There was some chatter when the season began about several teams that would be making the jump from Class 3A to 4A.
The discussion centered mostly on how much stronger the state’s largest class would become with the additions of DePaul Prep, Mount Carmel, St. Patrick and a few others. But while the strength in numbers is certainly true in the 4A conversation, there were also some questions among basketball junkies of just how might it play out for those respective teams in the largest class?
While playing the regular season in what has now become the state’s toughest conference, the Chicago Catholic League, and putting together tough, class-proof non-conference schedules, DePaul Prep and St. Ignatius have built their strong, respected reputations in a multitude of ways.
However, regardless of a school’s enrollment, there is no denying thriving in the postseason in Class 2A and 3A is different than in Class 4A. And in recent years both DePaul and Ignatius have propped up their programs in impressive fashion with state tournament runs in smaller classes.
DePaul has been building a treasure trove of state basketball trophies in the trophy case. It started with a third-place finish in Class 3A in 2019, followed by a third-place finish in Class 2A in 2022.
Then three straight state championships followed over the past three years, winning a Class 2A title in 2023 and then a pair of 3A titles in 2024 and 2025.
St. Ignatius, meanwhile, won just its second sectional title in program history in 2022. The Wolfpack followed it up with another one the next year. Both seasons ended in Champaign with third and fourth-place finishes in Class 3A.
Now? Both DePaul and St. Ignatius are one win away from securing another state trophy — this time in Class 4A. And they did so by winning two of the toughest Class 4A sectionals in the state.
“They knew the stakes were higher and that it would be tougher,” DePaul coach Tom Kleinschmidt said of his team’s mentality of playing in a 4A sectional.
It didn’t matter. DePaul headed to the North Shore where Evanston and New Trier have won six of the last seven sectionals that have been played. The Rams beat them both in the sectional.
Due to who DePaul was playing, Kleinschmidt felt he maybe had the attention of his players a bit more in the lead up.
“Our kids seemed more focused in practice and in our prep for these games,” Kleinschmidt said. “They were locked in. They knew who they were playing — very good, ranked teams with kids they knew, have played against and are aware of from New Trier and Evanston.”
St. Ignatius just swept through the Chicago Public League, beating Kenwood, Simeon and Curie in succession to win its third sectional title in five years. Coach Matt Monroe called the stretch a “gauntlet” in discussing the road to a 4A sectional title.
Monroe admits it’s a bit dissimilar to DePaul because the Wolfpack were a 4A school last season. But he did say everything felt different in winning a 4A sectional.
“It does feel like a bigger deal,” Monroe said in regard to winning a 4A sectional compared to past 3A titles.
St. Ignatius has played Simeon four times in the last five years. The first two were as 3A schools, matching up in the IHSA State Finals in Champaign. Last year and this season the two tangled much earlier — in a regional last year and in this past week’s sectional.
“Our regional championship against Kenwood felt more like a sectional game,” Monroe pointed out. “And our sectional championship game against Curie felt more like a downstate, Final Four game. So, yes, I do think it felt bigger for our guys.”
➤ Kaneland is super again.
The undefeated Knights will play in their second straight super-sectional on Monday. Only this time they’ll be playing in their back yard, looking to improve to 34-0 on the year.
A year ago when Kaneland won its first sectional title in 43 years, the Knights traveled to the Hoffman Estates Super where they were pummeled by eventual state champ DePaul Prep.
This year they play in the DeKalb Super, just a 14-mile trip for Kaneland and its fans.
➤ Marist and Kankakee entered Friday night in similar positions.
Both were looking to end decades-long sectional droughts. For Marist it’s been 45 years, while Kankakee’s last sectional title came in 1960.
And both were regarded as arguably the best teams in school history, which added a sense of urgency as they took the floor for their respective sectional championship games.
While Marist marches on to a super-sectional date with Peoria Richwoods, Kankakee’s dream season — and the high school career of star Lincoln Williams — comes to a screeching halt.
Kankakee jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead over red-hot Morton, which has now ripped off 22 straight wins, but couldn’t hold on. The Kays fell 61-48 in the Ottawa Sectional final.
