Picking the top-4 seeds for class 4A boys basketball

Another week, another releasing of seeds. Since everyone seemed to enjoy our predictions for the girls seeding, we though we would try our luck with the boys side.

I know we mentioned the politics that go into seeding last time, but it is even more prevalent on the boys side of things so don’t be surprised if there are some really “interesting” seedings.

Romeoville

1. Bolingbrook

As far as top-4 seeds are concerned, this may be the tightest race of them all. You could easily swap any of these teams and it would probably make sense.

Bolingbrook probably have locked up the top seed much sooner, but recent injury troubles have seen the Raiders struggle as of late. None the less, Bolingbrook has the best resume with wins over Morgan Park and Joliet Central.

2. Lincoln-Way East

Ever since their loss agains Corliss, Lincoln-Way East has been one of the best teams in the area.

They only have one loss in 2018, coming against Homewood-Flossmoor while they have beat the like of Bolingbrook and Joliet Central in recent weeks.

3. Joliet Central

Joliet Central don’t have that signature win against a Bolingbrook or a Lincoln-Way East to bump them up as one of the top-2 seeds in the sectional, but the Steelmen have two solid wins against a good Oswego East side, and a recent victory over Romeoville.

4. West Aurora

West Aurora just doesn’t have the resume the other four schools through no fault of their own. The Upstate 8 is just not a great conference and their strength of schedule suffers because of it.

The Blackhawks do have nice wins against Willowbrook and Romeoville recently, but it’s not enough to push them over the other three teams in the sectional.

Lake Zurich

1. Lake Zurich

I almost feel back for whoever wins this sectional, as they will have a tough time beating the winner of the Maine East sectional. Lake Zurich, who has performed very well up north, lost to Niles North by 30 in their only competition against CSL teams.

Their win over Stevenson in the week before seedings gives them the edge over the likes of the Patriots and Barrington.

2. Stevenson

Gets the nod over Libertyville due to their head to head matchup, I don’t necessarily like using the head to head metric but I’ll take it into consideration when there if it is neck and neck between two teams.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, it’s another case where I just dont see them winning a supersectional. Stevenson lost to Prospect by 20, who will most likely be a seven seed in Maine East

3. Libertyville

Libertyville has come a long way since Thanksgiving. They are very much in the mix for a conference title. Like mentioned before, they got bumped to the three line due to their loss to Stevenson early in the season.

4. Barrington

The Hoffman Estates loss really did not do them any favors. The Broncos were set to compete for one of the top two seeds with a pretty good record overall and two wins over Conant, but a late season loss to a sub-.500 team knocks them down a few pegs.

Maine East

1. Evanston

In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Wildkits, has turned into yet another number one seed.

Evanston solidified their number one spot by beating Niles North in the rematch at Beardsley, and followed it up with wins over OPRF and Loyola. Evanston has had quite a bit of luck this year (I’m looking at you Blake Peters) but the Wildkits have come a long way since their loss to Conant.

2. Niles North

People are going to argue that New Trier should have this spot due to their head to head win over Niles North, but I as mentioned before, head to head records are not the end all be all for seeding.

The other argument against the Vikings is their weak schedule, but I disagree with that sentiment. Wins over DePaul, Prospect x2 and Evanston should be more than enough for Niles North to claim the two seed.

3. New Trier

New Trier is a very interesting case. On one hand they did beat Niles North, Loyola, St. Viator and had a really good half against Evanston, but sometimes they really struggle as seen in their loss to Hillcrest or second half perfomance against Evanston.

One thing the Trevians do have going their way is Griffin Ryan has been playing really well over the past few months, he’s a really important piece for New Trier. A very good record in the CSL South clinches the three seed for the Trevs.

4. Loyola

They had a really big opportunity to shake up the top-4 in their game against Evanston, but fell just short. This is another team that was supposed to be “rebuilding” but their style of basketball gives opponents so many problems if you don’t know how to play them.

Thornton

1. Simeon

Next.

2. Marist

Marist has fallen off a bit since they jumped into the top-10 in early January, but they probably still hang on to the number two seed.

You could probably make a case to put HF in this spot, as Marist do not have any signature wins, but I’m guessing pure volume of wins will get the job done for Marist in seeding.

3. Homewood Flosmoor

Two wins over Lincoln-Way East give HF the nod.

Back to back losses to Bloom and Stevenson were a bit of a head scratcher, but we’ll chalk that up to still trying to figure things out early in the season.

4. Kenwood

Again, this one comes down to Kenwood beating Brother Rice in a head to head matchup. I don’t necessarily like to use this metric especially since the game occurred so early in the season, but Kenwood is playing much better as of late and they are finally healthy.

Riverside-Brookfield

1. Curie

It’s a shame we probably won’t get a Curie vs. Whitney Young matchup in the city playoffs, but that can very well change in sectionals.

The Condors only have two instate losses and they’re both to Simeon, which is hardly a punishable offence.

2. Whitney Young

Welcome back Whitney.

After struggling during the regular season, the Dolphins looked to have found some form, thanks to the return of Tyler Beard. A full strength Whitney Young is a scary thought come playoff time.

3. Oak Park-River Forest

No team has been more up and down than OPRF. The Huskies got blitzed by Evanston, and lost to Notre Dame but they also have some huge wins against Fenwick, while nearly knocking off Curie.

4. Fenwick

I’m not as high on Fenwick as others. Looking through their schedule, their best win is still against DePaul. I was half tempted to put Proviso East in the fourth spot until their recent loss at Morton.

DJ Steward is going to be a star, but do they have enough pieces around him?