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QUINCY — The raucous, creative and comical Quincy High School students who packed the bleachers behind the girls basketball team’s bench Tuesday night need to check their schedules. Their presence is requested at future games. “Tell them to come out there and get me fired up,” Quincy Notre Dame junior guard Blair Eftink said with…
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The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock…
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I was watching TV last night and had just made my hotel reservation in Bloomington-Normal for the 50th anniversary celebration of Title IX at Illinois State University in June. I played softball at ISU and graduated in 1988. I played volleyball, basketball and softball at Quincy Notre Dame and graduated in 1984. I thought about…
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Boys basketball At Bloomington, Ill. Bloomington Central Catholic Shootout Quincy Notre Dame 57, Farmington 43. Quincy Notre Dame 55, Williamsville 39. Click here for the story about both games. At Palmyra, Mo. Tony Lenzini Tournament Palmyra 76, Canton 53: Mason Roberts scored 11 points in the third quarter as the fourth-seeded Panthers outscored the fifth-seeded…
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QUINCY — Deflated. There is no better word to describe the atmosphere surrounding the Quincy University men’s basketball program after Monday night’s 90-84 overtime loss to Missouri S&T in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at Pepsi Arena. Gut-punched would work, too. The Hawks had a nine-point lead with 4:18 remaining in regulation, but got outscored…
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The glimmer in Nick Kramer’s eye shined when he began talking about the situation he will be walking into this weeked. He’s entering his father’s old neighborhood. With that comes the understanding of history, tradition and legacy. Jack Kramer is part of all three when it comes to the Quincy High School boys basketball program,…
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QUINCY — The Quincy University women’s basketball team needs to work on its closing kick, too. The Hawks trailed Missouri S&T by one point heading to the fourth quarter Monday in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at Pepsi Arena, but the Miners scored the first 10 points of the final stanza and led 58-47 with…
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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball coach Kevin Meyer said the Raiders “defended like crazy” during a sweep of two games Monday at the Bloomington Central Catholic Shootout. It took a collective effort to be that good. “The guys were connected,” Meyer said. “All five guys were moving as one.” It made it…
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KALAMAZOO, Mich. — When Steve Hawkins answered a phone call from a number he didn’t recognize in September, he wasn’t surprised the caller wanted to know if he would be interested in a basketball coaching opening. After all, he had fielded numerous inquiries since Western Michigan University administrators decided not to renew his contract in…
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The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock…
Read Full Article Boys basketball At Roy S. Anderson Gym, Lincoln, Ill. Quincy High School 45, Lincoln 25. Click here for the story. At Winchester, Ill. Winchester Invitational Tournament Petersburg PORTA/A-C Central 44, Liberty 42: The Bluejays’ Gavin Artholony made 9 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter to hold off the Eagles in the championship game.…
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QUINCY — The Quincy University men’s basketball team needs to work on its closing kick. It could take a lesson from Lindenwood. The Lions trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half of Saturday’s Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Pepsi Arena, but outscored the Hawks 13-2 over the final 4 minutes,…
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QUINCY — Hugh Sharrow’s academic standing says freshman, but he’s obviously wiser — and talented — well beyond his years. “He’s legendary,” Quincy High School wrestling coach Phil Neally said through a wry smile. Neally likes to talk as much about Sharrow’s beat-boxing abilities as he does his skills on the mat. Both were in…
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LINCOLN, Ill. — Jeremiah Talton could tell during pregame warmups Saturday night the right ankle he had tweaked 24 hours prior wasn’t going to be an issue. “It’s actually feeling pretty good,” the Quincy High School senior swingman said. “As soon as I got out there, I wasn’t feeling anything.” He also knew he had…
