A Fox Valley holiday tournament primer

The 12 days of holiday hoops begin Saturday for high school boys basketball fans in the Fox Valley.

Fourteen area teams will compete in six different tournaments, beginning with opening-round contests Saturday at Jacobs and DeKalb and continuing through the conclusion of the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament at York on Dec. 30.

Here's a breakdown of what to expect at each venue:

At Elgin: Bracket play in the 35th Annual Elgin Holiday Tournament begins Monday. Second-round games take place Tuesday, semifinal games on Wednesday and the 16-team tournament concludes with the championship round on Saturday, Dec. 26.

Defending champion Neuqua Valley (6-0) is among the top four seeds along with Fremd (7-0), Glenbard East (6-1) and Rockford Auburn (5-2).

Neuqua Valley and Dundee-Crown (1-4) will play on Monday at 10:30 a.m. in a rematch of last year's Class 4A supersectional at Northern Illinois, which D-C won 64-59. Neuqua Valley returns several key players from last year's team. The Chargers have an entirely new lineup with no returning players from the squad that upset the Wildcats in the Elite Eight.

"Everybody talks about a rematch because it's Neuqua vs. Dundee-Crown, but none of our guys that played are going to be there," D-C coach Lance Huber said. "They're going to have a handful of guys that played in that game. We might have some guys who sat on the bench. It'll be a wake-up call for some of our boys who aren't used to playing teams of that caliber. Maybe they'll gain an appreciation for what our guys did against Neuqua out at Northern."

Elgin (2-6) opens the tournament against Auburn on Monday at 6:30 p.m. Maroons coach Mike Sitter likes the quality of this year's field overall.

"There were only three teams with losing records when we seeded it, so that was tough," Sitter said. "Neuqua Valley, Glenbard East and Fremd look to be the cream of the crop, but there are a lot of teams that could creep up there. Hoffman Estates, Buffalo Grove and Wheaton North are good, so the field is solid and top heavy. It should be competitive."

Other first-round games on Monday include: Batavia (5-2) vs. Rolling Meadows (3-4) at 8:45 a.m.; Fremd vs. Glenbrook South (2-4) at noon; Buffalo Grove (6-2) vs. Willowbrook (4-5) at 1:30 p.m.; Glenbard East vs. Highland Park (3-4) at 3:15 p.m.; Larkin (6-2) vs. Rockford Guilford (2-4) at 5 p.m.; and Hoffman Estates (4-3) vs. Wheaton North (3-4) at 8 p.m.

At Jacobs: Pool play in this five-day tournament begins Saturday and continues Monday and Tuesday. Bracket games take place Wednesday and the tournament wraps with the championship round on Saturday, Dec. 26.

Jacobs will be a busy venue with eight varsity games taking place each day, not to mention 16-team sophomore and freshman "B" tournaments running simultaneously. Admission is $5 per person per day. Fans can re-enter for later games with a stamp.

The 16-team field includes local teams Bartlett (5-2), St. Edward (5-3) and six Fox Valley Conference schools: Jacobs (0-6), Cary-Grove (3-5), Crystal Lake Central (1-7), Crystal Lake South (3-3) Prairie Ridge (3-4) and Woodstock (2-5).

The lineup has a different look this year with the addition of perennial state power Zion-Benton (4-3). The Zee-Bees replace Johnsburg, which opted to compete in the holiday tournament at Grant. Other schools competing at Jacobs include Barrington (3-5), Elk Grove (1-6), Lindblom, Mundelein (5-3), St. Charles North (5-4) and Wauconda (3-5).

"We're really happy to get Zion-Benton," Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle said. "Zion-Benton looks like a state tournament-type team this year and Mundelein looks they have a very good team. (Iowa recruit Ben) Brust is a good Division-I prospect. Those two couldn't meet until the championship, though we're hoping Zion-Benton doesn't play for the championship because we're on that side of the bracket."

At DeKalb: Burlington Central (2-4), Hampshire (3-3) and Huntley (6-1) will play at the 82nd Annual Chuck Dayton Tournament, which includes 16 teams and takes place over the course of five days. Pool play is scheduled for Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. Bracket play begins Wednesday with the finals slated for Saturday, Dec. 26.

