Can Maine West make it a 3-peat at Dundee-Crown?
Will Maine West girls basketball coach Kim de Marigny continue her magic touch in the 36th annual Komaromy Classic at Dundee-Crown High School?
That's just one of many questions to be answered in the next 10 days as girls basketball teams from the Northwest suburbs play at seven different holiday tournaments this season.
Hoffman Estates already began play last week at the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic hosted by Richmond-Burton and McHenry high schools.
Rolling Meadows and Conant get under way Friday at the Libertyville tourney and the action accelerates next week with the Wheaton North, Dundee-Crown, Montini, Momence and St. Viator tournaments all kicking into gear.
Here is a closer look at the seven events.
At Dundee Crown: Since taking over for the late hall of fame coach Derril Kipp three years ago, Maine West's de Marigny has gone 8-0 in the 16-team Komaromy Classic.
And the Warriors have done it quite handily.
Last year, no one came closer than 17 points (Hononegah in the semifinals).
The two-time defending champs' closest call in 2016 was a 58-46 win over the host Chargers in the quarterfinals.
This season, the state's No. 1 ranked Class 4A team (14-0) is winning its games by an average of 28.7 points.
Its closest win was 50-42 over New Trier, which is also in the Komaromy Classic field.
Other local entries in the field are Prospect (7-3), Buffalo Grove (7-5) and Barrington (3-9).
The Knights open on Wednesday against Maine South (10 a.m.), which is coached by Jeff Hamann, the brother of Prospect girls golf coach Jim Hamann.
Barrington's first game is against Maine West at 1 p.m. and BG takes on the host Chargers at 4 p.m.
"The season is divided into two halves," said de Marigny, whose club has won 56 of its last 59 games with all three losses coming to Geneva. "It's everything up to Christmas and then January when things really count. Our girls have worked hard and they have their goals. We are happy to be where we're at but we don't take anything for granted."
de Marigny said she might try to apply some new wrinkles into the team's game plans. "We'll be trying to develop other people who we can bring in off the bench." she said.
Barrington brings one of the youngest teams to the tourney. Coach Babbi Barreiro has had three freshmen and a sophomore on the floor at the same time.
"It's a great tourney with great teams," she said. "I think the field is really strong this year so we are just looking to get better and better with every game. We've got a lot of youth on the floor, We're making strides and I love this group."
At Libertyville: Rolling Meadows enters the eight-team, two-pool tourney with an 11-3 mark. The Mustangs went 2-2 in the event a year ago and returns three starters.
"I think it's great competition," said Meadows coach Ryan Kirkorsky, now in his seventh season (4A state runners-up 2013 and 2014) after four years in charge at Elk Grove.
The Mustangs will open with Mundelein on Friday at 5 p.m.
"They (Mundelein) have had some nice wins,' Kirkorsky said. "Libertyville (10-3) would probably be the top seed for this. They're off to a great start. We are off all this week so we've been excited to have time to focus on ourselves. Then we'll have a few days of basketball in a row which is always nice over the holidays."
The Mustangs have been fun to watch thus far, earning a Class 4A Top 10 state ranking at the start of the season. They lead the MSL East by a half game with a 3-1 record.
Conant checks into the tourney at 4-8 with first-year coach Todd Strauch. The Cougars face Libertyville in their opener at 7 p.m. on Friday.
At Montini: Fremd, ranked No. 3 in the first Class 4A poll and No. 2 in the Daily Herald Top 20, checks into Lombard with a 15-0 record.
The Vikings are cruising in the MSL West with a 4-0 record, winning all their games by at least 14 points. They've won 52 of their last 55 games under coach Dave Yates in the six-team division.
The two-time state 4A runner-up (2015 and 2016) will open this star-studded tourney against Marian Catholic, the 2013 Class 4A state champs, at 4:45 p.m. on Dec. 26.
Also in the tourney is defending Mid-Suburban League champion Hersey (8-5), currently 2-1 in the MSL East with just one returning starter (Mary Kate Fahey, who has been sidelined with a wrist injury).
The Huskies play their opener on Dec. 26 at 1:15 p.m. against host Montini (12-1), the Daily Herald's No. 3-ranked team which won the Marian Catholic tournament last week.
Also in the tourney are the Daily Herald's No. 4 (Geneva) and 5 (Benet) ranked teams.
"We are just thrilled to be in this tournament," said Hersey coach Mary Fendley. "We stack our schedule with the best teams we can find and there's no better tournament than this if you want to play stellar competition."
The Huskies are the No. 12 seed.
"Montini is the No. 5 seed - that shows you how good the tourney is," Fendley said. "And we have them in the first round."
Mother McAuley is top seeded in the 16-team event.
At St. Viator: The 36th annual Blenner Holiday Classic has a field of eight, including the defending champion and host Lions who are off to a 10-4 start as one of the top teams in Class 3A.
Viator defeated Wheeling 41-35 for the title a year ago.
The Lions will open on Dec. 26 against Maine East at 7 p.m. in the Cahill Gymnasium.
Other local matchups that day include Wheeling vs. Plainfield North (field house) at 7 p.m. and Leyden vs. Zion-Benton at 5:30 p.m. in the field house.
The Wildcats, who return last year's Blenner all-tourney selections Nosa Igiehon and Morgan Collar, are 6-7 coming off a 45-36 win over Leyden.
The Eagles (5-3) will face Wheeling in the tourney's second day of action (Dec. 27) at 5:30 p.m. in the Cahill.
At Wheaton North: Three Mid-Suburban League teams venture to Wheaton for the long-running Bill Neibch Holiday Classic.
Schaumburg (6-6) drew the No. 8 seed and will open on Dec. 26 against Hinsdale Central at 6 p.m.
Palatine (1-9) will play in the day's first game at 9 a.m. against No. 3 seed Downers Grove North while Elk Grove (3-6) competes in the final game of day one at 8 p.m. against the host Falcons.
Undefeated Wheaton North is the top seed while Glenbrook South, coached by Prospect graduate and hall of famer Steve Weissenstein, is No. 2.
Glenbard South, a Class 3A state finalist last year, is the defending champ of the 16-team tourney. The host Falcons won it two years ago.
At McHenry/Richmond-Burton: Hoffman Estates (2-11) is participating in this event which began on Dec. 15. The Hawks will wrap up play in the 16-team event on Saturday.
At Momence: Christian Liberty, which features 10 freshmen, two seniors and two sophomores on its roster, is off to a solid 6-3 start.
The Chargers meet Tri-Point on Dec. 27 at 1 p.m. and then play two opponents on Dec. 28, based on wins and losses on the 27th.
The field includes host Momence, Wilmington, St. Anne, Manteno, Leroy and Donovan.
"It's a great opportunity for us to play schools that we never get to see during the regular season," said CLA coach Steve Rowland. "About half the schools in the tournament are 2A schools while the other half are 1A size like us."