Raiders begin title defense by hammering Hawks, set up regional final matchup with Cyclones

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Weather and scheduling conflicts forced the regular-season matchup between the Quincy Notre Dame and Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin girls soccer teams to first be postponed and then shelved. Nothing will stop them from going head-to-head now. QND began the defense of its Class 1A state championship by hammering Riverton 8-0 Tuesday night in…

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Perfect 10s: Raiders improve to 10-0 with 10-run rout of Cyclones behind Bunte’s no-hitter

Quincy Notre Dame sophomore left-hander Caitlin Bunte delivers a pitch during Monday's game against Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin at The Backyard. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — Caitlin Bunte didn’t expect a blustery wind blowing straight out to center field Monday afternoon to alter anything she needed to do in the pitcher’s circle. “If I’m hitting my spots, even with the wind blowing, I knew we’d be fine,” she said. Then the Quincy Notre Dame softball team’s left-handed hurler saw…

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Photo gallery: QND softball team stays undefeated with five-inning victory over SHG

Quincy Notre Dame third baseman Brooke Boden connects and drives the ball during Monday's game against Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin at The Backyard. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — Caitlin Bunte was unhittable in the circle and unstoppable at the plate. The Quincy Notre Dame sophomore tossed a five-inning no-hitter in leading the QND softball team to a 10-0 victory over Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin on Monday at The Backyard. Bunte also belted two home runs as the Raiders improved to 10-0. Muddy…

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Top of the charts: QU men’s basketball signee breaks SHG’s career scoring record

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin's Jake Hamilton, who has signed a national letter of intent with Quincy University, recently became the Cyclones' all-time leading scorer. | Photo courtesy Greg Puckel

QUINCY — The way the numbers added up, Jake Hamilton needed one more shot at history. So Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin boys basketball coach Tim Allen obliged. With a sizable second-half lead over North Chicago in the opening round of the State Farm Holiday Classic on December 27, Allen was set to sub out all of…

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C-SE knocks off SHG with dynamic defensive effort in second half of tourney quarterfinal

Central-Southeastern's Lauren Miller, left, and Tori Fessler, center, helped the Panthers reach the semifinals of the State Farm Holiday Classic by upending second-seeded Springield Sacred Heart-Griffin on Wednesday night. | File photo courtesy Clark Brooks, PhotoNews Media

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Matt Long made it sound so simple. “In the second half, I thought we had a lot of energy and effort and it turned the game for us,” the veteran Central-Southeastern girls basketball coach said. The tenaciousness defensively brought about by playing with more energy and effort certainly did that. A five-point…

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Raiders to learn from loss to top-ranked Cyclones and QU signee Hamilton

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball players and coaches likely won’t watch the film of Friday night’s 66-35 loss to No. 1-ranked Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin at Belz Gymnasium until Monday or Tuesday. That’s when the Raiders will delve into how to fix what the Cyclones exploited. Before then, though, comes a better-be-ready-for-this…

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Defense helps carry Raiders to brink of another state tournament appearance

Quincy Notre Dame junior sweeper Eva Dickerman shields the ball away from a Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin attacker during Friday's Class 1A QND Sectional championship game at Advance Physical Therapy Field. Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer coach Mark Longo readily admitted Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin controlled the bulk of play Friday. “It was probably 60/40 in their favor,” he said. “It may have been 62/38 or something like that.” Even so, Longo never fully fretted. His stout defense is why. Raiders sophomore goalkeeper Aly Young…

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