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Boys basketball: Scouting this week's postseason games in the Fox Valley

Class 2A NIU supersectional

Matchup: St. Edward (26-5) vs. Rockridge (29-1) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

How they got here: St. Edward defeated Chicago Christian 65-39 and IC Catholic Prep 41-40 to win the Lisle regional and defeated Fieldcrest 39-36 and Reed-Custer 85-69 to win the El Paso-Gridley sectional; Rockridge defeated Orion 47-24 and Kewanee 53-47 to win the Riverdale regional and defeated Monmouth-Roseville 70-48 and Winnebago 46-34 to win the Farmington sectional.

Outlook: St. Edward has come this far. Why not qualify for state and bring home the school's first state trophy in boys basketball? At least that's the thinking heading into the program's first supersectional appearance in 18 seasons against the team ranked No. 2 in the Class 2A poll. "If you can get to a super, it's a coin toss as to who will win that game," St. Edward coach PJ White said Monday. "If we win that game, we're getting a state trophy so this is the game we've been after since the beginning of the year. If you win this, you're coming home with at least a fourth-place trophy, hardware, which is cool. There are only so many coaches and teams who can say that. So we're not happy yet." Senior forward Nick Duffy (Loras College) leads the Green Wave with 15.9 points per game. He finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds in the sectional final victory over Reed-Custer. Other scoring leaders for St. Edward include senior guard Joe French (12 ppg), sophomore guard Kelvin Cortez-Harvey (10.6) and senior point guard Gino Domel (8.9). Lately, it's been all hands on deck for the Green Wave. Senior Danny Favela snagged 13 rebounds against Reed-Custer and senior forward Matt Hesch scored 10 points, exceeding his average by 8. Reserves Adam Radcliffe, Sean Phelan and Bryan O'Neill combined for 12 points, led by Phelan's 6.

The defensive focus for St. Edward will be on stopping Rockridge senior Bryan Heath, a second-team all-state selection last year. Committed to Division-II Michigan Tech, the 6-foot-4 guard scored 25 of his 29 points in the second half of the Rockets' sectional final win over Winnebago, the first sectional title in program history. How St. Edward defends Heath will be interesting. The Rockridge star holds an eight-inch height advantage over St. Edward guards Domel and Cortez-Harvey and a 6-inch advantage on French. Duffy matches up best with Heath but White is more likely to play a mix of zone defenses rather than risk foul trouble against his leading scorer. So how do you stop such a player? "I'm not sure what you do," White said. "I think it's like what everybody used to against Michael Jordan: do the best you can against him and see if the others can beat you. We'll do the things that have gotten us there in the past. We'll mix up our defenses a bit and figure something out. If Plan A doesn't work, we'll go to Plan B, then C if that doesn't work. We'll have to figure something out on the fly. We've won all the close games this year. We'll see if the kids can put us in position to do that one more time."

Advancement: The winner of the NIU supersectional plays Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Carver Arena in Peoria against the winner of the Springfield (UIS) supersectional game between Decatur St. Teresa and defending state champion Bloomington Central Catholic.

Class 3A Rochelle sectional

Pairings: Tuesday - Game 1) Marengo (26-5) vs. Aurora Central Catholic (15-14), 7 p.m.; Wednesday - Game 2) Hampshire (17-11) vs. Rockford Lutheran (26-2), 7 p.m.; Friday - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 for sectional championship

How they got here: Marengo won the Marengo regional by defeating Harvard 50-32 and Woodstock 62-48; Aurora Central Catholic won the IMSA regional by defeating Montini 64-42, Marmion 72-67 and Glenbard South 69-62; Hampshire won the Burlington Central regional by defeating Genoa-Kingston 62-61 and Kaneland 71-63; Rockford Lutheran won the Belvidere regional by defeating Rochelle 66-43 and Belvidere 66-59.

Outlook: Hampshire enters sectional play for the fourth time in school history and the second time under retiring coach Bob Barnett, whose last sectional qualifier in 2005 bowed out in the semifinals. To advance further, the Whip-Purs must find a way to knock off one of Class 3A's most tournament-tested teams. The Crusaders finished third in the state in 2012, lost in a sectional final to St. Francis in 2013 and garnered a fourth-place trophy last season after losing in the semifinals to eventual runner-up Lincoln. Lutheran returns its second-, third- and fourth-leading scorers from the 2014 fourth-place team: 6-foot-4 senior guard Nate Wieting, 6-1 senior guard Joseph Kellen and 6-8 senior forward Ryan Dolan. Wieting scored 12 of his 25 points and grabbed 5 of his 19 rebounds in the first quarter of the regional final victory over 19-win Belvidere, according to the Rockford Register-Star. Additionally, talented 5-10 freshman guard Kenneth Strawbridge has led the Crusaders in scoring multiple times this season. "They've got a kid who can shoot the lights out, a big brute inside who's real good and a freshman who can play real well so we'll see," Barnett said. Like Lutheran, Hampshire jumped to a big first-quarter lead in its regional final victory and held on for the win. Senior Matt Bridges scored 26 points and sophomore Brennen Woods scored 23. The Whip-Purs, who suffered through a late-season shooting slump that precipitated 9 losses in 10 outings, have since won 3 straight. Their 71 points in the regional final were the most they had scored since a 74-point outing against Woodstock on Jan. 20. "That slump took a toll on all of us, it really did," Barnett said. "But they snapped out of it. That first quarter (vs. Kaneland) we played about as good as we can play," Barnett said. "We hit our shots, we were confident, we had energy on defense. We have to come out the same way on Wednesday. Lutheran is a good team. So are Marengo and Aurora Central. But we're back to shooting the way we were when we were 13-2, and we're playing defense like we did when we were 13-2. I'm enjoying it. It's an honor to go out with a senior class of character-rich kids."

