The boys basketball postseason is set to tip off this coming week with regional games in all four classes. Here are storylines to watch in the Suburban Life area.

Can Benet navigate a gauntlet to a repeat?

Benet, defending state champion in Class 4A, has looked every bit the favorite to repeat during the regular season.

The Redwings (29-1), led by the returning core of Jayden Wright, Colin Stack and Edvardas Stasys, have won 26 consecutive games. The closest margin of victory against in-state opponents is seven points, with just three wins by fewer than double digits.

They have beaten most of the other chief contenders, including defending Class 3A champ DePaul Prep, last year’s 4A runner-up Warren, Chicago Public League favorite Curie and Marist.

It’s been suggested that Benet is the state’s most dominant team since Glenbard West’s 37-1 2022 champions.

But the road to a repeat is a gauntlet.

Benet could face either Bolingbrook or Neuqua Valley, with arguably the state’s top two individual prospects in sophomores Brady Pettigrew and Cole Kelly, respectively, in a sectional final at Bolingbrook.

Weather that, and IHSA geography would have a Benet-Warren championship game rematch in a supersectional at NIU.

And Benet and DePaul Prep, 3A champ the last two years and 2A champ in 2023, are lined up to potentially play in a semifinal with Curie and Marist on the other half.

If the Redwings are to repeat, they’ll have earned it.

Is this Glenbard East’s year?

It’s been quite a resurgence at Glenbard East the last few years.

A senior class led by South Dakota commit Michael Nee has led the Rams from nine wins in 2022-2023, to 13 the following year and 24 with a regional title last season.

Do they take the next step?

It’s been 15 years since a group led by Johnny Hill and current Downers Grove South coach Zach Miller led Glenbard East to third place in Class 4A.

This Rams group, 27-3 during the regular season, looks poised to take its place alongside that Glenbard East team and make a run at Champaign. That great senior core has been supplemented by Keenan House, a talented transfer from Bolingbrook.

Glenbard East is the No. 1 seed in a very winnable Bartlett Sectional. The winner of that sectional would be matched with the Mount Carmel Sectional winner, where Curie is the No. 1 seed.

How far can York take this?

There is no better, or surprising story in the western suburbs this season than York.

Mike Dunn’s Dukes, 14-18 last year, went 27-4 during the regular season and shared the West Suburban Silver title with Lyons. Hunter Stepanich, a 6-foot-7 senior committed to Princeton for football and volleyball, epitomizes a big, strong York team that wins many low-scoring games. Joseph Lubbe, a 6-foot-4 guard, has had a breakout season leading the team in scoring most games.

How far can the ride go?

Should it win a regional title at Glenbard West, No. 2 sectional seed York would match the 2018-2019 team’s program record wins.

It’s one of a handful of teams that look like it can come out of the Bartlett Sectional, including Glenbard North, Batavia and Wheaton Warrenville South.

Western Cook County vs. the city

There are few more interesting first-round regional matchups, factoring in seeding, than at Morton next Wednesday.

Riverside-Brookfield (23-7), co-champ of the Upstate Eight East with Glenbard East, is seeded sixth and faces long-time Chicago Public League powerhouse Simeon (17-9), seeded 11th.

It’s stunning to see a program like Simeon seeded as low as No. 11. At least by seed, R-B and senior guard Cameron Mercer is the favorite, and a win there could set up a regional final matchup with another CPS stalwart in Young.

Meanwhile in the same sectional, red-hot Lyons (21-6), led by sophomore Grant Smith, has won 10 straight since a loss to R-B on Jan. 17 and look like a dangerous opponent.

The reward is a No. 9 sectional seed in a Mount Carmel Sectional loaded with CPS teams, and a potential regional final matchup with No. 1 Curie at Jones.

What about Class 3A?

Joliet Catholic is the No. 1 seed at the area’s Class 3A sectional at Hinsdale South, but it’s a team with limited postseason pedigree on the basketball court.

The Hilltoppers last won a sectional in 1988, and have never been to state.

What does that mean?

With respect to Joliet Catholic (19-11), the sectional – and possibly a run at state – could be wide open.

Wheaton Academy (17-12), with one of the state’s best juniors in Hayden Schroeder, is the No. 3 seed. Don’t discount sixth seed Nazareth (15-16), which only lost to JCA by six during the regular season, or even seventh seed St. Francis (13-14), which has played a tough schedule in the Catholic League Blue.