‘I just hit it’: Patton’s OT goal after lightning delay sends Raiders to sectional championship game

Quincy Notre Dame's Addlie Flesch, left, gains control of the ball with Alton Marquette's Emma Dempsey applying pressure during Friday night's Class 1A Riverton Sectional semifinal in Riverton, Ill. | Shane Hulsey photo

RIVERTON, Ill. — Lightning strikes delayed the game, but Makayla Patton’s strike decided it. At the end of a scoreless regulation, lightning near Riverton Middle School forced a 30-minute delay in Friday’s Class 1A Riverton Sectional semifinal between the Quincy Notre Dame and Alton Marquette girls soccer teams. Seven and a half minutes after the…

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Blakeley, Hornets move step closer to championship dreams with sectional semifinal victory

Brown County's Gabe Blakeley drove in two runs and pitched six innings in the 5-4 victory over Lewistown in the Class 1A sectional semifinals Thursday in Jacksonville, Ill. Photo courtesy Martha Blakeley

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Gabe Blakeley merely said out loud what the rest of the Brown County players were thinking to themselves. When the time arrives for the Hornets to leave the baseball field for the final time this spring, they want to be carrying one thing with them. “The state championship trophy,” Blakeley said. Thanks…

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‘We eventually got there’: Raiders use goal late in first half to propel them to blowout of Birds

Quincy Notre Dame freshman forward Makayla Patton drives a header that ends up skipping wide of the right post during the second half of Tuesday's Class 1A QND Sectional semifinal against Piasa Southwestern at Advance Physical Therapy Field. Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — This time, it wasn’t so easy, even if it seemed so in the end. After scoring in the first 10 minutes of both regional matches and outscoring those two opponents 13-0, the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team discovered scoring on Piasa Southwestern in Tuesday’s Class 1A QND Sectional semifinal wasn’t going to…

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‘There’s more in the tank’: QND boys rely on defense to pave way to sectional title game

The Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team, sitting behind the QND boys bench Wednesday night at the Class 2A Stanford Olympia Sectional, reacts to a basket during the second half of the Raiders' 60-42 victory over Maroa-Forsyth. Matt Schuckman photo

STANFORD, Ill. — The first four minutes of the second half Wednesday night may have been the most energetic and engaged stretch defensively the Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball team has played this season. The Raiders even smiled at the suggestion they are at their best right now. But don’t read too much into that.…

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Wreck it, Ralph! QHS sophomore guard’s game-winning layup ends Kahoks’ win streak, sends Blue Devils into sectional title game

Quincy High School's Jeremiah Talton, left, and Ralph Wires react after Wires made a layup as time expired to give the Blue Devils a 34-32 victory over Collinsville in the Class 4A sectional semifinals Tuesday night at Vergil Fletcher Gym. Matt Schuckman photo

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Any aspect of the final sequence — the split, the bounce or the bucket — could have been negated by a whistle. Ralph Wires prayed he wouldn’t hear one. With time evaporating rapidly and overtime looming, the Quincy High School boys basketball team’s sophomore point guard found himself in a now-or-never situation.…

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All for one, one for all: Raiders kickstart sectional semifinal victory with production from entire lineup

Quincy Notre Dame junior guard Blair Eftink shoots a free throw to complete a three-point play in the first quarter of Tuesday night's Class 2A Waverly Sectional semifinal against Carlinville. Matt Schuckman photo

WAVERLY, Ill. — The attention opposing defenses pay Abbey Schreacke is warranted. But if Blair Eftink and the rest of the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team’s starting five attack the basket with the kind of vengeance they did Tuesday night, opponents will find it harder and harder to double- or triple-team Schreacke. Stopping the…

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Power outage: Inability to score keeps Chargers from putting together another dramatic rally

Illini West coach Grant Surprenant talks to his team during a timeout in the second half of Tuesday's 35-28 loss to Alton Marquette in the semifinals of the Class 2A Waverly Sectional. Matt Schuckman photo

WAVERLY, Ill. — The team with a penchant for fourth-quarter magic needed to drum up another miracle moment. Shots have to fall for that to happen. Tuesday night, in the semifinals of the Class 2A Waverly Sectional, the Illini West girls basketball team couldn’t make a field goal to start a rally until the deficit…

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