Coal City's Aidan Kenney, Brock Finch and Cade Poyner and Wilmington's Logan Van Duyne will all wrestle for state titles after winning their semifinal matches and more in Friday's Daily Journal roundup.

Clifton Central fell to Roanoke-Benson 49-25 in the IHSA Class 2A Clifton Central Regional championship game, ending its winningest season in nine years, and more in Thursday's Daily Journal roundup.

The Panthers bested Peotone, the Comets avenged multiple losses to Tri-Point and Cissna Park got past Hoopeston. Iroquois West's Amelia Scharp reached 1,000 career points in her final game, and more in Monday's Daily Journal roundup.

Clifton-Central's Payton Temple was crowned sectional champion and will be joined at state by Bradley-Bourbonnais Sophia Domont. The Boilers' Kayden Roach is also state-bound on the boys side, girls regional basketball action began and more in Saturday's Daily Journal roundup.

Coal City became the only team in Illinois to have all 14 wrestlers punch their tickets to the state finals, while seven more area teams had 12 additional wrestlers advance out of the IHSA Class 1A Coal City Sectional.

St. Anne secured its second straight River Valley Conference Tournament title with a 60-49 win over Clifton Central in Friday's championship game, which also clinched a second straight unbeaten RVC season for the Cardinals.

St. Anne defeated Clifton Central 60-49 in the River Valley Conference Tournament title game on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.

When Henry Hines left his role of Clifton Central girls basketball coach more than a decade ago, he never thought he'd return to the bench. But that's exactly where he's found himself this season, and he couldn't be happier.

Tri-Point downed Clifton Central 51-31 in Thursday's River Valley Conference Tournament championship game, picking up its third win of the season over the Comets and wrapping a second straight season without a loss to an RVC opponent.

Clifton Central held on for a 54-53 win at Gardner-South Wilmington in the River Valley Conference Tournament semifinals Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026.

Blake Chandler's tie-breaking free throw with three seconds left ahead of a would-be game-winning buzzer-beater from Cooper Biros that swirled in and out allowed Clifton Central to top Gardner-South Wilmington 54-53 in a thrilling River Valley Conference Tournament semifinal.

Iroquois West outlasted St. Joseph-Ogden on the road for its sixth straight win, Wilmington upset Manteno in its Illinois Central Eight Conference finale and more in Monday's Daily Journal roundup.

Bradley-Bourbonnais tied for second in the co-ed division at the IHSA Competitive Cheer State Finals, Clifton Central/Iroquois West's Payton Temple won the 170-pound title at the Normal Community West Regional and more in Saturday's Daily Journal roundup.

Grant Park's Taylor Panozzo recorded a unique triple double in a win over Gardner-South Wilmington, Watseka/Milford's Christa Holohan and Reed-Custer's Alyssa Wollenzein each hit 1,000 career points and more in Thursday's Daily Journal roundup.

Two games after setting the program's career scoring record, Cissna Park's Addison Lucht became the first player in school history to reach 2,000 career points during her 28-point effort in Wednesday's 65-26 win over Clifton Central.

The Cissna Park girls basketball team saw its winning streak grow to nine games with a 65-26 win over Clifton Central at home on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.

The Bradley-Bourbonnais boys basketball team snapped an 11-game losing streak with its first conference win, the Kankakee girls blew out Thornwood to secure a 20-win season and more in Wednesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Kankakee clinched the Southland Athletic Conference title outright with a 20-point road win over Crete-Monee, its 15th win in a row, and more in Tuesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Bishop McNamara's Trinitee Thompson helped the Irish to a win at Marian Central, Ava Johnson and Malea Harrison powered Kankakee over Morgan Park and more in Monday's Daily Journal roundup.

Coal City had 11 wrestlers place first and all 14 advance to sectionals in a dominant Class 1A Coal City Regional performance, Kankakee advanced six wrestlers out of the 2A Oak Forest Regional and more in Saturday's Daily Journal roundup.

Reed-Custer beat Illinois Central Eight Conference opponent Coal City for its seventh straight win, Milford downed Schlarman in an overtime Vermilion Valley Conference thriller, and more in Friday's Daily Journal roundup.

St. Anne beat Tri-Point 66-30 to clinch an unbeaten River Valley Conference season, Kankakee beat Bloom 67-47 to improve to 8-0 in Southland Athletic Conference play and more in Tuesdays' Daily Journal roundup.

St. Anne made it eight straight wins in boys basketball, Coal City wrestling stayed perfect on the season and more in Thursday's Daily Journal roundup.

Kankakee had four players score between 14 and 20 points in a conference win over Thornridge, its 11th in a row overall, and more in Tuesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Reed-Custer hosted over 25 teams across the region for its Comet Classic Wrestling Invite on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026.

Reed-Custer hosted the Comet Classic Invite on Friday and Saturday, where 28 teams from across the state got a vital tuneup for the upcoming postseason.

Bradley-Bourbonnais' boys bowling team advanced through the IHSA LaSalle-Peru Regional, as did Kankakee's Carson Meister and Reed-Custer's Mason Vasil. That and more in Friday's Daily Journal roundup.

Watseka/Milford, Cissna Park and Iroquois West, three of the top four girls basketball teams in the Vermilion Valley Conference, continued their hot stretches of play and more in Thursday's Daily Journal roundup.

Five Kankakee players scored in double figures as the Kays picked up a 59-51 Southland Athletic Conference win over Rich Township and more in Tuesday's Daily Journal roundup.

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.