Girls Basketball: Romeoville eyes conference crown

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Kiera Currie (left), Hillary VanMeerten (right) and their Romeoville teammates are on the cusp of the Southwest Prairie Conference title. | File photo

Updated: March 8, 2012 8:09AM

Thursday could be a special day for the Romeoville athletic program.

The Spartans are 20-3 overall and had an 11-1 record and a one-game lead on the field in the Southwest Prairie Conference.

A win Monday at Oswego (10-13, 5-8) and Thursday at upstart Plainfield East (18-7, 10-3) gives Romeoville its first SPC championship in any sport since the league’s inception in 2006.

“It’s exciting, but Oswego has everybody healthy and Plainfield East is playing great,” Romeoville coach Julio Carrasco said.

Romeoville put itself in position to claim the title by beating Oswego East 51-42 Friday at Oswego. It was the second straight league loss for the Wolves (16-8, 11-2).

“This feels really good, but we have to make sure we stay on top because anything can happen,” Romeoville forward Kiera Currie said.

Currie powered her way to 29 points and 10 rebounds against Oswego. She was responsible for 57 percent of the Spartans’ offense. In two wins last week, Currie averaged 27.5 points and 13 rebounds.

“We can’t let this win be the end of the season for us,” Currie said. “We have to treat every game like it could be our last of the season.”

Classes 1A, 2A in session

The girls basketball state series in Classes 1A and 2A started Monday. Most of the Joliet-are entries will participate in the Class 2A Beecher Regional. Joliet Catholic is entered in the Class 2A Plano Regional.

The No. 4 seed Angels (8-16) faced No. 5 Chicago Christian (6-19) Monday in Plano. No. 6 Mount Assisi (3-11) faced No. 3 Plano (12-13) in the second game. The winners advance to Wednesday’s regional semifinals. The regional championship is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Aurora Central Catholic (20-6) is the No. 1 seed in the regional.

“I like our team playing the underdog role,” Joliet Catholic coach Ed Schodrof said. “We are young and need to earn respect with hard work. Aurora Central Catholic deserves to be favored. They are the team to beat.”

At Beecher, No. 4 Coal City (14-15) and No. 5 Reed-Custer (6-18) kicked off the tournament Monday. No. 2 Seneca (20-8) squares off against No. 7 Wilmington (2-21) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Peotone is the No. 1 seed. The regional championship will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Something familiar

Bolingbrook (20-1) isn’t happy about the likelihood of facing Whitney Young (26-0) for the right to advance to the Class 4A state semifinals. Both teams are No. 1 seeds and overwhelming favorites to meet in the Hinsdale Central Supersectional.

The two met in the 2008, ’09 and ’10 Class 4A state title games. They are ranked among the top 12 teams in the nation.