High school sports accelerate into a higher gear. The boys basketball regional tournaments are ready to start Saturday, Feb. 19. The subsequent round, in nearly all tournaments, will skip to Wednesday, Feb. 23 with regional semifinal games.
One and done is the refrain when we shift into postseason.
All four boys classes will hold State Tournament games Thursday, March 10 through Saturday, March 12. The championship games will conclude at the University of Illinois in Champaign when the ample men’s college conference basketball tournaments conclude during the week and end Sunday, March 13.
Then March Madness NCAA tournaments, men and women will begin with 68 teams. There are other Illinois State high school tournaments on the horizon, such as wrestling, girls bowling, boys swimming and diving.
All teams enter the tournaments with dazzled dreams of the underdog making good. No school is denied an opportunity to start the tournament trail and seek the lightning strike of success.
“This Bartlett Sectional is arguably the deepest in the State,” said Bartlett High School boys head basketball coach Jim Wolfsmith, “with teams all the way down to the nine seed possibly finishing with 20 wins and having teams like Glenbard West (28-1 overall through Monday and ranked No. 1 in the State), Wheaton Warrenville South (28-2 and see Bobby Narang’s piece on Wheaton Warrenville South), and Benet (23-6) at the top (seeded teams) of the group make it that much stronger.
“As for our regional, Geneva (15-14) presents a serious issue, they already best us earlier this year. They are well-coached, have good size, and can shoot the ball extremely well.
“Welcome to the 7-10 seed game.
“Wheaton Warrenville South at the top is one of the most disciplined, well-coached teams you will see. They are like a surgeon with their execution on both ends of the floor. Assuming they get by Glenbard East, whomever gets them will have their hands full.”
Bartlett, seeded No. 7 among the 17 teams in the field, will offer a huge test, which will start with No. 10 Geneva in a semifinal game Wednesday, Feb. 23.
Bartlett, was 16-2 in the Upstate Eight through Monday and 22-6 overall. Bartlett lost both games with Larkin, 17-0 and 26-3.
“In game one,” Wolfsmith said, “we had the lead into the fourth quarter, but, (Larkin) took control. In game two (Larkin) did the same thing. Larkin is a great defensive team, led by two great senior guards. They have all the talent to make a deep run in their own sectional, but, will have challenges to face of their own. Rockford Auburn, Huntley, and Rockford East all have the talent to make them work. Larkin’s combination of solid coaching and senior guards have been their main reason for their success.”
The Huntley and Bartlett Sectional champions will meet in the Northern Illinois University Super-Sectional in DeKalb Tuesday, March 8. Other sectional No. 1 seeded teams include Oswego East at Oswego, Barrington at Barrington, and Whitney Young at Proviso West. The Oswego Sectional champion will drop down south again to the Normal Super-Sectional to play the Collinsville Sectional champion.
Bartlett offers the imposing Conrad Luczynzki, a 7-3 center. His size and, “a good mix of shooters,” Wolfsmith said, “has given us real balance. Having a great group of guys pulling together has been a major part of (success) this year.”
West Aurora head coach Brian Johnson and the Blackhawks will be in the Oswego Sectional. They are seeded No. 9 in the 18-team field. Following Oswego East in seeded order and prior to West Aurora (15-13 overall, 10-5 in the Southwest Suburban West): Bolingbrook, Andrew, Neuqua Valley, Joliet West, Lockport, East Aurora, and Waubonsie Valley.
“We are really excited for the challenge,” Johnson said. “We open (Wednesday, Feb. 23 at Joliet Central at 7:30 p.m.) with a strong and well-coached team in Waubonsie Valley (14-14 overall and 3-6 in the DuPage Valley). The match-up will be the second time we go against each other in the regional semifinals in the last two State playoffs. Every game is now win or go home.”
Johnson is especially impressed with 6-4 freshman forward Terrence Smith. He has been starting for West Aurora since the middle of January. “He has been doing very well and thriving in his role,” Johnson said.
“I thoroughly enjoy this team. They are all nice young men and get along well together. They are outstanding representatives of School District 129, West Aurora, and the Aurora community.”
Head coach Deryn Carter on his Upstate Eight Conference champion Larkin, which succeeded Bartlett, said, “We have played great defense and shared the ball offensively. We have met expectations. We thought we had a chance to be very good.”
Burlington Central head coach Brett Porto on his 16-0 Fox Valley Conference champion, 26-3 overall, said, “We have a veteran group of seniors and juniors who have been around on varsity competing at a high level since they were freshmen and sophomores. Team leaders are Gavin Sarvis, Zac Schmidt, Drew Scharnowski, Carson Seyller, Nick Carpenter, and Trestan Wagner.