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Antioch campaigns for sectional participation

One of the biggest goals for the Antioch basketball team this season reads almost like a political ad.

The Sequoits want to put people to work.

And by people, they mean other people.

Last year, when Antioch hosted the Class 3A sectional, it was the players on the basketball team that helped with game operations. The Sequoits, who had been eliminated from the tournament by then, did everything from run errands to assist during the 3-point shooting contest.

"We're hosting the sectional again this year, and the goal that we set in our first classroom meeting of the season is that we want to find other people to work the sectional because we want to play in it," Antioch coach Jim White said. "We're hoping that we get a better seed to help us get through the regional so that we can get back to our place for the sectional."

Antioch, along with the rest of the Class 3A and 4A teams throughout the state of Illinois, found out what sectional seeds they got on Thursday. The IHSA assigns seeds based on ratings from coaches throughout the state.

Antioch got the No. 13 seed in its sectional, slightly higher than last year's No. 15 seed.

North Chicago earned the No. 1 seed in the Antioch sectional, which features 20 teams. The Warhawks are followed by No. 2 Chicago Uplift, No. 3 Carmel and No. 4 St. Patrick.

Vernon Hills is the sixth seed, followed by Grayslake Central (8), Lakes (10) and Wauconda (11).

"In my three years, I don't think it's ever been this difficult to seed the fourth team," White said. "North Chicago, Carmel and Uplift were pretty obvious, but that fourth team was hard. You could have gone with a few different teams there."

For Carmel coach Tim Bowen, the trick now is for his team to show why a high seed was deserved.

"We're just telling the boys that you've got to continue to play hard, that just because you got a top seed doesn't mean you can just show up," Bowen said. "We should remember that from last year. The reason we got to the sectional last year was that we upset Ridgewood, a higher seed than us. We know that it's possible to go in there and knock off a top seed."

Stevenson is tops:

No surprise in Lake County's Class 4A sectional.

Stevenson, which is 23-1 on the season and features multiple college recruits headed up by star guard Jalen Brunson, got the No. 1 seed in the 23-team Lake Zurich sectional.

Fremd got the No. 2 seed, followed by No. 3 Lake Forest and No. 4 Zion-Benton.

Other teams in the Daily Herald's Lake County coverage area include: Lake Zurich (7), Warren (9), Libertyville (11), Grant (16), Grayslake North (21), Mundelein (22) and Round Lake (23).

"I think the first four or five seeds were pretty much set with everyone," Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil said. "Then there's a group of about six of us who could have gone anywhere from six to 11. At that point, it really doesn't matter what seed you get, it matters who you're matched up with."

The IHSA will release first round pairings for the Class 3A and Class 4A boys tournaments on its website (www.ihsa.org) by 4 p.m. today.

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