By Mark Gregory
Sports Editor
@Hear_The_Beard
mark@buglenewspapers.com
The IHSA playoffs for girls Class 3A and 4A basketball is right around the corner and the Voyager Media teams are ready.
Most of the Voyager Media schools all feed into the East Aurora Sectional complex this season, coming out of four regionals, three of them hosted by local schools.
Benet Academy holds the No. 1 seed in the sectional and hosts its own regional.
The Redwings open play at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14 against the winner of No. 16 Neuqua Valley and No. 17 East Aurora.
“Benet is pleased to receive the No. 1 seed in Aurora East Sectional,” said Benet coach Joe Kilbride. “As in years past, we feel that our strength of schedule has us well prepared for the state tourney. We know that we have a very tough road ahead with quality opponents in the early rounds but hope to enjoy the ride and see how far we can get.”
The regional championship game on Feb. 16 could have another local team as No. 8 Plainfield North takes on No. 9 Lemont at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14.
“We are looking forward to having a good regional round,” said Plainfield North coach Reggie Lemon. “This is the best seeding in Plainfield North girls basketball so we need to take advantage of it. Our goal is to get back to the regional championship game from two years ago.”
In the Oswego Regional, Minooka holds the No. 3 seed in the sectional and will open play Wed. Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. against the winner of No. 14 Metea Valley and No. 18 Oswego.
The No. 6 seed in the complex is Bolingbrook, who will play at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15 against the winner of No. 11 Joliet West and No. 22 Waubonsie Valley.
The regional final is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 16.
The Plainfield East Regional opens with a play-in game between No. 15 Romeoville and No. 19 Plainfield Central.
That game will tip off at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13.
The winner of that game will play at 6 p.m. Feb. 14 against sectional No. 2 seed Oswego East.
The other semifinal game will feature a pair of area teams, as No. 7 Plainfield East and No. 10 Lockport.
“We have had a goal all year to win the school’s first girls basketball regional title,” said Plainfield East coach Tony Waznonis. “When we saw the sectional postings we knew that would be tough, but anything worthwhile is not an easy path. Being the 7 seed is not where we wanted to be, but we know no matter what seed we received, we would have to earn a regional title against a great team.”
The regional final is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 16.
In the Joliet Central Regional, the No. 20 Steelmen open play at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13 against No. 13 West Aurora with the winner playing No. 4 Yorkville, while No. 21 Plainfield South plays the 7:30 p.m. game against No. 12 Naperville North with No. 5 Naperville Central lying in wait.
“We ended up getting the 21 seed in our sectional which we expected due to our record,” said Plainfield South Lincoln DePaula coach. “Although our record does not show it, we have shown that we can be a tough out when we play consistently on the defensive end and take care of the basketball on offense. We have stressed to our players that anything can happen in the playoffs. Even though we haven’t had the season we wanted to have, our players are excited for a chance to prove themselves.”
The regional final will tip at 7 p.m. Feb. 16.
Up north, Niles West hosts a sectional complex that features a trio of Voyager Media teams.
In the Maine West Regional, No. 15 Maine East opens play against No. 19 Von Steuben at 7 p.m. Feb. 13.
The winner of that game would face No. 3 Maine West.
The other semifinal pits No. 11 Niles West against No. 5 New Trier.
In the Glenbrook North Regional, No. 7 Maine South opens at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14 against No. 10 Prospect. If the seeds hold, No. 2 Glenbrook South will wait for the winner in the sectional game Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.
Both Downers Grove South and Downers Grove North will play in the Argo Sectional
The Mustangs are the No. 10 seed and open with No. 22 Curie at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13 with the winner facing No. 6 Whitney Young the next day.
The No. 9 seed Trojans open against No. 8 Lyons Township.
The sectional final will most likely be against No. 1 Montini.
CLASS 3A
In Class 3A, Resurrection hosts its own regional as part of the Johnsburg Sectional complex.
Resurrection, the No. 9 seed, will open at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14 against No. 8 Woodstock.
The other regional will see No. 1 Antioch take on the winner of No. 16 Roosevelt and No. 17 Amundsen.