In the Locker Room, we are considering the possibilites of two upsets on Championship Wednesday.
That's the night when Glenbrook North visits Waukegan in the Central Suburban League Championship Game and North Chicago travels to Lake Forest in the North Suburban Conference Championship Game.
Considered ... then rejected.
In The Locker Room, we recognize that Glenbrook North is a danger team, capable of winning on any given night. After all, the Spartans are the No. 1 seed in their very soft Niles West Sectional. Still, we like the way Waukegan is playing and see it overcoming Glenbrook North's height advantage to prevail in the Dog Pound.
Meanwhile, it may be possible for North Chicago to become the first true Prairie Division (small school) team to win the North Suburban Conference Championship Game. Possible, but not likely. We loke Lake Forest's coolness and poise under pressure to prevail in a game that will not be as close as you might think.
Boys basketball: February 2009 Archives
Before you Bulldog backers jump ship after seeing your team get outplayed by Zion-Benton on Tuesday night, remember this:
A team does not have to win them all. It only has to win the last eight.
Quote of the night: Heard in The Locker Room in the wee hours of Wednesday morning:
"Can you believe it? We have TWO teams capable of winning the (IHSA Class) 4A state title. When has that ever happened before?"
Well, if you're a Waukegan High basketball fan and you're looking forward to traveling to Zion-Benton next year to gain some revenge when the Bulldogs surely will be better than the Bees, you are out of luck.
This Waukegan/Zion boys basketball battle of titans was a one-and-done deal, and Waukegan will not be playing at Zion-Benton next winter?
Given how much excitement was generated in the two communiaties about the game, that is about as poor a decision as the one Steve Bartman made when a foul ball headed in his direction at Wrigley Field six years ago.
Does our area's best prep boys basketball team ever get to relax?
Geez. Even after clinching the Central Suburban League South Division title and routing highly-regarded neighborhood rival North Chicago in the same week, the road ahead for Waukegan High's boys basketball team is still filled with landmines.
Consider what's ahead:
1) Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the regular-season game of the year: Zion-Benton at Waukegan in a battle of the area's two best teams.
2) A Feb. 21 game at Evanston which now has the services of would-be all-state player Nik Garcia, who scored 30-something in a blowout win last week.
3) The Feb. 25 Central Suburban League Championship Game at home against CSL North Division champ and super-power Glenbrook North. This could be a preview of the March Madness Class 4A Round of 8 super-sectional game in Hoffman Estates
4) A Feb. 27 game against Catholic League powerhouse Loyola, which also holds a win over North Chicago.
And that's all BEFORE the Waukegan Sectional, where Zion-Benton, Schaumburg, Warren, Lake Forest, Hoffman Estatest and Conant are all lurking.
Clearly, the Dogs will be tourney tested when the March Madness tourney begins.
In The Locker Room, we are excited about Tuesday's North Chicago/Waukegan boys basketball game.
Unfortunately, we fear that the pre-game suspense is not going to be matched by suspense on the court.
In the last 48 games, North Chicago has had just three games in which it fell behind by 10 points to a quality opponent. All three of those games last year (Loyola, Zion-Benton and Chicago Marshall) resulted in blowout losses as the Warhawks did not come back once they were down.
The thinking in The Locker Room is that Waukegan will jump out ot a 10-point lead at some point in the first half Tuesday and that North chicago will again fade out of contention rather than battle back to earn a ceom-from-behind win.