First-time participant Hampshire will play pool games against Belvidere (3-3), Woodstock North (3-5) and DeKalb (5-2). The Whip-Purs opted for DeKalb after playing at the Marengo Holiday Tournament the past two seasons. Their own Lions Club Holiday Tournament ended three years ago due to a lack of available teams. The Whips open the tournament against Belvidere on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.

"Somebody might have to take the second half because the game starts at 8:30 and I'm usually asleep by 9," Hampshire coach Bob Barnett joked. "It's our first time over there so I don't know what to expect, but I'm going to spend a lot of time over there scouting. It's new, so we'll all face it together."

Burlington Central will play pool games against LaSalle-Peru, Rockford Jefferson (6-2) and Chicago North Grand. The Rockets open play against LaSalle-Peru on Saturday at 9 a.m., approximately 12 hours after the conclusion of tonight's Big Northern East game against Marengo.

"I really like that we're playing at DeKalb," coach Brett Porto said. "It's pretty much in our backyard and the level of competition more times than not is pretty high. It's a nice Christmas fit for us."

Huntley will play pool games against Rockford East (1-6), Wilmington (6-2) and Geneva (6-2). The Red Raiders are seeking their second tournament title of the season after winning the Leland Strombom Thanksgiving Tournament at Sycamore.

Rounding out the field are Chicago Vocational (9-1), Harlem (5-3), Rochelle (2-6) and Dixon (7-2).

At Wheeling: Streamwood (2-5) is the only local entrant in the 16-team, bracketed Wheeling Hardwood Classic, which runs Dec. 21-23 and concludes on Dec. 26.

The Sabres, who face a stiff Upstate Eight Conference test against Neuqua Valley tonight, have won two of their last three ballgames. They open the Wheeling tournament against St. Viator (8-2) on Monday at 7:15 p.m.

"St. Viator is very good," Streamwood coach Tim Jones said. "They've got some size, they've got some speed and they have a lot of returning guys, some decent shooters. It's a tough matchup, but we're playing at 7:15, which is a nice time to play. It's always been a nice tournament, always well balanced."

Other opening day matchups on Monday include: Prospect (6-1) vs. Niles North (2-4) at 9 a.m.; Naperville Central (6-2) vs. Carmel (4-4) at 10:30 a.m.; Notre Dame (7-3) vs. Lake Park (4-5) at noon; Libertyville (4-3) vs. Wheeling (2-5) at 2 p.m.; Vernon Hills (5-2) vs. Loyola at 3:45 p.m.; Deerfield (6-1) vs. Kenwood at 5:30 p.m.; and Stevenson (5-2) vs. Maine West (3-5) at 8:45 p.m.

At Marengo: Westminster Christian (3-4) will face its toughest competition of the season at the 60th Annual E.C. Nichols Holiday Tournament at Marengo, where the Class 1A Warriors will play larger schools.

"In pool play we'll face Marengo (0-6), which is a Class 3A school, Bogan, a 4A school, and Rockford Lutheran (4-3), a Class 2A school," Warriors coach Bruce Firchau said. "Then we'll probably play a 3A school in the crossover in the last round. For us it'll be good competition, but that's what we're looking for to help us get better."

Other schools entered in the 10-team tournament include Alden-Hebron (2-2), Antioch (2-5), Harvard (2-5) North Boone (2-4), Sycamore (2-5) and favored Winnebago (5-0).

At York: Last season South Elgin entered the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament at York as the top seed. This season South Elgin is seeded No. 8 despite entering with a record of 8-1, which speaks to the depth of the field overall. The Storm open the tournament against St. Ignatius on Dec. 26 at 4 p.m.

"There are 13 teams that have a winning record," South Elgin coach Chaz Taft said. "Our game against St. Ignatius... They are 6-2 and we're 8-1, so that's a pretty tough 8-9 (seed) game."

Other first-day matchups in the 16-team, four-day tournament that concludes on Wednesday, Dec. 30, include: Brother Rice vs. St. Charles East (3-5) at noon; Downers Grove South (5-3) vs. Conant (4-3) at 1:30 p.m.; Maine South (6-1) vs. St. Francis (1-5) at 2:30 p.m.; Lyons (6-0) vs. Glenbard South (3-5) at 3:30 p.m.; Oswego vs. Harlan at 5 p.m.; Riverside-Brookfield (5-1) vs. Wheaton Warrenville South (5-2) at 5:45 p.m.; and York (5-3) vs. Palatine (4-4) at 7:15 p.m.

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