Class 3A Sycamore sectional

Regional hosts: Yorkville, Rockford East, Johnsburg, Rochelle,

Top seeds: Sandwich, Marengo, Johnsburg, Kaneland

Outlook: No. 4 Burlington Central (16-11) takes on No. 5 Sycamore (8-18) in the Rochelle regional play-in game on Monday at 7:30 p.m. The Rockets defeated the Spartans twice during the regular season by 17 and 12 points, respectively. Central must shake off the disappointment of Friday's loss to Richmond-Burton, which cost them Big Northern-East title.

"If we dwell on this any longer than leaving this locker room, we'll be done on Monday," Central coach Brett Porto said minutes after Friday's loss. "If we look at Sycamore as a team we've beaten twice, we'll be done on Monday. We have to have a short memory, keep preparing and keep our season going."

The winner advances to Tuesday's first semifinal against No. 1 Kaneland (15-10). The Knights defeated Central on Rocket Hill on Dec. 18, 58-46. Tuesday's second semifinal pits Northern Illinois Big 12 East co-champion Rochelle (20-8), the No. 2 seed, against No. 3 Hampshire (17-10). The Whip-Purs are led by the frontcourt of 6-6 forwards Tyler Watzlawick and Shane Hernandez. Watzlawick recently passed Davis Ross to become Hampshire's all-time leading scorer. Grant Prusator leads Rochelle with 19 ppg and Matt Rosenwinkel averages 13.6 ppg. Hampshire and Rochelle did not play this season, but they have met in past years at the DeKalb Holiday Tournament.

"We have film on them from the last two years and they run a lot of the same things defensively," Hampshire coach Bob Barnett said. "They can shoot you out of the gym. They are very streaky. No. 1, we cannot lose track of Rosenwinkel or Prusator. Those two are keys. And against their pressure we have to keep it in the middle third of the floor or they'll jump you and press you hard." Advancement: The winner of the Sycamore sectional will play the winner of the Peoria (Bradley University) sectional in the DeKalb (NIU) supersectional on Tuesday, March 13 at 6 p.m. The top seeds in the Peoria sectional are Rock Island Alleman, Washington, Peoria and Peoria Manual.