There's a new look to local Class 2A sectional
The best and biggest news for DuPage County teams assigned to the Class 2A Genoa-Kingston sectional for boys basketball is who is not there.
Orr, the No. 1 team in Class 2A and three-time defending state champion.
Last season Orr defeated Timothy Christian in a sectional semifinal. The prior two seasons Orr eliminated IC Catholic Prep late in sectional play.
This season Orr is in the Joliet Central supersectional and wouldn't face a DuPage team until the Class 2A semifinals.
"When they kind of restructured the sectional, based on a number of schools coming down from 3A to 2A that shifted how the sectional looked," said Timothy Christian coach Scott Plasier, whose Trojans (22-5) earned the No. 1 seed in one of the two Genoa-Kingston subsectionals.
Rockford Lutheran (21-8) drew the other top seed and will host a regional.
The Trojans may encounter two teams that dropped down. At the St. Joseph regional Timothy Christian could face No. 7 Montini in a regional semifinal and then No. 4 St. Joseph in the Feb. 28 final. It's likely No. 6 Westmont (12-18) will get the first crack at St. Joseph.
"Getting the No. 1 seed was nice, but having to go to St. Joseph, and if we can beat a good Montini team on the first night, having to turn around to beat St. Joseph at St. Joseph is a tall task," Plaisier said.
Playing in separate divisions in the wicked Chicago Catholic League, Montini (7-20) and St. Joseph (13-14) are better than their records.
"Hopefully, the ball bounces our way, we get a couple good calls, we play some defense and you never know. Basketball's a funny game, right? We play a good schedule, hopefully that helps us out in the regionals," said Montini coach Bob Lozano, who gets No. 10 Intrinsic Charter in a regional quarterfinal.
No. 3 seed IC Catholic Prep (16-14) heads northwest to the Class 2A Northridge Prep regional. A winner of eight regional titles, most recently in 2018, should IC Catholic beat probable advancer No. 5 Chicago Academy the Knights will reach the final likely against another tourney-tested squad, Northridge Prep (24-6).
"They're going to give Northridge Prep all they can handle," Plaisier said.
In the other subsectional, Rockford Lutheran and former Class 3A team Aurora Central Catholic host regionals. No. 2 Marengo (25-3) is the top seed at ACC followed by No. 3 Wheaton Academy (19-10) - again, typical 3A teams.
The Warriors will play the winner between upset-minded No. 5 seed Lisle (16-13) and No. 10 St. Edward (9-21). Lisle will come off an Illinois Central Eight Conference race going down to the last day.
"St. Ed's gave us a real tough game (59-47) the second game and I know Lisle's having a good year," said Wheaton Academy coach Steve Thonn, a Class 3A veteran in two prior seasons as an assistant and two as head coach.
"I still think either 2A or 3A, it's still a tough sectional with a lot of good teams," he said.
More big news:
Speaking of changes in the pairings, DuPage County's Class 3A and 4A fields will look much different thanks to a couple major shifts.
Benet and Hinsdale South - longtime Class 4A competitors - dropped to Class 3A and into a sectional hosted by the Hornets. Benet hosts a regional.
Considering Benet (20-8) surpassed the 20-win mark for the 11th straight year and Hinsdale South (26-3) just saw a 15-game winning streak snapped, the Class 4A Addison Trail sectional now appears up for grabs due to their absence. It's a little weaker, but it's also deeper and balanced.
Even though Benet and Hinsdale South theoretically should face easier competition in 3A against smaller schools, the opposite looks true.
"It sounded a lot better until I saw who else was in there," said Hornets coach Brett Moore. "The way it's set up, 3A is going to be pretty good."
Both teams will snag top-four seeds but looming large is likely No. 1 seed Bogan (23-3). The team that wins the Hinsdale South sectional then matches up with the Thornridge sectional champion that'll emerge from a group featuring Morgan Park, Oak Forest and Kankakee.
Glenbard South (21-4) and Riverside-Brookfield (18-8) also are vying for a top-five seed at Hinsdale South.