High school sports news, scores, photos, features and more from Shaw Local
Can Hinsdale Central survive a CPS gauntlet and win a sectional on its home floor? Will Glenbard West paint Champaign green and white again? How much will Benet's home court help in sectionals? And what about Class 3A and 2A? Here are boys basketball playoff storylines to watch.
Can Yorkville Christian make a deep run in Class 1A? Can Sandwich party like it's 1993 again in regionals? Can a Class 4A team reach a regional final? That, and Newark's familiar path are storylines to watch as the boys basketball postseason is set to tip off.
Coal City wrestlers Cooper Morris and Brody Widlowski advanced to the state championship matches in their weight classes and more in Friday's Daily Journal Roundup.
Glenbard West seniors Makenna Yeager and Julia Benjamin combined for 29 points and led the Hilltoppers to a 47-36 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South to claim their first regional championship since 2006 on Friday night.
Marko Stojich came off the bench to score all nine of his points in the fourth quarter, and McHenry's boys basketball team rallied to beat host Huntley 47-44 Friday night and clinch a share of its first Fox Valley Conference championship.
DeKalb jumped out to a 30-19 halftime lead and staved off Waubonsie Valley’s second-half comeback efforts to hand the Warriors their second loss of the season and win a share of the DuPage Valley Conference title.
Montini and IC Catholic Prep each had four wrestlers win Class 2A semifinal matches Friday at the IHSA state wrestling tournament and will wrestle for state championships Saturday night. Lemont's Judah Heeg also advanced to the championship match.
The Seneca girls basketball team beat Manteno 50-34 in the championship game of the Class 2A Beecher Regional on Friday.
Ottawa trailed Rochelle by just two points at halftime, but by the end of the third quarter found themselves behind by 22 in an eventual 67-55 loss Friday in the Hub City.
Coal City used strong defense in the first half and hot shooting in the third quarter to get its 20th win in a 56-25 victory over Gardner-South Wilmington.
IC Catholic Prep captured its third regional championship in four years with a 45-21 win against Timothy Christian on Friday in the Class 2A IC Catholic Prep Regional final in Elmhurst.
The Marquette boys basketball team, led by 36 points from Alec Novotney, topped Seneca 57-51 in overtime to finish out the Tri-County Conference and regular seasons at Bader Gymnasium on Friday night.
Led by Kaiden Taylor's 18 points, all seven McNamara seniors scored in the final home game of their careers, a blowout win over Epic Academy.
Downers Grove co-op's Genevieve Herion added to her long list of accomplishments while putting the Trostangs in wonderful position to win a state championship. The senior won the all-around Friday, and her team scored a school-record 148.45 points at the state meet.
Newman's Briar Ivey will wrestle for the 157-pound state title on Saturday as the Comets, Erie-Prophetstown, Oregon and Sterling each have wrestlers remaining. Eastland's Peyton Spears eclipsed 1,000 points and Sterling's Sarah Doughty is in 20th at State bowling.
Kaneland sophomore guard Amani Meeks scored a career-high 20 points, and the Knights held off a hot-shooting Laken LePage and Crystal Lake South for a 60-47 win and their second straight regional championship Friday night.
Sophomore Sydney Dodd scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the first half and also grabbed nine rebounds with six steals, and Bolingbrook broke open its game with Yorkville in the second quarter and went on to a 58-34 win in the Class 4A Metea Valley Regional final.
Marmion's Nicholas Garcia and Zach Stewart, along with St. Charles East's Dom Munaretto, all advanced to their respective championship matches, while four others secured their spot in the medal matches during Day 2 of the IHSA boys wrestling individual state finals.
Crystal Lake South senior guard AJ Demirov set a career high with 43 points, including 30 in the second half, and the Gators battled back to beat Hampshire 77-53 Friday and earn a share of the Fox Valley Conference title.
The postseason for boys basketball begins Monday. Here are the top storylines to watch for teams in the Northwest Herald area.
Ady Fanta hit two big 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter, allowing Downers Grove North to gain separation in an eventual 39-31 win over Plainfield North in the Class 4A Plainfield North Regional final.
Coal City's Cooper Morris, Brody Widlowski, Aidan Kenney and John Keigher are the area's four boys wrestling state semifinalists and more in Thursday's Daily Journal roundup.
Lyons girls basketball won a regional title for its program record 31st win, Nazareth, Montini and Glenbard South all rolled to regional titles and IC Catholic Prep and Montini advanced multiple wrestlers to Friday's state semifinals.