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CAMP POINT, Ill. — Grant Surprenant knows there is nothing easy about playing and beating the same team three times in one season, let alone within a 17-day stretch. That’s why the Illini West girls basketball coach was giddy with how the Chargers played down the stretch Saturday night. Illini West limited Unity to one…
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QUINCY — Each time Julia Ruzevich returns to Pepsi Arena, it’s a reminder of what could have been. Or it brings about this question: How’d she get away? Ruzevich, a senior forward on the Lindenwood women’s basketball team, played her freshman year at Quincy University in 2017-18, getting named to the Great Lakes Valley Conference…
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CAMP POINT, Ill. — Brad Begeman calls it his Al Bundy moment. Caroline Knox doesn’t know who Al Bundy is. Yet, the Unity girls basketball coach and his senior guard are forever linked by the memory of the clutch free throws they made in the same gym at the same basket sitting on the same…
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The reaction was so great on Dec. 28 that it might be remembered as the game that finally helped bring the shot clock to high school basketball in Illinois. Quincy 33, Lincoln 30. The quarterfinal game at the Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic certainly added kindling to the fire built by basketball fans who hope…
Read Full Article Boys basketball At John Thiel Gym, Galesburg, Ill. Quincy High School 55, Galesburg 53. Click here for the story. At Winchester, Ill. Winchester Invitational Tournament Petersburg PORTA/AC-Central 51, Brown County 44: The Hornets made it a three-point game in the final minute, but the Bluejays hit four free throws down the stretch to seal the…
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GALESBURG, Ill. — Quincy High School boys basketball Andy Douglas believes his players deserve a nomination for an Emmy or an Academy Award. Leading Galesburg by two points with 8.5 seconds remaining in regulation Friday night at John Thiel Gym, Douglas instructed the Blue Devils during a timeout called by the Silver Streaks to act…
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QUINCY — Weather may have altered the brackets and forced some teams to decline making the trip to compete in the Quincy Invitational, but Friday night’s opening rounds of the long-time wrestling tournament showed the cream always rises to the top. Quincy High School had five wrestlers go unbeaten during Friday’s action, while Central had…
Read Full Article Boys Basketball At Winchester, Ill. Winchester Invitational Tournament Liberty 40, Jacksonville Routt 34: The state-ranked Eagles needed a fourth-quarter rally to advance to Saturday night’s championship game. Trailing the Rockets by three heading to the fourth quarter, Liberty got 3-pointers from Reece Knuffman and Cannen Wolf and went 7 of 12 from the free-throw line…
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The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock…
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CAMP POINT, Ill. — Here we go with round three. Caroline Knox did her part to make it happen with two clutch free throws. The Illini West girls basketball team’s defense held up its end of the equation. Now, two state-ranked foes will meet for the third time in 17 days and the second time…
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QUINCY — Tournament titles up for grabs, a conference lead at stake and a bevy of grappling. How’s that for a full weekend slate? That’s only doable if Mother Nature cooperates. With several Missouri schools rescheduling their Friday night contests for Thursday night to avoid any issues with the forecasted snowfall, the weekend prep basketball…
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QUINCY — Geneseo’s 30th consecutive girls basketball victory further legitimized its ranking as the No. 1 Class 3A team in the state. The Maple Leafs emerged from a one-point halftime deficit to hit Quincy High School with a 16-0 blitzkrieg at the outset of the third quarter. Following that outburst, it was not a matter…
Read Full Article QUINCY — Despite a career-high scoring effort from junior guard Beth Matas Martin, the Quincy University women’s basketball team was unable to slow down Maryville in a 72-65 loss in Great Lakes Valley play Thursday night at Pepsi Arena. The energy and effort both teams shared in the first quarter came as no surprise. The…
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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Missouri Department of Conservation naturalist Alex Homes said though the motivation may be sincere, “there’s no need to rescue wildlife during wintertime,” as each species knows how to endure Mother Nature. “They each have their own time-tested method of surviving,” he said. “The season is indeed difficult for some, but they…
Read Full Article Boys Basketball At Winchester, Ill. 99th Winchester Invitational Tournament Brown County 57, Winchester West Central 56: Cole Behymer’s free throw with 12.5 seconds remaining in regulation pushed the sixth-seeded Hornets into the semifinals after they dodged a couple of bullets in the final seconds. Fouled with 5.7 seconds to play, the Cougars’ Gavin Little missed…
