BCR boys basketball sectional previews

Class 2A Marengo Sectional

Tuesday’s semifinals

Game 1 - (6) Winnebago (14-17) vs. (2) Rock Falls (23-8), 7 p.m.

Wednesday’s semifinals

Game 2 - (4) Princeton (20-12) vs. (2) Byron (21-9), 7 p.m.

Friday’s championship

Title - Winners 1-2, 7 p.m.

Worthy of note: Princeton has defeated each team in the field in their only meetings by a total of 16 points. The Tigers beat Rock Falls (60-52) on the road on Jan. 4, and at home, used senior all-stater Noah LaPorte’s last-second shot and school all-time school record-breaker for a 53-51 win over Byron on Feb. 8 and beat Winnebago 69-63 on Feb. 15. After a 9-12 start, the Tigers have now won 11 straight, including Friday’s 59-53 regional championship triumph over No. 1 seed Seneca. Princeton’s 1-2 punch of LaPorte (20.4) and Jordan Reinhardt (16.0) are combining for nearly 36 1/2 points. .,. Byron, Rock Falls and Winnebago are all members of the Big Northern Conference. Rock Falls swept two games over Winnebago (72-59, 63-56) by a total of 20 points and beat Byron 65-60. Byron and Winnebago split their two meetings. Winnebago upset league champ Rockford Christian 57-50 for the regional championship at Rockford. .... Cason Newton led Byron with 28 points in their game at Princeton, including his 1,000th career point. LaPorte finished with 29 points in his record-breaking night while Jordan Reinhardt chipped in 15 points. ... Byron beat Princeton 59-43 for the sectional championship at Mendota last year after Princeton knocked out Rockford Christian 69-66 in the semifinals. Byron went on to take third place at Class 2A State in its first appearance. ... Princeton has won four straight regionals for only the second time in school history. It also won four straight from 1992-96. The Tigers last won sectional in 2009, defeating Peoria Manual 71-65 at Chillicothe. They lost to Winnebago at supersectional. ... In games against common opponents, Princeton is 7-3, Byron is 3-4.

BCR Pick: Princeton over Rock Falls.

Next: Winner advances to the Sterling Supersectional to face the Chicago Christ the King Sectional at 7 p.m., March 10. Semifinals at that sectional are (1) Chicago Crane Medical Prep vs. (2) Christ the King and (1) Lombard Montini vs. (3) Chicago Clark.

Other sectionals

AT PECATONICA (1A)

Pairings: Tuesday - Game 1: (1) Pecatonica (32-2) vs. (2) Annawan (24-6), 7 p.m. Wednesday - Game 2: (1) Lanark Eastland (30-4) vs. (2) Dakota (27-5), 7 p.m. Friday’s championship - Winners 1-2, 7 p.m.

Worthy of note: Pecatonica and Eastland were ranked No. 1 and 2 in the final AP Class 1A Poll. Pecatonica beat Eastland twice this season by a total of 39 points, including a 63-55 win in the last meeting. Pecatonica also beat Eastland 60-50 for last year’s sectional title before falling at supersectional. ... Since a late three-game skid, including a 54-36 loss at Bureau Valley, Annawan has won its last four games, including Friday’s 67-38 romp over Forreston in the regional finals at Amboy.

BCR Pick: Pecatonica over Eastland.

AT SHERRARD (2A)

Pairings: Tuesday - Game 1: (1) Peoria Manual (19-12) vs. (3) Macomb (22-5), 7 p.m. Wednesday - Game 2: (1) Sherrard (29-3) vs. (3) Downs Tri-Valley (26-6), 7 p.m. Friday’s championship - Winners 1-2, 7 p.m.

Worthy of note: Sherrard and Manual were ranked No. 8 and 9 in the final Class 2A Poll with Tri-Valley ranked No. 14. ... Sherrard beat TRAC West rival Orion for the regional title at Mercer County. ... Ten of Manual’s losses have come to 3A or 4A schools with the other two losses coming to teams from Missouri and Indiana with a combined 45-3 record. ... Macomb won its own regional by edging Rockridge 42-41. The Bombers beat Sherrard 51-32 in last year’s regional finals and Manual 41-40 in the sectional semifinals before falling to Williamsville 36-32 in the supersectional.

BCR Pick: Manual over Sherrard.

AT WASHINGTON (3A)

Pairings: Tuesday - Game 1: (1) Kankakee (25-5) vs. (3) Metamora (25-6), 7 p.m. Wednesday - Game 2- (1) Peoria (27-6) vs. (5) LaSalle-Peru (15-18), 7 p.m. Friday’s championship - Winners 1-2, 7 p.m.

Worthy of note: Three of the four teams - Kankakee (No. 4), Metamora (No. 7) and Peoria (No. 10) - are ranked in the top 10 in Class 3A. Two of Kankakee’s losses came to 4A regional champ Rich Township. Kankakee junior Lincoln Williams is a 6-6 highlight reel, ranked as the No. 1 junior in the state. Metamora lost twice early to teams from California and Atlanta, Ga. The Redbirds are two years removed from winning the Class 3A State championship. Metamora boasts two Div. I recruits in Matt Zobrist (Bradley) and 6-10 Jonah Funk (South Dakota), who transferred from El Paso-Gridley this year. Peoria, which beat crosstown rival Richwoods 57-52 for the regional title at East Peoria, defeated Metamora 55-42 on Jan. 14. ... The Cavaliers surprised the field at its own regional by knocking off No. 3 Dixon 53-50 and No. 2 Streator 49-46. L-P lost to Metamora 69-37 in last year’s sectional semifinals. ... Kankakee, Metamora and L-P all repeated as regional champions.

BCR Pick: Metamora over Peoria.