Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
For the better part of six decades, small-school boys basketball teams from West Central Illinois had their state tournament aspirations hit an inevitable roadblock. They simply couldn’t circumvent the city schools. Whether that foe came from Quincy, Galesburg or Springfield, there was a program with a larger enrollment, more resources and a history of postseason…
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Boys Basketball At Blue Devil Gym, Quincy Quincy High School 64, Batavia 61. Click here for the story. At The Pit, Quincy Quincy Notre Dame 51, Hannibal 38. Click here for the story and photo gallery. At Monroe City, Mo. 97th annual Monroe City Tournament Monroe City 77, Highland 36: The top-seeded Panthers won their…
Read Full Article RIVERTON, Ill. — One undefeated team was going to be denied the chance to play for a state championship The Quincy Junior High School eighth grade girls basketball team made sure it wasn’t the one. The Comets held Lake Zurich North to four points in the second quarter and single digits in all four quarters…
Read Full Article AUBURN, Ill. — Less than a second away from heading to overtime to decide the Class 3A seventh grade girls basketball state championship, Eureka drew a foul and needed just one free throw to secure the title. Mya Edwards went ahead and made all three. The Hornets guard was fouled on a 3-point attempt with…
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QUINCY — Add another tally to the Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball program’s victory total. And much like many of the 1,500 victories celebrated in a pregame ceremony Saturday night at the Pit, this one took quite a bit of moxie. The Raiders overcame 9-of-20 shooting from the free-throw line and an off-kilter effort in…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — A record-setting offense and an undefeated run to an appearance in the state championship game landed the Hannibal football team with a plethora of Class 4 all-state honors from the Missouri Football Coaches Association. The Pirates had three players receive first-team honors and eight players mentioned overall. The MOFBCA honors three teams…
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MONROE CITY, Mo. — Ceaton Pennewell was named the Class 1 Defensive Player of the Year by the Missouri Football Coaches Association and led a collection of area players receiving all-state honors at the small-school level. The Monroe City junior linebacker was a first-team all-state selection and one of five Panthers to receive plaudits. Overall,…
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QUINCY — The boys basketball title chase in the Western Big 6 Conference has a clear favorite and a surprising contender, and the league slate hasn’t reached Christmas yet. Rock Island established itself as the team to beat, going to Moline’s Wharton Field House on Friday night and winning a battle of unbeatens with its…
Read Full Article Boys Basketball At Blue Devil Gym, Quincy Quincy High School 68, Sterling 40. Click here for the story, video interview and photo gallery. At Concord, Ill. Liberty 47, Triopia 43: J.T. Tenhouse scored a game-high 19 points and Breiton Klingele added 14 as the Eagles, ranked seventh in Class 1A, improved to 6-1. At Mendon,…
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QUINCY — Each milestone Jeremiah Talton reaches and record he breaks serves as incentive for his younger teammates to shoot to surpass him. It won’t be easy. One game after becoming the 22nd player in the history of the Quincy High School boys basketball program to score 1,000 career points, the 6-foot-6 swingman reached another…
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This weekend’s prep basketball slate will be highlighted by a return to Blue Devil Gym for a Western Big 6 Conference matchup, the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association celebrating a milestone victory, the No. 2 team in the state in action and champions being crowned in Monroe City in one of the oldest tournaments anywhere. Here…
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Girls Basketball At the Pit, Quincy Quincy Notre Dame 59, Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 29. Click here for the story and photo gallery. At Thiel Gym, Galesburg, Ill. Quincy High School 46, Galesburg 37: The Blue Devils limited the Silver Streaks to one field goal and four points in the first quarter and no field goals…
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QUINCY — Blair Eftink started it with a 1-2 punch. Abbey Schreake followed with a couple of haymakers. And the knockout blow came from the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team’s in-your-face defense that befuddled Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin’s backcourt Thursday night at the Pit. Eftink’s layup off the opening tip and 3-pointer on the Raiders’…
Read Full Article AUGUSTA, Ill. — Ramsey Fry woke up Wednesday morning searching for energy. “Oh, my goodness, my whole body was exhausted,” he said. “I could barely move.” Cannen Wolf felt the same way as he left the gym the night before. “I’ve never been that exhausted after a game or while I was in a game,”…
Read Full Article Boys Basketball At Monroe City, Mo. 97th annual Monroe City Tournament Highland 70, Louisiana 56: Cameron Bringer scored 10 of his game-high 24 points in the first quarter as the second-seeded Cougars outscored the Bulldogs 20-8 in the frame and propelled themselves to a spot in Saturday’s championship game. Alex Meyer added 20 points and…