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QUINCY — The Quincy University men’s basketball team will have to wait a couple of extra days to get back on track. The Hawks were informed Wednesday afternoon that Maryville, which was scheduled to visit Pepsi Arena on Thursday for a Great Lakes Valley Conference game, has to cancel both of its games this week…
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Here are the boys prep basketball polls with rank, team, first-place votes, record and total points. Class 4A School W-L Pts Prv 1. Glenbard West (10) 16-0 100 1 2. Kenwood 12-4 84 2 3. Glenbrook South 14-1 81 3 4. Curie 16-1 74 4 5. Whitney Young 10-4 54 5 6. Normal Community 18-1…
Read Full Article Here are the girls prep basketball polls with rank, team, first-place votes, record and total points. Class 4A School W-L Pts Prv 1. Benet (4) 15-2 81 1 2. Stevenson (1) 19-1 76 2 3. Hersey (1) 17-3 67 3 4. Loyola 18-2 55 5 5. Fremd (3) 15-4 53…
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QUINCY — Leave it to COVID-19 to disrupt the rhythm of the night. Still, the Quincy High School boys basketball team adapted. Due to positive COVID tests within its freshman team, Geneseo was forced to cancel Tuesday night’s preliminary game. So instead of watching the underclassmen play before going to the locker room to get…
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MONROE CITY, Mo. — Josiah Talton did what a senior leader is supposed to do. He stepped to the free-throw line and buried the shots to preserve a lead. And he did it twice in the same week. In the semifinals of the Clopton Tournament last week, the Monroe City senior guard went 5 of…
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PITTSFIELD, Ill. — The Pittsfield boys basketball team gave Ronne Thelander a fitting goodbye. The Saukees sophomore manager was in the starting lineup for last Friday’s game against Quincy Notre Dame at Voshall Gym, and after Pittsfield won the opening tip, Thelander was given the opportunity to take the first shot. His initial attempt fell…
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Boys Basketball At Blue Devil Gym, Quincy Quincy High School 61, Geneseo 42. Click here for the story and photos. At Winchester, Ill. Winchester Invitational Tournament Petersburg PORTA-AC Central 57, Payson Seymour 41: The Indians were limited to just five points in the first quarter, trailed by 10 points at halftime and saw the Bluejays…
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The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock…
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Runner of the Year — Anna Schuering, Sr., Quincy High School If there’s one thing that 2021 showed, it was that 2020 was no fluke for Quincy High School senior Anna Schuering. The reigning Tri-State Cross Country Coaches Girls Runner of the Year used the 2020 season as her coming out party to the area…
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Runner of the Year — Miles Sheppard, Sr., West Hancock If you’ve ever watched Miles Sheppard race, there is one thing that is constant. He races with a passion and determination that is unmatched by most. It has become his calling card in the tri-state area and across the Land of Lincoln over the last…
Read Full Article Boys Basketball At Winchester, Ill. Winchester Invitational Tournament Liberty 55, Carrollton 41: The Eagles’ balanced attack and second-quarter spurt carried them into the tournament semifinals. Leading by three after the first quarter, Liberty outscored Carrollton 17-6 in the second quarter with five different players scoring. Cannen Wolf led the Eagles with 14 points, while Logan…
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DAYTONA, Fla. — Christian Miles’ trip to Daytona International Speedway turned into quite a happy New Year’s celebration. The Paloma, Ill., karting phenom won all four of his races and swept a pair of championships during the World Karting Association’s Daytona Kartweek event. Driving in the KA100 Junior class, Miles won his initial 10-lap prefinal…
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Doug Elledge has the routine down pat. He throws his high school football officiating gear into the car in late August. He pulls it out in November and replaces it with a whistle and striped shirt to referee basketball. Then, in March, he ditches those for a chest protector, face mask and shin guards to…
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The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock…
