March Madness has struck Division III men’s college basketball, and high school boys and girls basketball. Division I NCAA basketball berths will be announced Sunday, March 17. The Original March Madness, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) since 1943, has determined girls champions in Class 1A and 2A. The final leg, the boys 3A and 4A started this week. Hopes spring eternal for magic along with the madness. Excitement will build for the early survivors.
• Both Aurora University and North Central College men’s teams won Division III college conference tournament championships to qualify for the 64-team field which will begin Friday. North Central defeated Wheaton College, which upset top-seeded Augustana College, in the conference tournament championship game. Wheaton qualified for the D-III field.
Aurora University was seeded No. 4 in the Northern Athletics Conference tournament and prevailed with three victories. The Spartans will open play against host and highly-ranked Augustana, the regular-season CCIW champion. The 7:30 p.m. game will be in Rock Island. Host Augustana is 24-3 and Aurora is 17-11. The winner will play Saturday evening against the survivor of the earlier game at Augustana, Capital (Ohio), 20-7, against Wisconsin-Platteville, 18-10.
Aurora is led by the trio of players, Bailey Vance, Max Vickers, and Ty Carlson. North Central will play host to three teams in Naperville. Loras (Iowa), 21-6, will play Albion (Mich.), 19-8, and North Central, 22-5, will play Chatham, (Pa.), 19-9, in its fourth season of basketball. Wheaton will be at Wooster (Mass.).
After the first weekend there will be 16 teams remaining in the field.
• The Glenbard South High School girls basketball team advanced to the Class 3A four-team State tournament in Normal at Illinois State University and Benet Academy advanced to the Class 4A bracket.
• East Aurora won its first boys regional game Monday and fell to Bolingbrook Tuesday.
• Batavia’s boys upset Naperville Central, 53-50, Monday, fell Tuesday to host Downers Grove South.
• West Aurora won its first game, by defeating Minooka, 51-41, at Oswego, Tuesday.