While the Kenwood saga sucked the life out of the opening week of the basketball state tournament, the stories of two overachieving, spunky, underdog programs, Simeon and Young, were lost.
Of course no one is gravitating towards –– or buying –– the underdog narrative of Simeon and Young. But, still, just when you thought the perennial city powers were buried for the year…
Kenwood, minus its head coach, two assistants and four of its top six players, still won a regional championship. And would you believe Simeon and Young are the two lowest-seeded teams remaining in Class 4A in the area?
It’s the Public League playoffs –– Part II –– at this week’s Riverside-Brookfield Sectional.
Simeon, the No. 6 seed, will face a Kenwood team no one knows just what to expect from going forward in the sectional semifinals. Young, meanwhile, will take its best shot at No. 1 ranked Curie in the opposite semifinal at Riverside-Brookfield.
So what did we learn from these regional wins from the marquee programs in the city?
Kenwood still has life –– and some talent –– with senior Calvin Robins and freshman star Devin Cleveland, who has been forced to be the guy and is ready to flourish in that role.
As an underdog, Simeon kept its regional championship streak alive. The Wolverines, under first-year coach Tim Flowers, won its 21st consecutive regional title.
No matter how many regular-season losses Young compiles, you better quit counting the Dolphins out of any postseason. Antonio Munoz, the team’s top player, is back after missing over a month, while another freshman, Howard Williams, was the regional hero. The 6-6 Williams had 15 points and 11 rebounds in the regional title game.
And Curie is Curie. The Condors continue to show stability, consistency and a business-like approach.
No chaos to report
With sectional semifinals ahead, there is time for the No. 1 seeds to go down a little bit earlier than expected. Still, the idea of any Cinderella story was over quickly with almost all the top four seeds advancing across the area.
Again, the lowest-seeded teams to advance in Class 4A are Joliet West and Young, a pair of No. 5 seeds that knocked off the four seeds, and sixth-seeded Simeon.
There were four sectionals in Class 4A –– Elgin, East Aurora, Maine South and Addison Trail –– that all went exactly according to plan with the 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 seeds playing in this week’s sectional.
The only true low-seeded team still playing in the two largest classes is Ridgewood in Class 3A. Ridgewood, the No. 12 seed in the St. Viator Sectional, upset No. 6 seed Grayslake Central in the regional semis and then throttled 14th-seed Lake View in the regional championship.
The Fridman effect
Glenbrook North finished the regular season with four straight losses — by a combined 72 points. Before that four-game losing streak, this was a 22-3 team, all alone in first place in the tough Central Suburban League South.
But this past week the Spartans, who did hold on to win the CSL South, regrouped and won a regional championship, going on the road to knock off a 20-win Lane team.
The quick turnaround was pretty simple: Josh Fridman played.
The dynamic point guard has endured a frustrating injury history throughout his high school career. He was unable to finish either of the last two seasons due to injury. Then it occurred again with a dislocated shoulder in the Feb. 2 loss to Maine South.
However, Fridman returned for the regional. He pumped in 20 points in the win over Lane while Owen Giannoulias added 16.
Coach Quin Hayes, who has steered Glenbrook North to a combined record of 52-12 over the past two years, has done a terrific job navigating a rash of injuries in his program over the years.
The five senior starters in the regional championship game — Fridman, Giannoulias, Julian Marta, Sam Lappin and Patrick Schaller — have been playing together since fourth grade. Remarkably, due to injuries, including an ACL injury to Marta, a broken hand for Lappin and multiple season-ending injuries to Fridman, it was the first time the five started together in a high school game.
Ramblers roll
Many believed Niles West, led by standout guard Davee Flowers, was a dangerous No. 8 seed and some thought of Loyola as a vulnerable No. 1 seed. That didn’t come to fruition Friday night as Loyola rolled to a 54-32 regional championship win.
Miles Boland has been outstanding for coach Tom Livatino all season. He remains the anchor in Loyola’s quest for its first sectional championship since 2014. But glue guy Jimmy Tarjan has returned after missing three weeks and Nick Patton has provided some much-needed postseason scoring pop.
Tarjan took seven charges in two regional wins. Patton, who averaged 9 points a game in the regular season, scored 21 in the regional title win and made seven three-pointers in two regional victories.
Loyola gets another crack at neighboring rival New Trier in Tuesday’s sectional semifinal. The Ramblers lost to the Trevians 44-39 back in November but were without a couple of key players in 6-7 Brendan Loftus and Donovan Robinson, a physical and athletic 6-3 junior who has come on nicely over the second half of the season.
Public League with a baker’s dozen
There is a guarantee the Public League will have one sectional champ. That’s a certainty with four teams, Curie, Kenwood, Simeon and Young, in the Riverside-Brookfield Sectional.
But there are plenty of other opportunities in the coming week for the Public League in all four classes with 13 teams still playing.
Hyde Park, Lindblom, Payton and Westinghouse are all still a part of the Class 3A field, while Phillips, Hansberry and Dyett are all in the same Class 2A sectional.
In Class 1A, Richards and Marshall square off in a sectional semifinal.
Streaking Joliet West
Joliet West was blown out by top-ranked Curie 86-60 a month ago. The Tigers haven’t lost since.
Following a regional championship win over fourth-seeded Rich on Friday, Joliet West will ride a nine-game win streak into a showdown against top-seeded Homewood-Flossmoor in the sectional.
Coach Jeremy Kreiger has had something to lean on all season in his star player, Valparaiso recruit Justus McNair. The 6-3 guard has turned in outstanding production with 19 points a game. He pumped in a game-high 24 in the win over Rich while Zion Gross scored 16.
But it’s more about McNair being about everything right: defense, unselfishness and, above all else, winning. That’s what matters at this time of the year and what Joliet West and Kreiger can count on.
Who is Marko Visnjevac?
McHenry is riding the hot hand of Marko Visnjevac, a senior guard who poured in a combined 62 points in two regional wins. As a result, McHenry won its first regional championship since 2012 and equaled the school record for wins.
The 25-win Warriors beat Mundelein 65-46 behind Visnjevac’s 37-point performance in the regional championship. They now have a sectional semifinal date with Rockton-Hononegah which upset top-seeded Rockford Guilford.
