FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23 SPORTS ROUNDUP
BOYS BASKETBALL
IHSA PLAYOFFS – REGIONAL FINALS
CLASS 1A
In Friday night’s IHSA regional finals, in Class 1A, at Madison, the host Trojans won over Metro-East Lutheran 50-44 to advance to the White Hall North Greene sectional next week.
The Trojans are now 17-11, and move on to play Winchester West Central, who won the Liberty regional over Franklin South County 46-32, in the first semifinal Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Knights end the season 8-20.
In the Carrollton final, Hardin Calhoun-Brussels defeated the host Hawks 54-43 to move on to North Greene, and will play against Springfield Calvary, who won over Jacksonville Routt Catholic in the New Berlin final 60-53, on Wednesday, with the tip-off also coming at 7 p.m. The sectional final takes place Mar. 1 at 7 p.m.
The Warriors are now 22-11, while Carrollton concludes its season at 14-16.
CLASS 2A
In the final of the Roxana regional, Marquette Catholic took a 46-43 win over the host Shells to advance to the Beardstown sectional.
The Explorers are now 25-8, and meets Pleasant Plains, who won the Warsaw regional over the host Titans 64-60, Tuesday at 7 p.m. The second semifinal will be on Wednesday, also at 7 p.m., between Auburn, who defeated Greenville 54-42 to win the Virden North Mac regional, and Williamsville, who won the Athens regional over Riverton 59-42. The two winners meet Mar. 1 in the final, which tips off at 7 p.m.
The Shells finish up at 20-13.
CLASS 3A
EAST ST. LOUIS 58, TRIAD 39: In the Jersey regional final at Havens Gym, East St. Louis had the lead from start to finish in defeating Triad and advancing to the sectional.
The Flyers held the lead all the way through, with advantages of 8-4, 24-15, and 44-22 after the first three quarters, with the Knights outscoring East Side 17-14 in the final quarter.
Drew Winslow led Triad with 18 points, while Tyler Thompson added 11 points, Ethan Stewart came up with seven points, Landon Zawodniak scored two points, and Brody Hasquin hit for a single point.
The Flyers are now 20-12, and will meet Mt. Vernon, who won the Charleston regional 40-37 over Olney Richland County, in the second semifinal Wednesday night at Triad’s Rich Mason Gym, with a 7 p.m. start. The Knights end their season 21-11.
In the final of the Freeburg regional, Highland got past Mascoutah 47-45. The Bulldogs are now 21-12, and also advance to the Triad sectional. They’ll plat in the first semifinal Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Rich Mason Gym against Centralia, who won the Marion regional over the host Wildcats 42-36. The Indians end their season at 20-12.
CLASS 4A
QUINCY 49, O’FALLON 42: In the final of the Edwardsville Regional, second-seeded Quincy rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat O’Fallon and move on to the sectional.
The Blue Devils led after the first quarter 13-12, but the Panthers came back to take the lead at halftime 23-19. Quincy came back in the third, but trailed 35-33, outscoring O’Fallon in the fourth quarter 17-7 to take the win and regional title.
Rini Harris led the Panthers with 20 points, while Jaeden Rush added 12 points, Will Brown, Jr. had six points, Eric Swartz scored three points, and Eddy Jackson had a single point.
The Blue Devils go to 30-2 on the year, and will meet Belleville West, who won a 58-56 double overtime thriller over Collinsville in the final of the Granite City regional, Tuesday night in the Pekin sectional neutral site game at the OTHS Panther Dome in a 7 p.m. tip-off. The winner meets the other semifinal winner, either Normal Community, who won their own regional over Rock Island 62-46, or Moline, who defeated Bradley Bourbonnais 52-51 to win the East Moline United regional, in Friday’s final at Pekin’s Dawdy Hawkins Gym, with the game starting at 7 p.m.
The Panthers finish the season at 21-11, while the Maroons go to 19-13, and the Kahoks end their season 28-5.
MVCHA HOCKEY PLAYOFFS — DIVISION SEMIFINALS
In the third and deciding games of the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association divisional semifinals Thursday night at the McKendree Metro Rec-Plex in O’Fallon, in Class 1A, Triad edged Alton 3-2 to win their series 2-1, while in Class 2A, the host Panthers won over Belleville 7-3, winning their series 2-1.
In the Class 1A final, which is also a best-of-three series, the Knights meet Freeburg/Waterloo at East Alton Ice Arena in game one Monday night in an 8 p.m. face-off. Game two is set for Tuesday night, also at East Alton in another 8 p.m. start, and if game three is needed, it’ll take place on Thursday night, Feb. 29, at the McKendree Rec-Plex at 7:30 p.m.
In the Class 2A final, O’Fallon meets Edwardsville for the championship, starting Monday at RP Lumber Center in a 7:30 p.m. face-off, with game two Tuesday night at the McKendree Rec-Plex, also starting at 7:30 p.m. If a third and deciding game is needed, it’ll be played on Feb. 29 at RP Lumber Center, with the opening face-off coming at 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24 SPORTS ROUNDUP
BOYS WRESTLING
IHSA STATE DUAL MEET FINALS
ROXANA LOSES IN SEMIFINAL TO WOODSTOCK MARIAN CATHOLIC, BOUNCES BACK TO TAKE THIRD PLACE: The Roxana boys wrestling team finished third in the IHSA Class 1A state dual meet finals. losing in the semifinals to Woodstock Marian Catholic 41-26, but bounced back in the third place meet to defeat Vandalia 44-27.
Against the Hurricanes in the semifinal meet, Lleyton Cobine at 120 pounds won by fall at 36 seconds, Brandon Green, Jr. also won by fall at 132 pounds at 1:26, Trevor Gihring won the 144 pound bout 10-4, Braden Johnson won at 150 pounds by technical superiority 20-5, and James Herring won the 285 pound match by fall at 13 seconds.
In the third place meet win over the Vandals, Lleyton Cobine won the 120-pound match by fall at 2:48, Logan Riggs took the 126-pound match in a tiebreak 14-12, Green won by fall at 132 pounds at 5:52, Bryan Rodriguez won by fall at 150 pounds at 2:34, Johnson made it three pins in a row at 157 pounds, winning at 41 seconds, Lyndon Theis won the 165-pound match by technical superiority 16-1, Elias Theis won at 175 pounds 9-7 in sudden death overtime, Donald Battles took a 13-8 win in the 215 pound bout, and Herring won at 285 pounds by fall at 1:24 to finish the meet.
In the other semifinal in Class 1A, Coal City won over Vandalia 42-22, and in the final, Marian won over the Coalers 34-27.
In Class 2A, in the semifinals, Washington won over Chicago Brother Rice Catholic 51-21, while Lombard Montini Catholic defeated Chatham Glenwood 46-22. The third place meet went to the Titans over the Crusaders 57-17, while the Panthers won the state championship with a 30-28 win over the Broncos.
The Class 3A semifinals saw Chicago Mt. Carmel Catholic defeat St. Charles East 35-30, and Yorkville win over Libertyville 36-20. In the third place meet, the Saints won over the Wildcats 37-22, and in the final, the Caravan won the championship over the Foxes 59-6.
