Neuqua Valley, the top seed in the Oswego East Sectional, was assigned to the Batavia Regional and will face the winner of the Naperville North-Benet opening round game, the IHSA announced Friday. In order to win a regional championship, the Wildcats may have to defeat No. 9 Batavia on its own floor.
As a regional host, No. 2 Naperville Central will enjoy home-court advantage. But in order to advance, it could have to beat seventh-seeded West Aurora for a third time this season.
In the East Aurora Regional, No. 12 Waubonsie Valley will take on No. 21 Wheaton North for the right to face fifth-seeded Plainfield North.
If the brackets unfold true to form and all top-four seeds survive the regionals, Neuqua would meet East Aurora in one sectional semifinal, and Naperville Central would play Bolingbrook in the other. Regional play begins March 2.
Video courtesy Sports Guy and The Big Lead.
I see the 4 regional champions being West Aurora, Bolingbrook, Neuqua, and East Aurora. Naperville Central is talented, but beating anybody 3 times is a challenge, and West Aurora has an excellent program and a coach that will find a way to shut down Crawford and win the regional. The East Aurora regional will be interesting because although the Tomcats are the favorite, if WV starts playing defense on a consistant basis, they could potentially pull an upset vs. Plainfield North in the regional semis and earn a rematch with East. Regardless, I think Neuqua will take home the sectional title, though Bolingbrook is also a team that could surprise people.