Marist Remains No. 1 in Girls Basketball Heading into Regional Finals

1. Marist (29-1): Nothing to it. Marist opened postseason play with a name-that-score kind of victory, rolling past Thornton 80-27. Next up: The RedHawks will face Thornton Fractional North at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Class 4A Marist Regional final.

2. Lincoln-Way East (24-4): Caitlin McMahon (21 points, 7 rebounds) and Taylor Johnson (16 points, 7 steals) powered the Griffins to a 70-24 regional semifinal victory over Crete-Monee. Next up: Lincoln-Way East faces district rival Lincoln-Way North in the Class 4A Lincoln-Way Central regional final at 7:30 tonight.

3. Homewood-Flossmoor (21-7): Charnelle Reed’s knee injury raises questions of whether the Vikings will get out of the Class 4A Stagg Regional. H-F defeated Thornton Fractional South 48-24 behind a big game from Candace Hicks. She scored 13 points and snared five rebounds. Next: The Vikings face Sandburg at 7:30 tonight in Palos Hills.

4. Marian Catholic (20-11): Ashton Millender poured in 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Spartans cruised past Richards in Class 4A regional semifinal play 73-36. Next: Marian Catholic will play host to Mother McAuley at 7:30 tonight in the regional final.

5. Lincoln-Way North (23-5): The Phoenix have a big lineup and a big dream—they’d like nothing better than to knock off district rival Lincoln-Way East in the regional final at Lincoln-Way Central tonight. Tip-off is at 7:30.

Next best in alphabetical order: Mother McAuley, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Providence, Sandburg.

(Covering the following Patch communities: Chicago Heights, Evergreen Park, Frankfort, Homewood-Flossmoor, Mokena, New Lenox, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Orland Park, Palos, Tinley Park and the neighboring private schools that draw students from those communities).