Read Full Article Boys Basketball At Willard Duey Gym, Springfield, Ill. Quincy High School 57, Springfield 30. Click here for the story. At Warsaw, Ill. Hancock County Tournament Illini West 35, Keokuk 33: Max Richardson scored 13 points as the Chargers opened the tourney by outslugging the Chiefs. West Hancock 66, Unity 34: Cody Shaffer led the Mustangs…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Bradley Longcor III caught the ball in a position to take a shot he’s been knocking down consistently all season. And he passed it up. Nothing could have made Quincy High School boys basketball coach Andy Douglas any happier. After Terron Cartmill snared a defensive rebound on the first possession of Saturday…
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CARBONDALE, Ill. — Kayden Garrett’s individual championship helped the Quincy High School wrestling team finish third among 25 teams in the 60th Murdale Invitational at Carbondale High School. Garrett, a senior wrestling at 170 pounds, won his first two matches in pool play with a second-period pin and a 21-6 technical fall. In the championship…
Read Full Article LIBERTY, Mo. — The Quincy University women’s basketball team maintained the defensive intensity that resulted in William Jewell not scoring in the game’s first five minutes all the way to the final minute of regulation. It’s why the Hawks headed home with a significant and lopsided road victory. QU opened on an 8-0 run, limited…
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WINCHESTER, Ill. — Cannen Wolf thought he had a little bit of wiggle room. When the official handed him the basketball, he discovered there was none. Fouled as time expired as he caught an inbounds pass and attempted to launch a 3-point shot, the Liberty boys basketball team’s senior guard assumed the call came in…
Read Full Article LIBERTY, Mo. — The Quincy University men’s basketball team has yet to figure out how to play every game with a sense of urgency. It proved costly Saturday. Coming off an upset of Southwest Baptist on Thursday night at Pepsi Arena, the Hawks ended their toughest stretch of the season — four games in seven…
Read Full Article CAMP POINT, Ill. — The three state-ranked teams in the Central-Southeastern Classic field showed why they are so highly regarded with a pair of victories apiece on the tournament’s opening day. The host school showed it belongs in the conversation, too. Illini West, ranked fourth in Class 2A and the tournament favorite after winning the…
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QUINCY — The Quincy High School boys basketball team finds itself in a place the program has always thrived. At the top. Friday night’s 61-57 victory at Rock Island gave the Blue Devils sole possession of first place in the Western Big 6 Conference a week before the league hits the midpoint of its season.…
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Boys Basketball At Rocky Fieldhouse, Rock Island, Ill. Quincy High School 61, Rock Island 57. Click here for the story. At Voshall Gym, Pittsfield, Ill. Quincy Notre Dame 43, Pittsfield 31. At Carthage, Ill. Illini West 58, Payson Seymour 47: The Indians had their six-game winning streak snapped by a tough, physical Chargers squad. Nolan…
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ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Over the course of a six-minute span of the second half Friday night in which the Quincy High School boys basketball team chiseled a 13-point deficit down to one, Rock Island never lost its energy or its swagger. That is until Jeremiah Talton and Ralph Wires took it away. The senior…
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PITTSFIELD, Ill. — Offensively, work must still be be done. But the Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball team has been pretty stingy defensively of late. Pittsfield missed 23 of 35 shots from the field, and the Raiders forced 18 turnovers in a 43-31 victory on Friday night at Voshall Gym. QND has won 10 straight…
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QUINCY — Waking up Friday morning to a text message from Quincy University assistant men’s soccer coach Taylor Reis really didn’t catch Aubrey Reis by surprise. What he read amazed him. The former Hawks midfielder and four-time All-Great Lakes Valley Conference selection saw his name had been added to the roster of eligible players for…
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AMES, Iowa — Patience, persistence and commitment are paying off for Jirehl Brock. One of the most decorated football players in Quincy High School history, Brock spent his first three seasons at Iowa State University playing behind consensus All-American tailback Breece Hall. It meant limited opportunities and limited carries, but he never wavered on Iowa…
Read Full Article Boys Basketball At the Pit, Quincy Quincy Notre Dame 67, Western 26. Click here for the story and photos. At Clarksville, Mo. Clopton Invitational Monroe City 58, Elsberry 50: The Panthers advanced to the championship game with three solid quarters of defense. Monroe City led 28-14 at halftime following a 20-point second quarter and took…
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The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock…
