5 girls basketball postseason storylines to watch in the NewsTribune/BCR area

The girls basketball postseason opens Saturday with regional quarterfinals.

Here’s a look at five storylines to watch in the NewsTribune/BCR area this postseason.

Can St. Bede make another run to state?

St. Bede made an unprecedented postseason run last season as the Bruins advanced to state for the first time and placed fourth in Class 1A.

The Bruins have a different coach in Tom Ptak and lost three starters from last year’s team, but still have players with postseason experience.

Senior Ashlyn Ehm and junior Lili McClain started for last year’s state team, while seniors Quinn McClain and Bailey Engels along with junior Savannah Bray also gained valuable experience during last year’s run.

The Bruins will have to get through some familiar foes at the start of the postseason.

No. 5-seeded St. Bede (19-12) opens against Gardner-South Wilmington (6-22) in Saturday’s quarterfinal and would play No. 3 Marquette in Tuesday’s semifinal. The Bruins and Crusaders have played three times this season with Marquette winning the first two (53-39 and 56-45) before St. Bede won the third matchup 49-38 in the Tri-County Conference Tournament championship.

The Bruins beat Marquette 63-57 in last year’s regional semifinal at Marquette.

If St. Bede gets by Marquette, No. 2 Amboy is likely its opponent in the regional final. It would be a rematch of last year’s regional championship that the Bruins won 50-39.

Looking ahead to the sectional, Serena and Morgan Park Academy - St. Bede’s opponents in last year’s sectional - are No. 1 seeds.

Will Princeton get over the regional final hump?

Princeton has won a lot of games over the last four seasons, going 86-26 over that span, including 19-9 this season, and winning four consecutive Three Rivers Conference East Division titles.

However, the Tigresses’ regular-season success hasn’t translated to the postseason.

Princeton lost in a regional semifinal in 2021-22 and fell in a regional final the past two seasons, including 58-27 against Alleman last year. The Pioneers went on to win a sectional championship.

If the Tigresses hope to win their first regional title since 2007, they’ll likely have the tough task of getting past Alleman. The Pioneers (22-8) are the No. 1 seed and beat Princeton 60-35 on Jan. 18.

Princeton does have the advantage of playing the regional on its home floor, where the Tigresses are 14-3 this season.

Will Hall and Fieldcrest get back to winning regionals?

Not long ago, Hall and Fieldcrest were regularly bringing home regional plaques and playing in sectional finals and beyond.

The Red Devils won four regional titles in a row from 2016-19, including two sectional final appearances, but haven’t played in a regional final since.

The Knights captured four consecutive regional crowns from 2019-23, placing fourth in Class 2A in 2022 and winning a second straight sectional title in 2023. Last season, Fieldcrest lost in a regional semifinal.

This season, Hall (16-12) is the No. 3 seed in its subsectional and will play in a Class 2A Erie Regional semifinal against the winner between No. 11 Rock Falls and No. 5 Oregon. Riverdale (19-9), which won the Hall Regional last season, would likely be the Red Devils’ regional final opponent as the No. 2 seed.

Fieldcrest (15-13) faces a tough road. If the Knights beat No. 11 Midwest Central in a Class 2A Peoria Manual Regional quarterfinal, they’d face No. 1 Deer-Creek Mackinaw, ranked No. 2 in the latest AP Poll, in the semifinals.

Can Henry end another long drought?

The current group of Henry-Senachwine juniors and seniors have ended two long regional droughts at the school.

In the spring, the Mallards won their first regional championship in softball since 2006. This fall, Henry claimed its first regional plaque in volleyball since 2010 on the way to a sectional final appearance.

Many of the key players on the softball and volleyball championship teams also play big roles on the basketball team this winter.

Can this group of Mallards bring more hardware to the school and end another long postseason gap?

Henry’s last regional title in girls basketball came in 1981.

The Mallards (13-16) are a No. 5 seed in their subsectional and open the postseason in the Class 1A Roanoke-Benson Regional at 1 p.m. Saturday against winless Peoria Heights at home.

If Henry wins that one, it advances to play Mt. Pulaski (17-7) in the regional semifinal with the host and No. 1 seed Rockets likely looming in the championship.

The Mallards have lost to R-B three times, but one game was as close as four points, while this group of Mallards proved in the fall they could get revenge in the postseason, beating two teams they lost to in the regular season.

Is Bureau Valley heating up at the right time?

The Storm have been playing well toward the end of the regular season, winning four of their final six games.

Bureau Valley beat 18-win St. Bede and scored a school-record 86 points, including making 15 of 35 3-pointers (42.9%), in a win over Galva. One of the Storm’s two losses during the stretch came in overtime against 26-win Monmouth United.

BV (12-19) opens the postseason in the Class 2A Princeton Regional against No. 8 Somonauk-Leland (12-17) at 6 p.m. Saturday in Manlius.

The winner gets the difficult task of playing No. 1 Alleman (22-8) in the semifinals.