Unblemished Kaneland leads three local No. 1 seeds

Kaneland hasn’t lost through 29 games this year, and still has its regular-season finale Friday at La Salle-Peru to go. The Knights got a No. 1 seed in the Class 3A Woodstock North Sectional along with Sycamore.

Indian Creek earned a No. 1 seed in the Class 1A Amboy Sectional, with Hinckley-Big Rock getting a No. 2 seed. Marquette is the other No. 1 seed in the opposite sub-sectional.

All four teams are the highest in their regionals. The Royals host a regional. They’ll face either No. 10 St. Edward or No. 8 Christian Heritage, then likely will battle No. 3 North Shore Country Day for the title.

Indian Creek takes the short ride to Somonauk for its regional, likely getting the hosts in the first semifinal, and then No. 5 MCC Academy or No. 4 Schaumburg Christian in the finals.

Sycamore heads to Boylan for its 3A regional, opening with either Boylan or Woodstock North, then facing either No. 4 Woodstock or No. 5 Belvidere in the finals.

Kaneland goes to Burlington for its regional, and after facing either IMSA or Prairie Ridge, the Knights will battle either No. 4 Geneva or No. 5 Burlington Central.

If the four local teams can survive, it’s going to make for some interesting sectionals.

Upset-minded DeKalb looks for another regional title

DeKalb won regional titles in 2021, 2023 and 2024, but fielded what amounted to a new team this year. They’ve had their struggles, standing at 11-19 heading into the finale at Geneseo. It’s the first losing season since Mike Reynolds took over in 2019.

But there have been bright spots, notably a win over Sycamore. When things have been good, it’s been a smothering defense that’s led the way.

The No. 4 Barbs host a Class 4A regional, opening with No. 6 Jefferson. No. 2 Auburn likely awaits the winner in the finals, a Knights team that beat DeKalb 63-31 on Feb. 7.

Two sectional finals could have a very local flavor

If the seeds hold, the Class 3A Woodstock North Sectional championship game will feature Sycamore and Kaneland facing off for the title.

It would only take one upset for No. 1 Indian Creek to face No. 2 Hinckley-Big Rock in the Class 1A Amboy Sectional final. The Royals would potentially face Marquette in the semifinals at Amboy. H-BR and Marquette haven’t played each other, but Indian Creek beat Marquette 62-33 in December.

The Royals, Spartans and Knights won regional titles last year, while the Timberwolves last won a regional title in 2020.

Genoa-Kingston opens with Aurora Central Catholic before it get really tough for the winner

The Cogs (11-19) and Chargers (12-19) meet in the quarterfinal of the Class 2A Rock Falls Regional in Genoa at 6 p.m. Monday. Both teams won their season finales on Thursday to snap losing streaks.

The Cogs were on a three-game skid before a 62-59 win against Stillman Valley. ACC dropped five in a row, including losing to a Hinckley-Big Rock team that G-K beat in January, before beating Newark.

The winners will have their hands full when they head west to Rock Falls to face Mendota (26-5), which has won 12 straight.

One of Mendota’s five losses this year was to a 29-1 Newman Central Catholic team on Jan. 13. That lone loss came later in January to the Trojans.

Could this be the year someone gets past the round of eight?

The last time a Daily Chronicle team placed in the state tournament was 1973, when Kaneland took second. Five years before that, DeKalb was fourth.

If Kaneland or Sycamore survives the Woodstock North Sectional, its reward would be a trip to the NIU Supersectional and a likely date with Kankakee, ranked as one of the top teams in 3A all season – a heck of a roadblock.

There’s a lot more balance for Indian Creek and Hinckley-Big Rock, but that also means it’s more likely for one of them to suffer an upset. There’s no superpower like Kankakee potentially awaiting either team in the Joliet Central Supersectional, but there could be battle-tested teams like Marshall, Unity Christian or Fenger.