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QUINCY — Braden Sheffield set his sights on the rim. Unfortunately, the Quincy Notre Dame junior guard never got the chance to get his hands on it. “Some things aren’t meant to be,” he said with a wry smile. Teaming with the Raiders’ Alex Connoyer and Jackson Stratton to create chaos each time the Western…
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QUINCY — In times of struggle, there is some confidence gained. The Quincy University men’s basketball team displayed that Thursday night. Instead of reeling from a heartbreaking 73-72 loss to 16th-ranked Truman State on Tuesday night, the Hawks out-toughed a high-scoring Southwest Baptist University squad Thursday night for a potentially season-defining 73-69 Great Lakes Valley…
Read Full Article QUINCY — A slow start offensively by the Quincy University women’s basketball team made brewing up a comeback overly challenging against a balanced-scoring Southwest Baptist squad on Thursday night in Pepsi Arena. The Hawks lost a one-point lead with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter and watched the Bearcats extend the advantage to 37-25 by…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Springfield girls basketball team got off to a sizzling start. Quincy Notre Dame had a better finish. Despite falling behind 7-0 out of the gate and getting outscored 10-5 in the first three minutes of the third quarter, the state-ranked Raiders turned to junior guard Abbey Schreacke down the stretch and…
Read Full Article Boys Basketball At Ewing, Mo. Highland Tournament Palmyra 49, Knox County 42: The fourth-seeded Panthers outscored the fifth-seeded Eagles 20-9 in the second quarter and used it as a springboard to the semifinals. Bear Bock led the Panthers with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Laydin Lochman added 13 points as Palmyra coach Brian Rea…
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CANTON, Mo. — Jalen Blaize missed all five of his shots and did not score a point Monday in a 78-70 loss at Grand View. “First time I ever had zero in a game,” he said. “So that was definitely in the back of my mind (on Wednesday).” He certainly made up for that game…
Read Full Article CARTHAGE, Ill. — Caydee Kirkham’s confidence in herself is equal to her confidence in her teammates. Wednesday night, they showed why. Trailing state-ranked Unity by four points with four minutes remaining in regulation, the fourth-ranked Illini West girls basketball team went on a 10-2 run with four field goals coming from players not named Kirkham…
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CANTON, Mo. — After making just seven of 31 shots in the first half, the Culver-Stockton College women’s basketball team outscored Graceland 25-5 in the third quarter and pulled away for a 60-42 victory in a Heart of America Athletic Conference game Wednesday night at Charles Field House. Josie Landrum scored a career-high 14 points,…
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Here are the state rankings of Illinois high school girls basketball teams in each class for Jan. 5, 2022, according to an Associated Press panel of sportswriters. Class 4A School W-L Pts 1. Lisle Benet 14-2 59 5 2. Lincolnshire Stevenson (2) 17-1 57 NR 3. Arlington Heights Hersey (3) 14-3 54 1 4. Chicago…
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Here are the state rankings of Illinois high school boys basketball teams in each class for Jan. 5, 2022, according to an Associated Press panel of sportswriters. Class 4A School W-L Pts Prv 1. Glen Ellyn Glenbard West (10) 14-0 100 1 2. Chicago Kenwood 12-2 87 3 3. Glenview Glenbrook South 13-1 72 T4…
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Boys Basketball At Mendon, Ill. Liberty 60, Unity 42: The Eagles got back on track following consecutive losses to end the Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament with a dynamic defensive effort. Breiton Klingele led Liberty with 16 points, while Melvin McMillen led Unity with 12 points. At Barry, Ill. Illini West 74, Western 37: Trayton Anders scored…
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QUINCY — Ryan Hellenthal chose an apt description for how the final 30 seconds played out for the Quincy University men’s basketball team Tuesday night at Pepsi Arena. “Devastating,” the fifth-year coach said. Jeff Horner knew what caused the Hawks’ heartache. “Patience,” the Truman State coach said. Trailing by two points coming out of timeout…
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BEARDSTOWN, Ill. — Caydee Kirkham saved her best for last. The three efforts preceding her championship game performance at the Beardstown Lady Tiger Classic weren’t too shabby either. The senior point guard on the Illini West girls basketball team nearly put together a triple double in a 66-51 victory over top-seeded Unity in the title…
