A primer on Class 4A playoffs
The state playoffs began with some regional quarterfinals Saturday, but the real action starts with the regional semis around the area Wednesday. Here’s an overview of the Class 4A field:
Team to beat
Is there one? There are easily a half-dozen — or more — legitimate contenders for the state title, including Kenwood, Curie, Young, Benet, Joliet West and Moline.
Kenwood, Curie and Young will be on the same tournament path to Champaign while also dealing with other stalwarts along the way. But there is no question that if one of those three emerges from a rugged road, it likely would head to the state finals as the favorite among the four semifinalists.
Toughest sectional
Hinsdale Central. There are several highlevel, highly ranked teams with 20 or more victories in this sectional, and the host school is riding a 20-game winning streak, the longest in the area.
Four of the top 10 teams in the Super 25 are in the sectional. There are two perennial powers out of the city, Young and Curie, along with red-hot Hinsdale Central and dangerous Downers Grove North.
Alarmingly for any team with hopes of making it out of this minefield, that doesn’t even include No. 16 Proviso East (22-6), No. 22 Lyons (24-5) and 25-victory RiversideBrookfield.
Best tournament road
Benet. The Redwings are the only ranked team in the Bartlett Sectional. That’s a favorable path for a senior-dominated team that has played its share of big games already this season.
Toughest tournament road
Curie. The Condors must go on the road and beat Lyons in La Grange just to get out of the regional.
Most dangerous lower-seeded teams
Loyola, Prospect and Glenbard West. The No. 6 seeds in their respective sectionals are lying in the weeds.
Anticipated matchup to see
Jeremy Fears Jr. vs. Brock Harding. If Joliet West were to face Moline in the supersectional round — both teams are favored to win their sectionals — it would pit two of the elite point guards in the state.
These stars, both of whom are heading to Big Ten schools next season, facing off with a lot on the line is the type of matchup you look forward to in state-tournament play.
Biggest storyline
Will a Cinderella team emerge and make it to Champaign?
In a season that often has been characterized as filled with parity, what are the chances an unexpected team will arrive in Champaign in three weeks?
The odds are against it.
It has been more than a decade since any team that wasn’t a No. 1 or No. 2 seed has made it to the state semifinals. That team was Glenbard East, a No. 3 seed in 2011.
With the parity we’ve seen this season, the top seeds are vulnerable. But which No. 3 seed or lower is there this postseason that can end that streak? The best options are St. Rita, Oswego East, Rolling Meadows and Curie.
Five unheralded stars who can lift their teams to victories
Connor May, Palatine; Jack Stanton, Downers Grove North; Luke Williams, Naperville North; Ben Oosterbaan, Hinsdale Central; Niklas Polonowski, Lyons.