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The Quincy Junior High School eighth grade girls basketball team led a trio of teams advancing the Illinois Elementary School Association state tournaments by winning sectional championships Wednesday night. Nauvoo-Colusa and Mendon Unity also advanced to the eight-team state tournament in Class 2A. QJHS is in the Class 4A bracket. The Comets beat Alton 24-18…
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AUGUSTA, Ill. — The final 3-pointer Cannen Wolf made in regulation Tuesday night would have been considered one of the most impactful shots of the early portion of the boys basketball season. He made another trey just as meaningful moments later. In a showdown with Southeastern on Tuesday night — both teams were ranked in…
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CAMP POINT, Ill. — A position change is allowing Breyhar Wiskirchen the comfort to carry the Central boys basketball team to success, just like he did last Friday night. The junior guard scored 22 points, including 15 in the second half, as the Panthers went on the road and upset state-ranked Liberty 57-53. The Panthers…
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Boys Basketball At Don Morris Gym, Rock Island, Ill. Quincy High School 100, Alleman 30. Click here for the story. At Augusta, Ill. Liberty 71, Southeastern 67: In a battle of state-ranked teams, both of whom were playing without key players, the Eagles outlasted the Suns in four overtimes as Cannen Wolf scored 25 points,…
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ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — A milestone moment came with a highlight reel dunk and one of the most lopsided victories in the history of the Quincy High School boys basketball program. Still, the victory and the ability to rebound from the first loss of the season mattered most. On a night when Jeremiah Talton became…
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Girls Basketball At Carthage, Ill. Illini West 51, Central-Southeastern 36: A two-point halftime advantage ballooned to a 13-point lead as the Chargers held the Panthers to just six third-quarter points. Cadee Kirkham made three 3-pointers and scored 15 of her game-high 22 points for Illini West in the 17-6 run in the third quarter. Rylee…
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Graham Spraker reinvented himself as a pitcher and could find himself pitching in the Toronto Blue Jays’ bullpen in the near future. The former Quincy University right-hander, who was a 31st round draft pick of the Blue Jays in 2017 after leading the Hawks to the NCAA Division II World Series, is coming off an…
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QUINCY — A legendary Quincy newspaperman, a Carthage radio voice and an all-stater from Warsaw are among the inductees in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class of 2022, the association announced Monday. Former Quincy Herald-Whig sports editor and executive editor Don Crim will join Keith Yex in being inducted into the media…
Read Full Article Boys Basketball At Trout Gym, Centralia, Ill. Centralia 51, Quincy High School 42. Click here for the story. At Macomb, Ill. Quincy Notre Dame vs. Macomb was postponed for precautionary reasons. No makeup date has been set. At Kirksville, Mo. Kirksville 57, Monroe City 54: The No. 1-ranked team in Class 3 was limited to…
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MENDON, Ill. — A game-opening 17-3 run tends to break a lot of team’s spirit. The Unity girls basketball team refused to be broken, and that nearly led to a comeback for the ages. Then came the realization Abbey Schreacke is wearing a Quincy Notre Dame uniform. Having watched the Mustangs whittle the deficit to…
Read Full Article Prep Football Class 4 state championship At Faurot Field, Columbia, Mo. Smithville 31, Hannibal 0: Click here for the story and photo gallery. Boys Basketball At the Panther Den, East Moline, Ill. Quincy High School 70, United Township 39. Click here for the story and photo gallery. At the Pit, Quincy Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 66,…
Read Full Article Men’s Basketball At Hyland Arena, St. Charles, Mo. Lindenwood 91, Quincy University 87. Click here for the story. Women’s Basketball At Hyland Arena, St. Charles, Mo. Lindenwood 69, Quincy University 60: The Hawks’ struggles offensively through the first three quarters led to the Great Lakes Valley Conference loss. Quincy shot 33.3 percent from the field…
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ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Having seen its second-half lead evaporate, be regained and nearly vanish again, all the Quincy University men’s basketball team needed was one defensive stop to steal a Great Lakes Valley Conference road victory. A carom, a whistle and two free throws negated that. Lindenwood took advantage of its second chance. After…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — To achieve everything the Hannibal football team already has and could more potentially come Friday, one thing needed to be clear from the start. You just gotta believe. The Pirates had it in their heads they could be a state championship-caliber crew before taking a snap. “I think it came the first…
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Here are the Illinois girls prep basketball polls with rank, team, first-place votes, record and total points. Class 4A School W-L Pts 1. Hersey (3) 5-1 48 2. Bolingbrook (2) 3-1 46 3. Edwardsville 3-1 38 4. Loyola 5-0 37 5. Benet 3-0 32 6. Kenwood 3-0 22 7. Homewood-Flossmoor 3-0 18 8. Normal Community…
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