➤ What a season it’s been for Charles Barnes. He’s led Marist to 30 wins and a sectional title while averaging 18 points a game. The 6-5 senior who transferred in for his senior season has been brilliant for the RedHawks all season, including a game-high 31 points in the sectional title win over Homewood-Flossmoor.
But the athletically-gifted 6-7 Stephen Brown has helped take the RedHawks to another level during this postseason push.
An up-and-down basketball career, which has included early hype, injuries, juggling time between football and basketball and then an inconsistent senior year, is all in the rearview mirror. The North Carolina State football recruit has been a revelation. His higher engagement level and buy-in has led to greater production.
Brown put up a double-double in the regional win over Rich and another one in the sectional semifinal victory over Lockport with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Then in the 55-49 win over H-F to win the sectional, Brown chipped 14 points and seven rebounds.
➤ York scored 12 points in the second half of the sectional championship game. It didn’t matter. The Dukes still won, beating high-scoring Glenbard East 37-36. Remember, this was a Glenbard East team that had scored 60-plus points 26 times this season.
But York’s bread and butter remains the same no matter who it plays or what part of the season: defense.
The Dukes play with size and physicality — and just enough scoring to go with it — but it’s the ball press zone defense that former coach Vince Doran implemented in 2014 that has been difference-making. As a result, the Dukes claimed their first sectional championship in 1982.
Throw in a school record 31 wins, and it’s been an amazing season for coach Mike Dunn’s Dukes.
But it starts with the ball press, which Dunn continued upon taking over the program in 2020. Dunn had only played man-to-man as a head coach with Yorkville.
“I had never played a possession of zone as a head coach,” Dunn admits.
Dunn, the student, sat down with Doran, the teacher, and it began. Dunn then went and talked to several coaches who were playing the ball press, including Mike Healy at Wheaton South, Eric Millstone at Palatine and recently retired coaches Paul Harris at Highland Park and Mike Miller at Rockton-Hononegah.
“We decided to stick with it and it’s been really good,” Dunn said. “JJ Pearl, my assistant, is fantastic with it and the reason we are so good at it.”
The ball press has been a neutralizer, limiting foes to less than 50 points all season and to just 36 points a game in York’s last 11 wins.
➤ As ranked teams all season while marching through sectional play, DePaul Prep and St. Ignatius have hogged up a lot of headlines among Chicago Catholic League teams. But less-talked-about Leo and St. Francis are also on the doorstep of reaching the IHSA State Finals in Class 3A.
Could the Chicago Catholic League make up half of the 3A and 4A field next weekend in Champaign?
As a No. 7 sectional seed, St. Francis is the lowest-seeded team still playing. In fact, the remaining 3A field of eight teams consists of six No. 1 seeds, one No. 2 seed and seventh-seeded St. Francis.
The Spartans have lived on the edge this postseason. That continued with an overtime thriller over Wheaton Academy. They will face Deerfield in the Hoffman Estates Super.
Coach Jimalle Ridley’s Leo program, which won the Catholic League White, has been knocking on the door in each of the past two seasons. Leo won regional titles in 2024 and 2025, including last year’s heartbreaking 44-43 loss in the sectional final to Dyett.
➤ How about some Red-West flavor spicing up the smaller classes?
While they aren’t the powers they once were from back in the day, former West Side powers Farragut, Crane and Marshall are all still alive in state tournament play. All three will play in Joliet on Monday night.
Farragut and Crane will meet with a trip to Champaign on the line in Class 2A, while Marshall will play in a Class 1A super-sectional, facing Indian Creek.
➤ If you’ve been reading these pages or listening to the No Shot Clock podcast in recent weeks, you’ve heard superlatives being thrown around about Peoria Richwoods sophomore Amarion Smith-Holley. He’s become this year’s Mr. March.
The 5-11 point guard went for 31 in a sizzling regional championship game performance against Rock Island. He scored 29, including three game-winning free throws with no time on the clock, to beat Normal 68-67 in the sectional semis.
Smith-Holley scored 21 more in a 59-58 win over Edwardsville, once again adding to his growing reputation as an ultra-clutch player. His late steal led to being fouled and knocking down the two game-winning free throws with 12 seconds to play.
Smith-Holley is now one win away from showcasing himself as one of the state’s elite talents on the state’s biggest stage.