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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Jake Wallingford’s ability to play above the rim changes how the Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball team attacks. It also allows him to go get the basketball whenever he chooses. In the opening round of the State Farm Holiday Classic against Rock Falls, the 6-foot-8 Wallingford rose above everyone else to grab…
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The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock…
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QUINCY — A 15-day layoff and a shortened bench proved to be too much for the Quincy University women’s basketball team to overcome once fatigue took hold. The Hawks trailed Truman State by five points at halftime in Tuesday night’s Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Pepsi Arena before allowing 21 points in the third…
Read Full Article Boys Basketball At Camp Point, Ill. Central 41, West Hancock 39: Nick Moore scored five of the Panthers’ seven points in the fourth quarter and helped them hold on down the stretch. Isaac Genenbacher led the Panthers with 18 points, while Colin LeMaire scored a game-high 20 points for the TItans. At Ewing, Mo. Highland…
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FOWLER, Ill. — Jennifer Taylor’s timing couldn’t have been better. To celebrate the new year and wash away what had been a misadventurous 2021, she decided to spend the afternoon and early evening of December 31 enjoying a wine tasting with a couple of friends. That allowed her husband, Brad, the freedom to do whatever…
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We’re back to where it all began, in the toy department of life, writing about sports. The late, great New York City sportswriter Jimmy Cannon first coined that phrase many decades ago to describe the sports section in newspapers. Sports was then considered just a game, like a child playing with a toy, meant to…
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The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock…
Read Full Article ST. LOUIS — Quincy University men’s basketball coach Ryan Hellenthal understood the toughness and grit of his players was being questioned following last Thursday’s loss to Missouri Valley College. “A lot of people were writing us off,” Hellenthal said. Pencil the Hawks back in. Forced to make a crucial basket with less than 15 seconds…
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QUINCY — With the deer hunting season in Illinois heading into its final weeks, harvest totals remain significantly lower than previous seasons. The archery deer season will run through January 16 and the late-winter antlerless-only and Chronic Wasting Disease seasons in designated counties will have three more days — January 14-16. The seven-day firearms season,…
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Matt Powers grew up in Quincy and was a senior on the 1996-97 Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball team, which was the first coached by Scott Douglas in his legendary career. Now, aside from running his own financial planning and investment firm, Powers is the organizer of the Highland Shootout, one of the premier one-day…
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BEARDSTOWN, Ill. — It didn’t take long for Grant Surprenant to realize Caydee Kirkham had a different demeanor Thursday night. “She had that look that she was in attack mode,” the Illini West girls basketball coach said of his senior point guard. Nothing Unity tried altered that. Kirkham delivered an MVP performance in the championship…
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QUINCY — There is no time for the Quincy University men’s basketball players to dwell on defeat or lick their wounds. The Hawks have two days to regroup, regain their focus and rally together. Four Great Lakes Valley Conference games in eight days await, and the schedule is not kind. Following Thursday night’s 84-81 loss…
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GREENVIEW, Ill. —Tyler Duschinsky received some validation Thursday that the Payson Seymour boys basketball players are adapting well to the first-year coach’s style. The trophy the Indians won was nice, but the manner in which they won it was more impressive. Payson locked down defensively, limiting North Fulton to nine points in the second half…
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The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock…
Read Full Article 37th Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic At Collinsville, Ill. Wednesday’s Games At Auxiliary Gym Alton 61, Wasilla 31 At Vergil Fletcher Gym Troy Triad 46, Edwardsville 42 Belleville East 72. Oakville 45 Madison 38, Mundelein 28 Lincoln 51, Granite City 38 (fifth place) Rockford East 77, Belleville Althoff 55 (consolation championship) Collinsville 49, Quincy 34…
Read Full Article BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The Central-Southeastern girls basketball used a strong effort against top-ranked Winnebago on Tuesday to catapult itself to two victories Wednesday in the small-school bracket of the State Farm Holiday Classic. The Panthers opened the day with a 60-48 victory over Annawan, holding the Braves to six points in the third quarter while…
