Ted’s Takes: Best 4A Regional Finals

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first two rounds of the IHSA playoffs are in the books and more than half the teams in Illinois have gone home. We saw a handful of exciting games from the Regional Semifinals over the last two days, and it's time to step things up a notch. Here's a look at some of my favorite Regional Final games in 4A for Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(4) Mt. Carmel vs (5) St. Laurence - Mt. Carmel Sectional</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two top Catholic League programs are set to square off in the Regional Championship at Hinsdale Central. Both have cracked the top 20 at one point this season. The last time they squared off saw Mt. Carmel take down St. Laurence 46-45 in an overtime thriller. I fully expect this to be another nose-to-nose contest in a neutral setting (at Mt. Carmel the first matchup). The Caravan have been powered by two top freshman in [player_tooltip player_id='2767922' first='Da'Kylen' last='Heard'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2767906' first='Ronald' last='Johnson']. While St. Laurence has an exciting sophomore in 6'6" G [player_tooltip player_id='2532014' first='Logan' last='Brown'] surrounding by tons of depth. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(3) Whitney Young vs (11) Simeon - Mt. Carmel Sectional</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another terrific matchup in a loaded Mt. Carmel sectional. A 3-vs-11 matchup doesn't look great off the tongue. But these the two most dominant programs in one of the states best leagues. For Whitney Young, they have one of the states best point guards in Tennessee commit [player_tooltip player_id='1552475' first='Marquis' last='Clark']. They ran over Morton in the first round of the playoffs. But that was the same story for Simeon, as they blew out #6-seed Riverside-Brookfield in the opening round and have just one loss in the first round of the playoffs and have just one loss vs a Chicago-area team this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(4) St. Patrick vs (5) New Trier - Loyola Sectional</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Shamrocks ran all over their rivals on Tuesday with a 57-26 blowout win over Notre Dame. New Trier played a much closer game vs Payton but have won their last 11/12 and play at home. Both teams have very experienced roster that have shown they can win big games, too. Especially with [player_tooltip player_id='1554516' first='Christopher' last='Kirkpatrick'] on the floor. [player_tooltip player_id='1552486' first='Danny' last='Houlihan'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2394678' first='Max' last='Vogel'] have played incredibly well for the Trevians, too. This will be a great game and I fully expect the Shamrocks to bring a big student section like they did on Tuesday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(2) Rock Island vs (3) Peoria Richwoods - Rock Island Sectional</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Teams ranked #22 and #23 respectively are set to square off in a regional final, which is the highest ranked matchup of this week. But what's even crazier is that the game is in the Chicago area (Minooka). Nonetheless, the two combined for just 11 losses on the season. [player_tooltip player_id='2712818' first='Deven' last='Marshall'] is a top 15 junior in his class for Rock Island, while [player_tooltip player_id='2531961' first='Amarion' last='Smith-Holley'] is the #3 sophomore in his class. It will be a really exciting matchup.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Others to Watch</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>(4) Batavia vs (5) Wheaton-Warrenville South - Bartlett Sectional</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>(2) St. Ignatius vs (7) Kenwood - Mt. Carmel Sectional</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>(3) Lockport vs (5) Joliet West - Joliet West Sectional</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>(3) Hersey vs (6) Rolling Meadows - Fremd Sectional</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>(3) Loyola vs (6) Lincoln Park - Loyola Sectional</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->