Shane Hulsey, Sports Writer
QUINCY — The Quincy High School girls soccer team looked poised to take the lead, but Ava Turner had other ideas. With Quincy and Hannibal deadlocked at 1 with 24:11 left in the second half of Friday’s QHS Kickoff Tournament game at Flinn Stadium, Quincy junior forward Lanee Schuette stepped to the penalty spot after…
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PALMYRA, Mo. — Justin Hutchings hails from Minooka, Ill., just southwest of Joliet and about four hours away from Palmyra, and he has lived in Charleston, Mo., also four hours away from Palmyra, for the last 14 years. But in a way, the new Palmyra High School head football coach is returning home. Hutchings, who…
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CARTHAGE, Ill. — Nick Bruns did not think his first career walk-off hit was meant to be. “I thought it was foul off the bat,” Bruns said. Stephen Sparks initially believed the same thing. “I thought it was definitely foul,” Sparks said. Thankfully for Bruns, Sparks and the Illini West baseball team, those inclinations were…
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QUINCY — Talk about a grand entrance. After the Pittsfield softball team’s first three batters of Monday’s game against Quincy High School reached base, Saukees sophomore pitcher and cleanup hitter Emma Wombles jumped on the first pitch she saw from Blue Devils hurler Carlee Gilker and hit a towering grand slam to left field. “It…
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QUINCY — Bradi Lahr had no doubt Abram Wiewel would make the play. “It’s Abram Wiewel,” said Lahr, a junior right-handed pitcher for the Quincy Notre Dame baseball team. “He’s the best ballplayer I’ve been on a team with. I had trust in him the whole time.” With the Raiders leading Quincy High School 5-4,…
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LIBERTY, Ill. — Luckily for Liberty senior right-handed pitcher Jack Sparrow, his bullpen session before Friday’s start against Winchester West Central was not a harbinger of things to come. “My warmups weren’t very good,” Sparrow said. “With the wind, it was knocking me everywhere. (Liberty catcher Evan Sims) had to go run after one that…
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QUINCY — Madalyn Boyer used to fear facing Caitlin Bunte. “I’ve always struggled hitting off of her,” Boyer said. “Everybody struggles hitting off of her.” Now there is no need to fear. Boyer, a senior pitcher and third baseman who transferred from Illini West to Quincy Notre Dame prior to this school year, will combine…
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QUINCY — A mix of young talent and veteran leadership will shape the success of Quincy Notre Dame’s collection of teams this spring. Baseball A young, speedy QND baseball team will take the field for the first time at the QHS Slam on Saturday against Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin and Quincy High School at QU Stadium.…
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QUINCY — As mangled as his right shoulder was, Kade Parkhill’s determination to get back on the baseball field far outweighed the pain. “I’ve grown up in baseball,” Parkhill said. “It’s filled up all my summers growing up. It’s filled up my past five years of spring and fall with junior high. It’s the game…
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QUINCY — Spring will be a season of change for the Quincy High School athletic program. Several teams have experienced heavy graduation losses and will look to younger athletes to fill the void, while a coaching change comes with having an experienced group to lean on. The storylines are just beginning to unfold. Softball The…
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Sisters act: Three sets of siblings provide Hannibal girls soccer team with depth, deeper connection
HANNIBAL, Mo. — From kicking the ball around on the field at halftime of their older siblings’ games to playing together on the same team on that same field, Aly and Marissa Falconer’s soccer journey has come full circle. The youngest two of five siblings, Aly and Marissa attended their fare share of Hannibal soccer…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — New standards for spring success were reached last year throughout the Hannibal High School athletic department with the baseball team winning the most single-season games in program history and Quinn Thomas winning his second state golf championship. What’s in store this spring? The chance for more history exists. Here’s a look at…
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QUINCY — Isaiah Fudge senses the Quincy University baseball team is close to turning a corner. “We know we have it in us,” said Fudge, a sophomore infielder. Quincy’s battles with Central Missouri, the No. 3 team in the NCBWA poll, on Friday provided Fudge with his most recent pieces of evidence. The Hawks had…
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COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Canton boys basketball team was eight minutes away from glory. They just could not keep the monster under the bed long enough. Canton led top-ranked Eugene 49-45 entering the fourth quarter of Thursday’s Class 2 state championship game at Mizzou Arena, but back-to-back impact plays by Eagles senior guard Justice Allen…
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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Preston Brewer’s final words were heartfelt. “Thank you, Canton,” he said. That’s how the Canton boys basketball team’s senior all-state forward ended his final interview, which took place in the tunnel looking out into a then-mostly empty Mizzou Arena after Canton’s 72-61 loss to Eugene in Thursday’s Class 2 state championship game.…
