Kankakee seventh grade boys to play for third place

The Kankakee Junior High seventh grade basketball team saw its undefeated streak come to an end over the weekend, but the Kays will be back in action Thursday for one more game.

The Kays won their quarterfinal game of the IESA Class 7-4A State Finals 26-20 over Dunlap on Saturday before falling 57-19 to Springfield Lincoln later in the day in the semifinals at East Peoria Junior High.

In the quarterfinal victory, Mashawri Boyd had 12 points to lead the team. Kaiden McElroy scored six points and Mar’Quez Taylor had four.

Saturday evening’s semifinal matchup pitted a pair of undefeated squads against one another, with Lincoln (28-0) handing 19-1 Kankakee its first loss.

Boyd had six points in that semifinal matchup. He was followed in the scoring department by Stanley Turner (five points) and Taylor (four points).

The Kays return to East Peoria to play Matteson Colin Powell (28-1) in the third-place game at 6 p.m.

The eighth graders begin the state quarterfinal round this weekend, with three area teams playing on. In Class 8-3A, Bradley Central (26-0) will face East St. Louis Lincoln at Tolono Unity at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. That’s the same time Milford (20-3) will play Green Valley Midwest Central in Class 8-2A at Bishop McNamara. St. Anne (19-7) will face Cambridge at 10 a.m. Saturday in Class 8-1A at Warrensburg-Latham Middle School.