Aurora Central Catholic, the No. 4 seed at IMSA, defeated No. 3 Glenbard South to win its third regional title in five seasons. Marengo won its first regional title since 1999-2000. The Indians are led by junior sharpshooter Zach Knobloch, who sank 5 more 3-pointers in the regional-title game to increase his single-season state record to 153. The previous record was 146.

Advancement: The winner of the Rochelle sectional plays the winner of the Peoria (Bradley University) sectional in the DeKalb (NIU) supersectional on Tuesday, March 17 at 6 p.m. The semifinals of the Peoria sectional feature Geneseo (17-12) vs. Peoria Manual (21-6) and Peoria Notre Dame (11-20) vs. LaSalle-Peru (16-12).

Class 4A DeKalb sectional

Pairings: Tuesday - Game 1) Rockford Auburn (28-1) vs. Larkin (20-8), 7 p.m.; Wednesday - Game 2) Rockford Jefferson (23-8) vs. Geneva (27-3), 7 p.m.; Friday - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 for sectional championship

How they got here: Auburn won the Rockford Guilford regional by defeating Rockford East 73-68 and Rockford Boylan 87-57; Larkin won the Bartlett regional by defeating South Elgin 62-35 and Bartlett 71-56; Jefferson won the Huntley regional by defeating Huntley 61-56 and Crystal Lake South 55-53 in overtime; Geneva won the Geneva regional by defeating DeKalb 66-52 and St. Charles East 73-70.

Outlook: Auburn and Geneva are the most tournament-tested teams remaining in this sectional. Last year, Auburn defeated South Elgin to win the Elgin sectional but was denied a state berth in the NIU super by Jalen Brunson-led Stevenson, 63-49. Geneva advanced to a 2014 sectional final at East Aurora before falling to eventual state runner-up Benet Academy, 60-41. Larkin went 1-2 against those teams this season. The Royals split two meetings with Geneva. Against Auburn in the finale of the Rockford District 205 Tipoff Classic on Nov. 29, Larkin was within 6 points at halftime but turnovers proved costly in the second half of an 82-54 defeat. The Royals turned the ball over 17 times in the first meeting, which led to fast-break opportunities for the opposition. The Knights are led by seniors Laytwan Porter (17.9 ppg, 4.7 apg), a 6-foot guard committed to Northern Illinois, and 6-2 shooting guard Antoine Pittman (12.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg), a Wisconsin-Green Bay recruit. However, it was Auburn's supporting cast that undermined Larkin in November as junior guard Alonte Bjorlie, a 5-6 guard, sank six 3-pointers to finish with 18 points, 6-2 senior guard Delundre Dixon scored 16 points and 6-3 forward Nylek Cobb added 15. The way Larkin coach Deryn Carter sees it, two factors will decide the rematch. "If it's a close game, just look at who won the turnover battle and then offensive rebounds," Carter said. "The first part of guarding them is our own ball security. We thrive on turnovers and they thrive on turnovers. If they have an advantage in turnovers like they did the last time, we could negate that advantage with our rebounding." The Royals have outrebounded both playoff opponents and will enjoy a height advantage against an Auburn team with only one player 6-4 or taller. The Royals counter with the area's leading rebounder, 6-6 sophomore Christian Negron (11.8 rpg), 6-7 Tanner Gardon (4.8) and 6-5 Daniel McFadden (7.5). Larkin senior guard Charles Sanders leads the Royals with 4 assists per game, though his average has been closer to 6 over the past six weeks. Larkin has made 116 3-pointers this season. Auburn has made 259 of 708 attempts from 3-point range (36.6 percent), including 13 in the regional title game against Boylan. "We don't have one or two guys who you can expect to hit three or four 3-pointers a night," Carter said, "but we do have guys capable of doing that. We'll have to hit some shots from the perimeter because of the way they get out on the perimeter and defend. We'll have to take advantage by penetrating and kicking." Scoring leaders for the Royals include Negron (12.9 ppg), McFadden (8.9) and guard AJ Hunter (8.5).

Advancement: The winner of the DeKalb sectional plays the winner of the Barrington sectional in the DeKalb (NIU) supersectional on Tuesday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m. The semifinals of the Barrington sectional feature No. 9 Conant (19-9) vs. No. 5 St. Viator (18-9) and No. 2 Lake Park (23-6) vs. No. 3 Palatine (23-8).

  Larkin's AJ Hunter goes to the hoop past Bartlett's Jason Hasenberg during the Class 4A Bartlett regional championship Friday. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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