The IHSA announced winter sports assignments and there will be some tough roads to follow in northwest Illinois for boys and girls basketball.
The toughest of all will be in 1A girls basketball, with five of the top six ranked teams contending for a berth downstate. Here’s the breakdown:
No. 1 Galena, who also won the state volleyball crown, should advance out of one sub-sectional. In the other sub-sectional, No. 3 Orangeville and No. 6 Aquin will likely move on, but Pecatonica is also in that group.
Only one of those schools will make it to the Brimfield super-sectional. Awaiting them will likely be either No. 4 Annawan or No. 5 Elmwood.
Finally, whoever emerges from that scrum will be among the Final Four 1A teams headed to CEFCU Arena in Normal, site of the state championship. Last year, Okawville won 1A and is ranked No. 2 this year, with a much, much easier road to Normal.
Another tough sub-sectional is in 1A boys, with No. 2 Pecatonica, No. 5 Scales Mound and No. 13 South Beloit in the same sub-sectional. One of those highly-touted teams will be odd man out at the regional.
Scales Mound and Pec have shown the moxie it takes to win under pressure.
Other than a super talented senior class in 2002-03 and the remarkable Perry Range from the 1970s, the culture at South Beloit hasn’t been conducive for athletics. Can that change come March Madness time?
The other sub-sectional has No. 10 Fulton, so certainly a worthy representative will find their way to the super-sectional at Northern Illinois University. Scales Mound is hoping to make it three straight super-sectional wins, an accomplishment that belies its enrollment of 80.
In 2A, Byron is ranked No. 9, but has two buzz saws in the sub-sectional with Rockford Christian and Lutheran. Like the 1A boys, one of those deserving teams won’t win a regional.
The Byron girls are defending state runner-ups, but aren’t ranked in 2A. Stillman Valley and the Tigers appear to be the best in their sub-sectional. Unlike 1A, it isn’t a particularly daunting post-season gauntlet, though No. 6 Rock Island Alleman is in the other sub-sectional.
With some new personnel, credit to Byron for beating Stillman Valley in a much-anticipated match up last Friday.
In wrestling, it is business as usual with much of the 1A power centered around northwest Illinois. One big change is Polo bumped up to 2A because it co-ops with other schools that increases the actual enrollment.
Oregon lost several key seniors, but proved its mettle with a win at the Stillman Valley Tournament last week. This is a program on the rise with some promising young kids coming up through the ranks.
How about the performance by Gavvin Surmo of Oregon at the LaSalle-Peru bowling invite? Not only did the Hawk junior bowl a 300 game, but was the individual champ.
Under long-time coach Al Nordman, the Hawks are once again proving to be one of the elite among small schools in Illinois. They are ranked 17th in the state in a one-class system, with most of the schools above them much larger.
At L-P, Oregon also claimed the team title with a nearly 300-pin advantage over rival Dixon. With 20 boys out, bowling provides a significant outlet for those not into basketball or wrestling.
Finally, congratulations to friend Brian Reusch of WCCI radio in Savanna for being selected by the IHSA as a Distinguished Media Service Award winner, one of four such recipients for 2023-24.
Reusch summed up the IHSA award saying: “It means the world to mean, as it indicates that I have made an impact on the lives of others, especially the young people whose events I have covered over the years.”
What Reusch has done for over 30 years at the mic is a testament to small-town radio and the impact is has on the fiber of the local community. With print coverage of high school coverage declining, it is refreshing to see radio still gets out to cover games.
For example, at the 2A state championship football game between Wilmington and Athens, six different stations were providing local coverage. Around these parts, it is as strong as ever too.
Andy Colbert is a longtime Ogle County resident with years of experience covering sports and more for multiple area publications.
