him when he doesn't shoot enough or when he doesn't get aggressive."
Trojans jelling: Cary-Grove (11-10, 5-1) has won 4 straight games and 6 of its last 7 to forge a three-way tie atop the Valley Division of the Fox Valley Conference with McHenry (13-5, 5-1) and Crystal Lake South (12-8, 5-1).
The Trojans are finally clicking now that state champion football players Chad McCarron and Ryan Barker have gotten fully up to speed after joining the team late.
"We finally have 100 percent of our systems in," Cary-Grove coach Ralph Schuetzle said last week. "I'm just hoping those early losses don't affect our regional seed too much."
Online voting by coaches for Class 3A and 4A regional seeds takes place next week. The Trojans will compete in the Class 4A Barrington regional, which includes Streamwood (6-12), Larkin (7-13), Dundee-Crown (2-17) and the host Broncos (10-11).