SouthtownStar’s Three Things to Know

1. Lincoln-Way East ranked among the elite. It’s not often an East team loses twice in the regular season. Maybe that’s why the Griffins, despite a remarkable tradition, were able to fly under the radar in the Class 7A playoffs. However, those two regular-season losses were to Homewood-Flossmoor and Bolingbrook, who were a combined 17-1. East actually had the lead in the fourth quarter of both games. That the Griffins were thisclose to upending undefeated Edwardsville on Saturday, again leading in the fourth quarter, only to fall 21-14, was not shocking.

2. Quarterfinals weren’t kind to the Lincoln-Ways. There was a considerable amount of talk before Saturday’s quarterfinals about the possibility of three Lincoln-Way schools — East, West and North — advancing to the semis. However, all lost in the quarters — East to Edwardsville, 21-14, North to Richards, 12-6, and West to Sycamore, 21-14. A break there or there, however, and each easily could have advanced and been a win from the state finals. Quite an achievement.

3. Road trippin’. If you want to watch the remaining local teams Saturday, get ready to gas up. Leo is at Lena-Winslow (137 miles one way from campus), Richards is at East St. Louis (285 miles) and Mount Carmel is at Edwardsville (278 miles). Comparatively, Marist is practically playing a home game, heading to Naperville Central (32 miles).