The Herald-News area boys basketball playoff preview

It’s time once again for playoff basketball. Let’s take a look at the Herald-News area teams and what to watch for as we begin postseason play.

Class 4A

The past two seasons have been rough for the area in the playoffs, as no team has advanced to the state tournament since 2022-2023 season. If any team is going to change that this year, Bolingbrook would be the safest bet.

Granted, the Raiders were popular picks to make it the past two seasons and that didn’t happen despite absolutely stacked rosters. Still, this year’s roster remains one of the best in the state and Rob Brost remains one of Illinois’ top coaches.

Sophomore Brady Pettigrew is a consensus top-20 player in the nation for 2028 and holds offers from nearly every blue blood program there is. Senior Trey Brost is a true sharpshooter while TJ Williams has received Division I interest.

The Raiders are the number three seed in their sectional and will host the winner of 14th seed Naperville Central and 19th seed Plainfield North on Wednesday in Oswego.

Should Bolingbrook win that game they’ll face the winner of (6)Oswego and (10)Plainfield East. East junior KJ Miller has received a lot of interest from Division I programs, including Valparaiso and Southern Illinois.

(17)Plainfield South and (16)Romeoville will face off in a play-in game Monday in the same sectional. South is a young team that’s grown in experience this season while Jamarri Fears leads the Spartans. The winner will face Benet.

(16)Plainfield Central will visit (15)Aurora East for a play-in on Monday.

The Joliet West sectional is filled with local teams led by (3) Lockport. The Porters are 24-5 and have won 14 of their last 15 games. Nedas Venckus has averaged 20 points per game and shot 44% from 3-point range this season. Lockport will get the winner of (14)Lincoln-Way West and (19)Joliet Central.

Speaking of Lincoln-Way West, coach Tanner Mitchell said last week that his team will need to see continued improvement on defense to match the strong shooting they’ve had.

“It starts on the defensive end for us,” Mitchell said. “We’ve got to get stops. There’ve been some games this year where we’ve given up too many points. We also have to shoot the ball well. We don’t have a big interior presence or big guys so we have to make a high percentage of shots on the offensive end.”

Sectional host Joliet West is the fifth seed and will play (11)Bloom on Wednesday. The Tigers started the year 7-6 but are now 20-9. Despite not have a star like Jeremy and Jeremiah Fears or Justus McNair, Joliet West has used a true team balance that has continuously gotten it done as they’ve grown this year.

(6)Lincoln-Way Central will host (12)Stagg while (10)Lincoln-Way East will visit (8)Sandburg on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the same sectional

Finally, Minooka is the six seed in the Rock Island Sectional and will host Richwoods in the regional semis.

Class 3A

The story of the year in 3A for the Herald-News area has been Joliet Catholic. While the Hilltoppers have regularly played up their competition in the regular season to prepare for the playoffs, the past few years have seen them finish at or below .500 as a result.

This year, they kept the same brutal schedule, and yet they put up their best record in 10 years. Guards Jayden Armstrong and Donavyn Simmons have been electric while big men Elias Passehl and Brady Tunkel have been tremendous as well.

The 18 win season has earned JCA the number one seed in the Hinsdale South sectional. The Hilltoppers will host the winner of (17)Intrinsic Charter and (15)Elmwood Park.

“Our schedule has been tough,” coach Adam DeGroot said. “We’re very fortunate to be hosting (a regional) this year. I like our ball club a lot. Anytime you’ve got two dynamic guards that can finish plus a little bit of size it’s always a good combination.”

(5)Lemont came into the season with questions after losing three starters to graduation and a fourth to transfer. They still finished 16-12 and will play (12)Hinsdale South to open the sectional. (8)Providence Catholic will host (11)Montini in the same sectional.

(8)Morris will host (9)Sterling in a play-in game Monday in the Ottawa Sectional.

Class 2A

(8)Reed-Custer will host (10)Herscher in a play-in game on Monday for the Seneca Sectional. (2)Wilmington got a first-round bye after going 19-9 and will host the winner of (7)Universal (10)Westmont. The sectional hosts picked up the 10 seed and will play (3)Peotone to open things up.

(9)Coal City will visit (7)Manteno in a play-in game to wrap the sectional for the local area.