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As quickly as it started, the winter sports schedule is beginning to dwindle down, with postseason girls basketball coming as soon as Saturday, the quarterfinal round of IHSA regionals.
Like last year, where a pair of teams made it to within a game of state, and most years, this year looks like a Daily Journal area team or two could end up being recognized as one of the best in their class by season’s end.
One of those two teams that made a deep run last year, Cissna Park, seems like one of the most likely to do so again this year. The Timberwolves have spent almost all season ranked in the top five of the IHSA Class 1A AP Poll, racking up a 22-4 record at the time of print.
They’re highlighted by the balance of their stars, guard Addison Lucht and forward Lauryn Hamrick, but also boast depth that’s only gotten more solidified as the team, like many others in the area, has battled sickness for the past couple weeks.
As the top seed in not just the Dwight Regional, but their entire sub-sectional, don’t be surprised if the Timberwolves not only repeat as sectional champs, but do like they’ve done for the last two volleyball seasons and make a run to state.
Class 2A features a quartet of local teams that have at least received votes in the state polls this season, including Watseka-Milford, the No. 10 team in the current Class 2A AP Poll.
The Warriors (24-3) saw a 20-game win streak snap earlier this month with back-to-back losses to Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley and Salt Fork, the latter by a three-point final, but hall of fame coach Barry Bauer got his team back on the winning side against Hoopeston last week, and as current regional three-peat champions, everyone else around the class 2A scene knows the Warriors are a tough out.
But it won’t be an easy path to a fourth regional. The Warriors could see Herscher (12-13) in the semifinals, a team who won 10 of 11 early in the season before an injury bug that’s finally going away, as well as a talented Central (18-9) squad that will battle Tri-Point for the River Valley Conference this week in the championship.
The lone local team to defeat Watseka-Milford at the time of print has been another Class 2A team, Bishop McNamara. The Fightin' Irish (21-7) have been ranked as high as seventh in the state and are 20-game winners for three years in a row.
Led by one of the city’s most prolific scorers ever in Trinity Davis, the Irish boast solid depth and have a combination of team speed that can get up and down with the fastest of teams and the size in the frontcourt to beat and bang with the state’s most physical squads.
Should the Irish make it two regionals in three seasons, they could very well see another program that’s seen a recent upswing, Manteno, in the sectional semifinals.
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The Panthers (22-4) had the area’s longest unbeaten streak to open the season (15 games) and are hungry to repeat as regional champs for just the second time in school history. They may not have a scoring threat as dangerous as Davis, but the Panthers are similar to McNamara with a blend of backcourt and frontcourt talent.
Manteno battled Coal City Monday night for the Illinois Central Eight Conference de facto championship (Editor’s note: Coverage can be found at shawlocal.com/daily-journal and in Wednesday’s print edition), and the Coalers are another local Class 2A team with a run in its plans.
The Coalers (21-7) are the top seed of their host regional and entire sub-sectional. They were the first team to top Manteno this season, doing so when Kyle Kennell, one of the area’s most skilled two-way standouts, beat the buzzer in a 40-38 thriller in Coal City Jan. 13.
A potential rematch with rival Wilmington (19-8), the lone ICE team to down the Coalers at the time of print and a program having arguably its best-ever season, would be well worth the price of admission.
And lastly, there can’t be a girls basketball regional preview without a mention of Kankakee (17-11), who is looking to make it three regional plaques in as many years.
Four-year starting point guard TaLeah Turner is as good as it gets, and as sophomore standouts Ava Johnson (forward) and Malea Harrison (guard) continue their breakout seasons, the Kays are forming quite a formidable big three just in time to enter a sectional that features perhaps the top two state favorites, Washington and Morton, as well as one of the state’s most pleasant surprises in Morris.