Eddie Carifio

Sycamore's Liam Schroeder, Tyler Lockhart and Cooper Bode made it to the final day of the IHSA Class 2A wrestling finals and more in the prep roundup.

The boys basketball postseason begins Monday, with Kaneland, Sycamore and Indian Creek No. 1 seeds and Hinckley-Big Rock a No. 2 seed. We look at key storylines from around the area.

All four Sycamore wrestlers reached the quarterfinals at the Class 2A State Wrestling Tournament, with Liam Schroeder and Tyler Lockhart reaching the semifinals. Both DeKalb wrestlers dropped their opening matches.

Evelyn Klimek dominated the offensive glass, providing the difference in a game in which buckets were at a premium in the Eagles' 31-29 win over Indian Creek in the Class 1A South Beloit Regional championship game on Thursday.

Interim coach Rob Harley said NIU didn’t stay rattled after Hammock’s departure: “There’s a lot of excitement for what is next.”

Hinckley-Big Rock won the Little 10 Conference outright, Sycamore and DeKalb won their regular-season finales and the NIU women dropped a close on the road.

Beating Notre Dame. Winning the Mid-American Conference in 2021. Joining the Mountain West Conference. NIU athletic director Sean Frazier said the biggest accomplishments of Huskies football for the last seven years don’t happen without Thomas Hammock.

After seven seasons leading the Northern Illinois University football program, head coach Thomas Hammock has resigned to return to a coaching position in the National Football League

Ayden Shuey, Cam Matthews, Tyler Lockhart and Liam Schroeder will compete at state for the first time. Jayden Dohogne is going for a third time, while Cooper Bode is going for a second. All six are going with the same goal in mind: Bringing home a medal.

Sycamore came back from seven down in the final four minutes to beat Freeport and advance to a regional final. Quinn Carrier scored 26 to lead the Spartans and Sadie Lang had a key rebound in a game in which all the rebounds were going Freeport's way.

The Indian Creek girls basketball team advanced to the finals of the Class 1A South Beloit Regional and more in the roundup.

No. 4 Marian Central scored 18 of the game’s final 21 points to complete the comeback for a 45-39 win over No. 5 Hinckley-Big Rock. Julia Dovidio finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and six steals in the win. Anna Herrmann scored 20 in the loss.

Sycamore's Liam Schroeder and Tyler Lockhart won sectional titles as four Spartans made the 2A wresting tournament and two Barbs made it in 3A; the Sycamore girls qualified for the state bowling tournament; the Sycamore boys won in 3 OTs; H-BR won its regional opener and more.

Alex Gregorio-Perez led four DeKalb qualifiers at its home regional on Saturday, with Sycamore qualifying three and Kaneland two. Gregorio-Perez and the Knights' Angelina Gochis were sectional champs.

Logan Schrader reached 1,000 career points and helped Indian Creek hold off Leland, Sycamore defeated Ottawa and more in the roundup.