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COLUMBIA, Mo. — How much of an advantage did the Canton boys basketball team have on the interior during Wednesday’s Class 2 semifinal game against Puxico? “A lot,” Tigers coach Dalton Armontrout said. As the game progressed, that edge became more and more apparent. All the Tigers had to do was recognize it. “We did…
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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Preston Brewer tamed his excitement. As the Canton senior forward exited Wednesday’s Class 2 semifinal game against Puxico for the final time with the Tigers 1:12 away from securing the program’s first ever trip to a state title game, Brewer kept saying to his teammates, “One more.” Brewer did not want to…
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CANTON, Mo. — Whatever you want to call it — superstition, continuity, routine — it has worked. The Canton boys basketball team hasn’t changed anything about its approach, from the pregame meal to coach Dalton Armontrout’s outfit to the mode of transportation, during its run to the Class 2 state semifinals. “It’s important just to…
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NORMAL, Ill. — It was not the happy ending Sage Stratton had envisioned, but even as the tears streamed down her face as she watched the Washington girls basketball team celebrate Friday night’s 60-51 victory over Quincy Notre Dame in the Class 3A third-place game at CEFCU Arena, the QND senior guard had no qualms…
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NORMAL, Ill. — Eric Orne is still not numb to the feeling. “You still get chills when you walk through the tunnel,” Orne said. That tunnel leads you into CEFCU Arena, the home of the IHSA state basketball tournament, a destination Orne has reached nine times in 23 seasons as the Quincy Notre Dame girls…
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NORMAL, Ill. — In a game of punch-counterpunch, Lombard Montini’s return blows proved too powerful for the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team to recover from. The silver lining for QND is a chance for atonement on Friday. The Raiders took a 26-20 lead on a Jenna Durst 3-pointer with 4:41 left in the third…
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NORMAL, Ill. — CEFCU Arena has become quite the familiar place for Sage Stratton, but the significance of playing in three state tournaments in four years is not lost on the Quincy Notre Dame senior guard. “I wish everybody could have this experience,” said Stratton, who helped the Raiders win a Class 2A state championship…
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WHITE HALL, Ill. — As the minutes ticked off the clock and the goose egg stayed on the scoreboard, the frustration for Jackson McNeff and the Brown County boys basketball team continued to mount. “It just felt like we couldn’t shoot the ball in the ocean,” said McNeff, a sophomore forward. For the first 9…
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WHITE HALL, Ill. — An abrupt ending to a resurgent season did not prevent Brown County boys basketball coach Jeff Bottorff or his players from recognizing what they accomplished. When Bottorff addressed his team in the locker room following the Hornets’ 59-40 loss to Edwardsville Metro-East Lutheran in Wednesday’s Class 1A North Greene Sectional semifinal,…
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CLARKSVILLE, Mo. — Having played for the Canton girls basketball team in the 2000s and coached the Tigers for the last 10 seasons, Danielle Baker knows how much of a perennial power Clopton has been for the better part of the last two decades. “Even when I was in high school, it was either you…
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VANDALIA, Ill. — Same opponent, same round, same gym, and unfortunately for the Central-Southeastern girls basketball team, the same result. Nashville ended the Panthers’ postseason journey one step shy of a trip to the state tournament for the second straight season, winning 58-41 in the Class 2A Vandalia Super-Sectional in the Vandalia High School gym.…
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VANDALIA, Ill. — A tear never visibly rolled down Matt Long’s face, but the makings of one welled up in his eyes when he was asked about his 32 seasons as the Camp Point Central and Central-Southeastern girls basketball coach. “I think it’s uncommon these days that people are patient enough to give you that…
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BELLEVILLE, Ill. — The sea of blue that flooded the Belleville West High School gym made Dom Clay feel like he was at Blue Devil Gym. “It felt like home, for sure,” Clay said. As the Quincy High School boys basketball team kept extending their blistering scoring run to start Friday’s Class 4A Belleville West…
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BELLEVILLE, Ill. — When the Quincy High School boys basketball team breaks their huddle with shouts of ‘Family,’ that is no coincidence. “It’s a testament to what they’ve built over the years,” Blue Devils coach Andy Douglas said. “They truly care about each other on the floor, and they care about each other more off…
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CHATHAM, Ill. — In a year’s time, Sage Stratton’s tears turned into a bright smile. “It really feels so amazing coming back and actually winning it,” Stratton said. It being a sectional championship game, which the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team lost to Chatham Glenwood by a single point last season. The Raiders had…
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