Previewing and predicting the IHSA Class 4A state basketball tournament

Curie's Carlos Harris (2) shoots against Benet. — Curie’s Carlos Harris (2) shoots against Benet.

Curie has established itself as the favorite in Class 4A. The Condors, who won their lone state championship in 2016, just won a city title and have only lost to one in-state team. But the road just to get to Champaign will be a rugged one.

While Curie is a familiar face for high school basketball fans in March, this Class 4A field is loaded with fresh faces primed and ready to make their presence felt for the first time in a long time.

Here is a forecast of how it could all go down in the state’s largest class.

Elgin Sectional

Sectional semifinals: Stevenson over Barrington; Palatine over Lake Zurich

Sectional champ: Palatine

It’s the Mid-Suburban League vs. North Suburban League. It’s also a sectional where if any of the projected winners above lost in the regional final it wouldn’t be a surprise.

Barrington will need to beat Fremd a third time after winning the first two by a combined eight points and needing overtime to do so. Rolling Meadows over Lake Zurich or Prospect over Stevenson wouldn’t be a shock. And don’t rule out a Conant team that is 8-2 over its final 10 games and playing the regional on its home floor against Palatine.

Palatine has that moxie, winning seniors and the ultra-productive Connor May. Coach Eric Millstone has done a terrific job with this group over the past two years and will guide the Pirates to their first sectional title in over 40 years.

Rockford Guilford Sectional

Sectional semifinals: Warren over DeKalb; Rockford Guilford over McHenry

Sectional champ: Warren

Keep an eye on dangerous DeKalb, which has won nine of its last 10, but Warren is a heavy favorite and lives up to it. Who would have thought a freshman would lead the Blue Devils to their first sectional title since 2012?

East Aurora Sectional

Sectional semifinals: Bolingbrook over Benet; Downers Grove North over Waubonsie Valley

Sectional champ: Bolingbrook

This sectional is too good for it to go according to plan, right? The pick here is for all the top four seeds, who are all ranked among the top 15 teams in the most recent Super 25, to get through regional play.

Can a Benet team that’s been banged up down the stretch but is now healthy find a way to win one of the state’s toughest sectionals with youth? Can DGN and Jack Stanton repeat? Can Waubonsie reclaim its mojo?

We ride the hot hand as Bolingbrook has won 10 of 11, including late-season road wins over Waubonsie Valley and Homewood-Flossmoor.

Pekin Sectional

Sectional semifinals: Quincy over Collinsville; Normal over Moline

Sectional champ: Quincy

Winning two games in this sectional is going to be a grind. The top four teams here have 25, 26, 27 and 28 wins on the year.

The storied Quincy program returns to the spotlight and gets its revenge in a rematch with Collinsville; the Blue Devils lost to the Kahoks 44-39 back in December.

Rich Sectional

Sectional semifinals: Homewood-Flossmoor over Rich; Marist over Romeoville

Sectional champ: Homewood-Flossmoor

The Vikings have their sights set on bigger things than just being king of the south suburbs. But winning the program’s first sectional championship since 2006 is a step in that direction.

Riverside-Brookfield Sectional

Sectional semifinals: Curie over Young; Kenwood over Riverside-Brookfield

Sectional champ: Curie

The sting of Curie losing in the regional last year still stings for Carlos Harris and company. If it seems like Curie is on cruise control, it’s because they have been. The Condors have suffered just one loss to an in-state team all season, and they aren’t adding another one in this sectional.

Addison Trail Sectional

Sectional semifinals: Lake Park over Glenbard North; York over Batavia

Sectional champ: Lake Park

Lake Park went 3-0 against Glenbard North and York this year. But the Lancers won the three by a total of nine points and needed an overtime. Nothing will be certain in this sectional except that Lake Park has a legit go-to player in Cam Cerese, who is averaging 24.1 points a game. Look for some regular-season rematches to emerge and it going a similar way.

Maine South Sectional

Sectional semifinals: New Trier over Loyola; Glenbrook South over Glenbrook North

Sectional champ: New Trier

The scariest of sectional picks. It’s a sectional where chaos could certainly arise. The quartet of seeds 5 through 8 — Niles North (24-7), Evanston (20-10), Lane (19-11) and Niles West (21-10) — are as dangerous as any sectional out there. One of them is bound to pull off an upset.

The top four seeds are so evenly matched and have beaten each other all season long. Those four top seeds have 26 losses between them with 10 of the 26 coming against one another.

If Glenbrook North star point guard Josh Fridman was 100 percent going into the postseason, the Spartans would be the pick. But he’s missed the past two weeks with an injury. Glenbrook North lost its last four games of the regular season by an average margin of 18 points a game without him. While he’s expected to give it a go, there is no telling where he’s at physically.

Throw these sectional teams in a hat, jumble them up and pull one out. New Trier is the pick but the Trevians could be out of it by this Friday playing high-scoring, up-and-down Niles North.