The Watseka-Milford girls basketball team beat Hoopeston Thursday to win the IHSA Class 2A Watseka Regional, the fourth regional championship in a row for the Warriors.
Kankakee opened the fourth quarter of its Class 3A Regional championship against Ottawa with a fury, but eventually saw its regional three-peat denied in overtime Thursday.
Oregon girls basketball was proud of its progress after reaching its first regional final since 2014. State boys wrestling and boys basketball was also in action in Thursday's Sauk Valley roundup
After Kankakee's furious rally to open the fourth quarter put the Kays in the driver's seat of Thursday's Class 3A Kankakee Regional championship, Ottawa came back to force overtime, snapping a 13-year regional drought in the extra frame.
Senior Leah Grace had a game-high 23 points to lead Reed-Custer to a 51-42 win over Joliet Catholic to capture the Class 2A Coal City Regional title, the first regional crown for the program since 2005-06.
Danielle Bulson scored 17 points and Payton Wallin 16, and Yorkville Christian beat Serena 48-41 in the Class 1A Indian Creek Regional final for the first regional championship in the history of the program.
Ruby Macke had 34 points and 12 rebounds, and Crystal Lake Central's girls basketball team beat host Burlington Central 54-38 Thursday night to capture a Class 3A regional championship.
Sara Abdul led all players with 23 points, six steals and five assists, and Wheaton North continued its surge in the second half of the season with a 52-45 win over St. Charles North in Thursday's regional final.
Dixon was efficient on offense and smothering on defense Thursday night, defeating Boylan 50-20 in the Class 3A Freeport Regional final to take home its second title in as many years.
Eighteen Kane County-area wrestlers advanced to the semifinals of the IHSA individual state tournament, while 12 more fell to the consolation bracket at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. on Thursday.
Benet's Ava Mersinger and Ava Thomas limited Naperville North star guard Natalie Frempong to six points, and the top-seeded Redwings overwhelmed the Huskies 64-13 for Benet's 11th straight regional title.
Batavia used a combination of lockdown defense and the hot shooting from behind the arc of seniors Kaidyn King and Natalie Warner to get a 50-32 victory over York for their fourth straight regional title.
Huntley‘s already historic season turned a little more special Thursday night following a convincing 56-25 victory against Rockford Auburn in the Class 4A Rockford Jefferson Regional final. "We still have another whole level we can reach.”
Kennedy Manning and Ellie Mjaanes each scored 17 points, and Cary-Grove used a stifling defense and consistent offense to beat Lake Forest 49-34 for the Class 3A Cary-Grove Regional title.
St. Charles East used a 10-0 second-quarter run to regain the lead and fought off a determined Lake Park team over the final two quarters for a 44-22 win in the Class 4A Willowbrook Regional final.
Here are the Kane County-area qualifiers for the IHSA individual state wrestling meet.
St. Charles East senior Anthony Gutierrez won the 165-pound championship at the Class 3A Conant Sectional, winning all of his matches either by fall or tech fall. Gutierrez was selected as the Kane County Chronicle Athlete of the Week in an online vote.
The boys basketball season postseason kicks off locally Monday with Indian Creek, Hiawatha and Genoa-Kingston opening with first-round regional games before semifinals Wednesday. Here are five things to keep an eye on as the postseason gets underway.
Mason Schweizer previews the local boys basketball scene ahead of regional play, which begins with quarterfinal action Monday.
Here are the Suburban Life-area qualifiers for the IHSA individual state wrestling meet.
Jaxon Lane has already checked off one item of unfinished business in his athletic calendar this school year. Two more to go. The Montini senior, who lost in the blood round at state last year, is one of 10 Broncos' qualifiers at this weekend's state meet in Champaign.
Is this the year Bolingbrook breaks through? Which Plainfield South will show up? This and more things to keep an eye on in the Herald-News area for boy's basketball.
Plano senior Richie Amakiri is part of a special senior group that helped lead the Reapers to a 29-4 dual meet season. Now he's set to make his state debut, among three Plano wrestlers at state and 15 total Kendall County area wrestlers in Champaign.
Rock Falls senior basketball player Ryken Howard, who has been one of the top producers for the 21-win Rockets, is the Sauk Valley Athlete of the Week in an online vote. Here is his Q&A with sports reporter Drake Lansman.
Here are the Record Newspapers-area qualifiers for the IHSA individual state wrestling meet.
The Peotone boys basketball team beat Herscher in the Illinois Central Eight Conference finale for both teams, and Gardner-South Wilmington fell to Dwight.