Coal City's banner season on the mats continued at the Princeton Invitational and more in Saturday's Daily Journal roundup.

Watseka/Milford beat Clifton Central 60-49 on Saturday, getting 31 points from Christa Holohan and outscoring the Comets 22-3 in the third quarter to improve to 13-2 on the year.

Watseka-Milford tallied a 60-49 victory over Clifton Central on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.

Gardner-South Wilmington bested Momence while St. Anne put away Beecher to keep both boys basketball teams tied atop the River Valley Conference. Those games and more in Friday's Daily Journal roundup.

Cissna Park senior Lauryn Hamrick scored 16 points Thursday, surpassing 1,000 for her career and helping lead the Timberwolves to their ninth straight win, and more in Thursday's Daily Journal roundup.

Watseka and Clifton Central's girls basketball teams put up strong defensive performances in home wins, holding their opponents to 22 and 21 points respectively, and more in Wednesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Host St. Anne held off Clifton Central during a River Valley Conference boys basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026.

Host St. Anne took an early 18-4 lead, and although Clifton Central recovered to tie things up multiple times in the second half, the Cardinals prevailed in Tuesday's River Valley Conference boys basketball thriller.

Eight sports figures with local ties will be part of the Illinois Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026, which will be inducted at the Bank of Springfield Convention Center on July 25.

Coal City's boys wrestling team dominated its way to a first-place finish at Abe's Rumble in Springfield, a pair of local girls wrestlers finished second at the Ottawa Holiday Hootenanny and more in Tuesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Manteno had its hopes of a Kankakee Holiday Tournament blue division three-peat dashed with a 65-52 loss to Christ the King in Sunday's championship game.

The 75th Kankakee Holiday Tournament kicked off Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, with semifinals following on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025.

After Clifton Central's upset bid against blue bracket top seed Christ the King came up a bit short Saturday night, the host Kays closed out the second day of the Kankakee Holiday Tournament by reaching their seventh maroon bracket championship game in the last eight tournaments.

Kankakee earned a blowout win in its Kankakee Holiday Tournament opener in the maroon bracket while Manteno downed rival Peotone 60-49 in the blue bracket, where St. Anne, Clifton Central, Momence and Grant Park also saw tournament action.

Take a look back at some of the top sports stories from the Daily Journal area in 2025.

Four area wrestlers took first place finishes at the Boilermaker Battle, with host Bradley-Bourbonnais also placing second as a team, and more in Monday's Daily Journal roundup.

Lincoln Williams had 29 points and EJ Hazelett added 24 as Kankakee improved to 3-0 in Southland Athletic Conference play with an 82-72 win over Bloom, and more in Friday's Daily Journal roundup.

Manteno's girls basketball team rode big double-doubles from Emily Horath and Maddie Gesky and a 21-point fourth quarter to a 47-26 win over Beecher, and more in Wednesday's Daily Journal Roundup.

Bishop McNamara rode a dominant second half to claim its fifth straight Watseka Holiday Tournament title, and third tournament title so far this season, with a 62-41 win over Clifton Central.

Bishop McNamara pulled ahead to a 62-41 victory over Clifton Central in the Watseka Holiday Tournament championship on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025.

The host Raiders and Wilmington won on the winners' side of the Iroquois West Holiday Hoops bracket, Herscher and Clifton Central won on the consolation side and more in Monday's Daily Journal roundup.

Bishop McNamara and Clifton Central won at the Watseka Holiday Tournament semifinals in boys basketball, the Iroquois West Holiday Hoops Tournament began on the girls side and more in Saturday's Daily Journal roundup.

Take a look at the players selected for the 2025 Daily Journal All-Area Football Team.

Clifton Central boys basketball won its sixth straight game, Watseka and Herscher snapped five-game skids and more in Friday's Daily Journal roundup.

Coal City's Owen Petersen's milestone win was the highlight of an overpowering night on the mats for the Coalers, four local schools won at the Watseka Holiday Tournament and more in Thursday's Daily Journal roundup.

Here are the runners named to the 2025 Daily Journal Boys Cross Country All-Area Team.

The Kays scored their fourth double-digit win and third win by at least 25 points, Peotone won a rivalry tilt with Manteno, Reed-Custer topped Herscher in overtime and more in Tuesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Taylor Panozzo went for 21 points and 18 rebounds to lead Grant Park to a 50-point win, Watseka/Milford held off Iroquois West behind 21 points and 14 boards from Christa Holohan, and more in Monday's Daily Journal roundup.

Kankakee scored a big win at the Chicago Elite Classic, Bishop McNamara won the Toyota of Danville Classic and more in Saturday's Daily Journal roundup.

Here are the players selected for the 2025 Daily Journal Girls Volleyball All-Area Team.

The Bishop McNamara boys basketball team moved to 6-0, Bradley-Bourbonnais was on the wrong side of a one-point final and more in Friday's Daily Journal roundup.

Kankakee's girls pulled away for another mammoth conference win and more in Thursday's Daily Journal roundup.

Trailing by five points entering the fourth quarter, Kankakee rallied for a 45-38 win over Lincoln-Way West on Wednesday, led by 20 points from Ava Johnson, and more in Wednesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Bishop McNamara's girls basketball team improved to 4-2 on the season with a 55-52 win over Pontiac, led by 19 points from Trinitee Thompson, and more in Tuesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Kankakee got a 33-point outburst from Ava Johnson and a total of five scorers in double figures, Manteno began its defense of the Illinois Central Eight Conference with a win, Grace Christian allowed just four points and more in Monday's Daily Journal roundup.

Check out preview capsules for the Daily Journal area's 22 prep boys basketball teams.

Take a look at this year's Daily Journal Boys Soccer All-Area team.

Meet this year's Daily Journal All-Area Girls Golf team.

Take a look at this year's Daily Journal Boys Golf All-Area team.

Bishop McNamara opened the boys basketball season with a win at the Herscher Thanksgiving Tournament, beating the host Tigers 53-36, and more in Tuesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Bradley-Bourbonnais opened the boys basketball season with a win, Manteno's girls took third at the Beecher Fall Classic and more in Monday's Daily Journal roundup.

Cissna Park was a bucket short in the Timberwolf Tip-Off championship, Watseka bested Bishop McNamara for third and more in Saturday's Daily Journal roundup.

Check out preview capsules for the Daily Journal area's 20 prep girls basketball teams.

Cissna Park got 25 points from Addison Lucht and Watseka/Milford got 20 points from Noelle Schroeder, with each player leading their team to comfortable wins in the Timberwolf Tipoff, and more in Wednesday's Daily Journal roundup.

The girls basketball season tipped off in Monday's Daily Journal roundup.

The NUIC and WIVC conference hold five of the eight spots in the 1A quarterfinals, are the two conferences heading toward a state final showdown? Steve Soucie breaks down the quarterfinal round of the 2025 IHSA Class 1A playoffs.

Ranging from the area's biggest school to the smallest, seven Daily Journal area football standouts made IHSFCA All-State teams.

One of the city's most successful seasons came to a collective end, Wilmington and Coal City marched on, and more in this week's Daily Journal 2-Minute Drill.

Dwight scored three touchdowns on offense, two on defense and one on special teams in a 43-14 win over Clifton Central in the IHSA Class 1A second round on Saturday, advancing to quarterfinals for the second season in a row.

Dwight defeated Clifton Central 43-14 in the IHSA Class 1A second round playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025.