High School Playoffs have commenced across the country and the best teams have commenced their quest for a State Championship. For diehard, rabid basketball fans, high school playoffs serve as a tune-up for March Madness. Let's take a look at future Blue Devils Olek Czyz and Elliot Williams:

In Nevada, Reno High School has won the Northern 4A Regional Championship with a 69 - 53 victory over Douglas High School. Olek Czyz battled flu like symptoms in the game and finished with 13 points. In previous games, Czyz scored 16 points, in a 57 - 45 victory over Bishop Manogue, and 23 points in a 79 - 47 blowout of Spanish Springs in the opening round. Next up for Czyz and the Huskies is Foothill High School on Tuesday. Foothills defeated Reno, 85 - 78, on December 23rd.

In Memphis, Elliot Williams and St. George's defeated Tipton-Rosemark 73 - 57 on Saturday. Previously, Williams scored 15 points as St. George's defeated FACS 53 - 32. and 19 points in St. George's first tournament game, a 63 - 22 victory over SBEC. St. George's moves on to the Sub-State level on Saturday February 23rd.

For Class of 2009 recruiting targets, here are articles on Leslie McDonald and Mason Plumlee.

Duke Off vs. Wake Forest Def	Wake Forest Off vs. Duke Def
85.7 Pts F 67.0 Pts A 47.8 FG% 42.0 FG% 34.0 Reb. 33.0 Reb.	72.3 Pts F 67.0 Pts A 43.6 FG% 42.9 FG% 33.0 Reb. 32.8 Reb.

TV: FSN; Tim Brando (play-by-play), Mike Gminski (analyst), Jen Hildreth (sideline).

Mark's take - Duke looks to go to 11-0 in the ACC while Wake Forest hopes to get a signature win in their quest for an NCAA bid.  Duke has had their problems in Winston Salem of late and will face a Deacon team that has a lot of depth, having seven players who play 20 MPG and two at around 10 MPG.

Like Duke with Kyle Singler, one of Wake's key players is the uncannily strong freshman James Johnson.  This Wake team actually plays pretty good defense unlike recent teams which would run and gun.  It will be important that Duke not overlook the Deacons in a game against an upstart and hungry team.

The Blue Devils should have enough in the tank to take out Wake Forest, but they need to play a consistent game and not get beat on the boards against a team with similar statistics in this category.  I honestly feel as if this could be a really tough game.  I hope I am wrong.  The pick is Duke 81-73.

Bob Green's take - Winning on the road, in the ACC, is never easy and today's game in Winston-Salem will be no exception. Wake Forest is sitting at .500 in conference play and a win over Duke would legitimize their status as a NCAA tournament quality team. Like Duke, they are deep, young and play with a strong focus on defense. Freshman James Johnson, a 6'8" 235 lb forward is their leading scorer at 14.4 ppg and leading rebounder with eight rebounds per game.

Wake Forest is a strong defensive team ranking 2nd in the ACC in Turnover Margin, 3rd in Scoring Defense, and 4th in Field Goal Percentage Defense. However, on offense, Wake Forest is last in 3-Point Field Goal Percentage and 11th in both Field Goal Percentage and Free Throw Percentage. Wake cannot afford for the game to turn into a high paced scoring affair as they will not be able to match Duke's offensive firepower.

The match-up between freshmen phenoms Singler and Johnson just might be the key to this game and keeping their top freshman out of foul trouble and on the court will be a key objective of the coaches. Wake's Johnson has fouled out of four contest this season and averages three fouls per game, while Duke's Singler has fouled out of two games and averages three fouls per game. Johnson has fouled out of two of Wake's last three games so look for Duke to go straight at Johnson in an attempt to pressure him into bad decisions.

My prediction: Duke 82 - Wake Forest 71.