It was a year of growing, and maybe some groaning, for many of the area basketball programs.
Out of the 14 boys and girls teams in the Southland Your Times coverage area, four girls teams won a regional. The boys were shut our from postseason hardware.
Here is a look at how the season went for area teams:
Lincoln-Way East
The East girls team beat Joliet West, 50-43, Feb. 15 to capture the regional. Their state run ended with a 47-36 sectional loss to Homewood-Flossmoor Feb. 22. The Griffins finished 28-6.
University of Illinois-bound Hayven Smith was named SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue co-Athlete of the Year and Lana Kerley was named all-conference.
Things looked promising for the boys and their young roster after a 5-0 start. But the Griffins went on a rollercoaster ride after that to finish 18-16.
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Sandburg
The girls finished 19-15 and had a huge 62-58 win over Romeoville Feb. 15 for a regional title — its first since 2016 — and an answer to Romeoville's 54-31 victory in during the regular season. The Eagles lost to Lincoln-Way East in sectional semifinal Feb. 20. The Eagles had another signature win — 44-42 Nov. 18 against Hinsdale South in South’s Thanksgiving Tournament. South went on to have a huge season including a Final Four appearance in the Illinois High School Association Class 3A tournament.
The future looks bright with sophomores Zoe and Olivia Truck and Ellie Driscoll getting valuable varsity minutes.
The boys finished 16-16 and were entertaining with their wide-open style. A 92-82 win over Oak Lawn on Dec. 19 was a highlight.
Senior David Vargas scored more than 1,000 career points and had a school-record nine 3-pointers in a 38-point performance against Lockport Feb. 3.
Lincoln-Way Central
Like the Griffins, the Central girls team was knocked out of the playoffs by Homewood-Flossmoor 47-41 in sectional play Feb. 20 Central topped Stagg Feb. 16 for the regional title.
The Knights opened the season with a nine-game winning streak.
Gracen Gehrke was the SWSC Red co-Athlete of the Year while Gianna Amadio and Angelina Panos were all-conference.
The boys opened the season 2-7 and things started to click after that for a 16-15 finish.
Ben McLaughlin and Korey Cagnolatti became leaders for the Knights.
Providence Catholic
The girls finished 18-16 and may have had one of the oddest streaky seasons in the state.
They won four to open the season, then lost four, won four and lost four.
The Celtics had a five-game winning streak, which included beating Morgan Park and Hillcrest to win a regional against Stagg Feb. 16.
Like Sandburg, it also had a signature win over Hinsdale South, 44-41 on Jan. 22.
Molly Knight and Gabi Bednar were Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red all-conference selections.
The boys finished 15-14 for their first winning season since 2014-15. A late-season 75-67 win over Evergreen Park was a highlight.
Junior Seth Cheney had a huge year for the Celtics and will be a player to watch next season.
Lincoln-Way West
West’s boys finished 16-16 but won the first conference title in program history when it shared the SouthWest Suburban Red honors with Bradley Bourbonnais.
Eli Bach was named the conference’s athlete of the year and set numerous school records. Jacob Bereza and Wyatt Carlson also made all-conference.
The girls finished 15-15 and lost in the regional final to Homewood-Flossmoor, 47-41, on Feb. 15.
Senior Peyton Madl, junior Caroline Smith and sophomore Molly Finn were named all-conference.
Andrew
The boys finished 19-13 under first-year coach Justin Stirn and that included a huge 66-60 regional semifinal victory over Romeoville Feb. 13.
Athan Berchos and Grantas Sakenis were SWSC Red All-Conference players.
The girls finished 12-15, including a 33-25 win Nov. 20 over Peotone, which made it to the supersectionals in Class 2A.
Mikayla Summey and Makayla Adams gave strong performances this season.
Tinley Park
The boys finished 8-20 with a three-game winning streak over Comer, Bremen and Thornton Fractional South from Jan. 28 through Feb. 2.
Bernard McHerron was named to the South Suburban Blue All-Conference team, and Dashawn Allen was honorable mention.
The girls finished 6-17 with a 35-32 win over rival Oak Forest Jan. 9, serving as the highlight of the campaign.
