Two Lake County high schools brought home top honors from the Class 3A and 4A state basketball finals.

It’s funny how things work out sometimes. On December 30, had you asked Babbi Barriero and Ashley Graham if they envisioned their respective girls basketball teams would be playing against each other for the Class 4A state championship less than three months later, they would have both said they sure hoped so.

Stevenson senior guard Simone Sawyer had a game to forget in Friday’s Class 4A state semifinal win over Benet. But Sawyer atoned for sluggish effort with a game to remember on Saturday. Sawyer made 11 of her 17 shots to score a game-high 26 points to lead Stevenson to a 55-43 win over Barrington in the Class 4A state championship game at Redbird Arena.

No. 1 ranked Stevenson held off No. 2 Benet Academy 36-28 Friday in the Class 4A girls basketball state semifinals at Redbird Arena in Normal. The Patriots will take on Barrington in Saturday’s state championship game.

Stevenson senior Simone Sawyer is the Daily Herald Lake County All-Area Girls Basketball Captain

For the first time in two years, the Illinois High School Association girls basketball Class 3A and 4A state tournaments are set to tipoff on Friday.

Two teams who were the only Illinois state girls basketball champions from 1995 to 1998 treated fans at Robert Morris University on Monday night to a state-caliber matchup in Arlington Heights. And when it was over, 1995 and 1996 state champion Stevenson pulled out a 36-32 win over 1997 and 1998 state champ Loyola at the Class 4A Hersey supersectional.

Simone Sawyer spent nearly as much time on the floor as she did upright Thursday night in the Class 4A Warren girls basketball sectional final. Forget the 12 points that Stevenson’s breathless, 5-foot-10 guard scored in the Patriots’ 46-26 defeat of Lake Zurich’s Bears. Sawyer’s all-out hustle, want-to, grit and countless hardwood slides and bounces helped Stevenson capture its first sectional title since the 2000-01 season.

A second chance. Lake Zurich has been living on one since the Class 4A playoffs began. The Bears continued to use that extra opportunity Tuesday when they stunned second-seeded Fremd 42-33 in the semifinals of the Class 4A Warren girls basketball sectional in Gurnee.

Stevenson turned up its defensive pressure and shut off Libertyville in the semifinals of the Class 4A girls basketball sectional at Warren in Gurnee Tuesday. The Patriots limited Libertyville to 32 (12-of-37) shooting while forcing 19 turnovers as they cruised to a 42-30 win.