The boys basketball postseason stage had already been set before Joliet Catholic’s 58-46 win over Lincoln-Way West Saturday afternoon.

JCA earned the top seed in the Class 3A Hinsdale South Sectional while Lincoln-Way West is 14th in the Joliet West Sectional.

Saturday’s result wouldn’t change that.

No, Saturday was just about two teams trying their best to get ready for the playoffs. Both came away feeling comfortable with certain aspects of where their games are at. Both also still have a few questions to answer.

The game itself was competitive much of the time. While Joliet Catholic initially went up 23-8 early in the second and looked like they might run away with it, Lincoln-Way West climbed right back. The Warriors trimmed it to 27-19 at the midway point and got within five in the third quarter. JCA (18-10) managed to clean things up in the fourth and made its foul shots to close out the victory.

“I’m proud of how our group responded coming off a very tough loss yesterday to Marist,” JCA coach Adam DeGroot said. “In these afternoon games you never know what you’re going to get. It’s a quick turnaround and I thought our defensive energy was very, very good today. We came out and showed it in the first half.

“We know (Lincoln-Way West) can score the ball when they get hot from three range. I thought we did a good job of contesting some shots and making it hard for them.”

Following Tuesday night’s win over Plainfield South, DeGroot commented that he was disappointed in the Hilltoppers’ rebounding effort. Brady Tunkel and Elias Passehl each ended up with double-digit rebounding efforts on the day after also putting up a strong effort in Friday’s loss to Marist.

“The game yesterday I thought was our best rebounding effort all season long” DeGroot said. “Against a team like Marist that was just so athletic and long you need to put a body on someone or you’re going to get cooked. Brady Tunkel is really our glue guy. When he rebounds and plays well we’re a pretty tough team to beat.”

Passehl led the scoring effort with 17 points while Jayden Armstong put in 15, 10 of which came in the second half. Tunkel (12 points) and Donavyn Simmons (10 points) had nice nights as well.

“I think we just had great energy,” Tunkel said. “When things went wrong we stayed connected as a team and made sure we didn’t give up a run. That was key to taking the lead and getting the win.”

Lincoln-Way West (14-17) played a much different game than they’re used to. Coach Tanner Mitchell and DeGroot noted the Warriors’ greatest strength is their shooting, but the players were well off the mark for much of the day.

However, something Mitchell was pleased with was the Warriors’ biggest issue was vastly improved against the Hilltoppers. Defense has been a consistent struggle for Lincoln-Way West this year as they’ve given up an average of roughly 61 points per game. After giving up 23 points in the first 10 minutes, they only allowed 35 over the next three periods.

“I thought we did a really good job in the second, third and fourth quarters on our zone defense,” Mitchell said. “(JCA) got a few points near the end where we were trying to scramble and I thought the game was tighter than the score would indicate. I thought our half-court defense was really good.

“The shots just didn’t fall. We got some good looks, but our percentage was just really low. We’re normally very good at shooting and today they just weren’t falling.”

Lincoln-Way West’s regular season is done and they will host Joliet Central February 23^rd in a regional quarterfinal game. JCA will play the winner of Intrinsic Charter and Elmwood Park on February 25.