Can Benet repeat as state champion?
It's hard to believe, but for some local girls teams the basketball season has or is about to come to an end.
Seems like the season just started, doesn't it?
This week Eyes on Five casts on eye on the girls playoffs and the boys conference races.
1. Starting from the top:
At 25-3 and with several quality wins to its credit, Benet rates as a contender to win what would be its second consecutive Class 4A girls championship.
The Class 3A and Class 4A girls regionals open Monday. They started this week in 1A and 2A.
"We're really excited to attack the tournament," Benet senior Kathleen Doyle said. "We're just excited. We got a good seed (No. 1), and we feel good about the way we can go about winning it, so we're ready for back-to-back."
"We've kind of separated ourselves from last year," Benet coach Joe Kilbride added. "That was a great thing. It's done. Now it's this team's turn to create its own legacy, is what we've been talking about. ... I like our chances. I really do."
The Redwings, ranked fifth in Class 5A, on Wednesday clinched their first East Suburban Catholic Conference championship since the year most of today's seniors were born, 1998. That's something they didn't do last year.
The Redwings will host the sectional on their home court after going to East Aurora for the regional.
"I'm happy we're hosting the sectional," Kilbride said. "That was a great thing that came up late. Nobody had claimed it, so our (athletic director, Gary Goforth) stepped up."
No. 2 seed Oswego East (24-2) would be a worthy sectional final opponent with talented players like Ty Battle and Jada Boatright. That is if No. 3 Naperville Central or No. 4 Yorkville, don't get in the way.
"I told the girls, hopefully we've got seven more (games to go," Kilbride said. "... I like our chances, like I did last year, but what I like doesn't matter. We've got to go play. We're healthy, which is the biggest thing."
And then there's Montini (27-2), which dropped to No. 4 in the AP Class 4A rankings from No. 1 after Saturday's loss to Trinity.
The Broncos are new to Class 4A, bumped up by the IHSA's new "success factor." Coach Jason Nichols believes the team is ready to make the adjustment, thanks to a schedule loaded with big-school teams.
"(Class) 4A is deeper and you see better teams early," he said. "Your regional final is not going to be a 60-point win."
The Broncos could play fellow Lombard school Glenbard East in the Elk Grove regional final. The Schaumburg sectional final could be a rematch against Batavia, one of the few schools to come within single digits of the Broncos. Geneva and Bartlett round out the top four seeds at Schaumburg.
"It's a deep sectional that leads into a (tough) supersectional," Nichols said.
Montini is leaving nothing to chance, sending scouts out to see a number of possible opponents.
"The bottom line is in the playoffs the teams that are prepared the most and then execute usually end up on top if they have talent," Nichols said. "You've just got to be prepared for anything and everything."
2. The Era of Good Feelings:
Montini and Benet aren't the only teams optimistic about their chances in the playoffs. For instance, Naperville Central has won nine straight games and is feeling good after clinching a share of the DuPage Valley Conference championship, its 15th in 26 years. It concludes the regular season Friday night against Lake Park.
"I'm real proud of our players," Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said. "To be where we were - we were 6-4, and now we're 22-7; we were 4-2 in the league and now we're 13-2 - to be where we were and now to be where we are, that's a tremendous testimony to the growth of our players. They believe in each other. They believe in their coaches. They're doing what we ask them to do.
"It's a lot of fun."
The regional is no cakewalk for Naperville Central. No. 6 Bolingbrook is the likely regional final opponent. Bolingbrook is five years removed from its last state championship, but it is still a force.
"Look, at some point you've got to play somebody good," Nussbaum said. "It's nice not to be (seeded) 8 or 9 like we have been the last couple of years."
In Class 3A Glenbard South earned a No. 2 seed at the sectional it will host. The Raiders also will enjoy homecourt advantage in the regional against a collection of Chicago opponents.
The sectional won't be easy for the youngest team in DuPage County. Perennial power Marshall is the top seed. North Lawndale and Fenwick are the 3 and 4 seeds. No slouches there.
St. Francis, which has come on strong in January and February, is a No. 4 seed at a Rochelle sub-sectional and could face No. 1 Sycamore in the IMSA regional final. The Spartans will have to earn their way to Rochelle.
3. So close:
As vicious as the East Suburban Catholic Conference has been this season, Benet's boys basketball team is closer than ever to clinching at least a share of the title.
Thanks to Notre Dame's win over Marian Catholic last week, the Redwings (21-3, 5-1) control their own destiny in one of the state's toughest leagues.
Here's the breakdown...
Benet - a half-game ahead of Marian Catholic (17-5, 4-1) and St. Viator (16-4, 4-1) - has three ESCC games remaining against the three teams at the bottom of the 10-team standings. The Redwings travel to Nazareth (4-16, 1-5) on Friday, then face home games against Marian Central (14-6, 2-4) and Carmel (11-12, 0-6).
Marian Catholic, St. Viator and St. Patrick (13-10, 4-2) are the only other teams within realistic reach of the title, and they all play each other. That's at least two tough games for each contender and guaranteed losses for at least two of them.
If the Redwings hold serve and win their last three ESCC games, by attrition only one of those other contenders can emerge with a chance at a share of the title.
Benet's already notched its seventh straight 20-win season and is a favorite to be the top seed in the Class 4A East Aurora sectional, from where the Redwings play host to a regional.
An ESCC title would be a tremendous feather in Benet's cap as the program heads to the postseason.
4. Pick your poison:
As we inch closer to the start of the boys basketball playoffs, it's looking likely that the top seeds in the Class 4A East Aurora sectional - alphabetically - will be Benet (21-3), Downers Grove South (17-8), Glenbard West (19-2), Hinsdale South (17-8) and Naperville North (18-4).
It'll be a fascinating contrast in personnel.
Two teams - Glenbard West and Hinsdale South - have a player capable of carrying their team to a sectional championship. The Hilltoppers boast William & Mary-bound Justin Pierce, averaging 24.1 points and 10.7 rebounds, while Hinsdale South has 6-foot-10 Northwestern recruit Barret Benson, averaging 20 points and 11.3 rebounds.
The other three teams, meanwhile, will go as far as their balance carries them.
Benet's seen big-game potential from Dan Sobolewski, Jack Nolan, James Dockery, Jason Malonga and Liam Lyman. Together they're especially dangerous on the perimeter.
Mitch Lewis, Winston Elston and Chris Johnson average double-figure scoring for Naperville North. Cam Hardy, Jelani McClain and Tyler Carlson aren't far behind.
Downers South is similarly balanced with Sam Ebersold, T.J. Clifford and Denis Alibegovic all averaging double digits.
Which style will prevail? Can't wait to find out.
5. Stat time:
Congratulations to Glenbard East boys basketball coach Scott Miller, who notched his 300th career victory earlier this season and was honored at Tuesday's home game against West Chicago.
It was perfect timing to celebrate the milestone. The Rams' 57-41 victory over the Wildcats put Glenbard East alone in first place in the Upstate Eight Valley, a game ahead of West Chicago with three conference games remaining.
Miller, who spent three years at Plano and led the Reapers to a fourth-place Class A finish in 1999, has compiled the bulk of his 300-plus wins at Glenbard East including six regional titles and a third-place Class 4A finish in 2011.
Follow Kevin and Orrin on Twitter