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MACOMB, Ill. — The Liberty boys basketball team nearly toppled one Class 2A program. The Eagles didn’t have enough in the tank to generate a second opportunity. Wednesday afternoon, in the semifinals of the 75th Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament, Farmington went on a 7-0 run over a 90-second span in the final two minutes of regulation…
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MENDON, Ill. — The Southeastern boys basketball team has a lofty goal for its defense. “We need to keep teams under 30 points or 35 points, somewhere right in there to have a chance to win,” senior guard Ramsey Fry said. “That’s the target.” The Suns didn’t quite hit the bull’s eye Wednesday night, but…
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COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — A trend developed in the three days the Quincy High School boys basketball team spent at the 37th Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic that has Blue Devils coach Andy Douglas legitimately concerned. His team keeps stumbling out of the blocks. It happened again Wednesday night in the third-place game against Collinsville. The…
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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball coach Kevin Meyer never saw the absence of two starters as a ready-made excuse for any setback. He viewed it more as a chance to grow. Having split two games Wednesday in the small-school bracket of the State Farm Holiday Classic, the Raiders showed considerable growth and…
Read Full Article BEARDSTOWN, Ill. — Unity girls basketball coach Brad Begeman needed to see how his players reacted to being in a dogfight. Their first foray was successful. The next one is already on tap. Forced to go to overtime against Brown County in Wedneday night’s semifinals of the Beardstown Lady Tiger Classic, Unity’s Taylor Nichols made…
Read Full Article BEARDSTOWN, Ill. — The seeds have held true so far. Can that happen one more day? The top four seeds in the Beardstown Lady Tiger Classic advanced to the semifinals Tuesday in convincing fashion. The path to the title game gets more arduous now. On one side of the bracket, second-seeded Havana and third-seeded Illini…
Read Full Article MENDON, Ill. — The Southeastern boys basketball team continues to wait for junior all-state swingman Danny Stephens to get healthy, but the Suns aren’t waiting for him to make a tournament title run. The Suns beat Griggsville-Perry 37-31 in Tuesday night’s semifinals of the Mississippi Valley Invitational Tournament and will face Bushnell-Prairie City in Wednesday…
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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — It might not look like it in the scorebook, but Quincy Notre Dame actually did a good job keeping St. Joseph-Ogden star Ty Pence in check. Well, except for the final three minutes of the third quarter. Pence, a 6-foot-6 junior, scored 11 of his 26 points during that time frame, turning…
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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Central-Southeastern coach Matt Long has a pretty good idea of what a good Class 2A girls basketball looks like. He guided the Panthers to third-place and fourth-place finishes at the state tournament in 2016 and 2017. So after his team lost 33-21 to Winnebago, ranked No. 1 in the latest Class 2A…
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MACOMB, Ill. — An ankle injury put Logan Robbins on the sideline for the final 90 seconds of overtime Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the 75th Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament. By that point, though, he had left his mark. Robbins’ dunk with two minutes remaining gave the Liberty boys basketball team a two-point lead over…
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The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock…
Read Full Article Boys Basketball 37th Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic At Collinsville, Ill. Tuesday’s Games At Vergil Fletcher Gym Afternoon session Decatur MacArthur 58, Madison 29 Quincy High School 33, Lincoln 30 Collinsville 60, Mundelein 36 O’Fallon 55, Granite City 24 Evening session Lincoln 24, Madison 19 Decatur MacArthur 58, Quincy 53 O’Fallon 50, Collinsville 49 Granite…
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COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Faced with a setback for only the second time this season and denied a shot at a tournament championship for the first time, Quincy High School boys basketball coach Andy Douglas both understood and appreciated the Blue Devils’ reaction. They were disappointed, not despondent. The Blue Devils squandered a two-point lead with…
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