Illinois Girls Regional Roundup: Unity, Brown County cruise, but CSE needs free throw with 0:00 on clock to survive

Abbey McMillen’s free throw with no time left on the clock gave the Central-Southeastern girls basketball team a 36-35 victory over Pleasant Plains on Monday night in the Class 2A regional semifinal at Petersburg PORTA High School.

Pleasant Plains tied the score at 35 when freshman Anna Weber scored from inside the lane with 27.9 seconds remaining. Central-Southeastern opted to hold the ball for the game’s final shot. Lauren Miller took a jump shot just inside the 3-point circle on the right side of the key with five seconds left, but it missed.

A long rebound was tipped out to McMillen at the elbow, and she was fouled as she tried to shoot. McMillen was given two free throws with no one standing along the lane, but she only needed one to complete the victory.

Miller’s basket at the end of the third quarter put C-SC ahead 30-29. The Panthers eventually led 33-29 before Plains came back to tie the game at 33. Karly Peters made a free throw with 2:34 remaining to put C-SE ahead by one, and Plains took nearly a minute off the clock before missing a jump shot.

Peters missed two free throws with 1:09 left in the game. The Cardinals (23-7) had a chance to take the lead, but Brilyn Lantz drew an offensive foul with 54 seconds left.

Plains sent Peters to the line again with 51 seconds left, and she missed two more free throws. However, after the Cardinals grabbed the rebound on the second miss, Peters stole the ball at midcourt and was fouled with 40 seconds remaining. She split a pair of free throws to put C-SC ahead 35-33.

Central-Southeastern (28-4), ranked No. 5 in the most recent Associated Press Class 2A state poll, will play No. 2-ranked Petersburg PORTA (27-1) for the regional championship at Petersburg at 7 p.m. Thursday. PORTA’s undefeated season was ruined last Wednesday in a 48-27 loss to Pleasant Plains in the final game of the regular season. The Bluejays rebounded to bounce Athens 40-19 in Monday’s other semifinal.

Class 1A Girls Regional at Brown County

No. 2 seed Brown County (28-3) will meet No. 5 seed Biggsville West Central at 7 p.m. Friday for the regional championship in Mount Sterling. The Hornets, ranked No. 3 in the most recent Associated Press Class 1A state poll, scored the first 13 points in Monday’s semifinal and cruised past West Prairie 73-39. West Central defeated Payson Seymour 56-22 in Saturday’s opening round, then upset No. 4 seed Lewistown 62-55 in the other regional semifinal.

Class 1A Girls Regional at Havana

Top-seeded Unity raced to a 34-6 lead at halftime and easily defeated Spoon River Valley 56-30 in the Monday’s semifinals. The Mustangs (29-3), ranked No. 5 in the most recent Associated Press Class 1A state poll, meets Havana, the third seed, at 7 p.m. Thursday for the regional crown. The Ducks (27-4), ranked No. 9 in the state poll, defeated Bushnell-Prairie City 61-29 in Saturday’s first round and Abingdon-Avon 49-25 in Monday’s other semifinal.

The winner of Thursday night’s game will play the winner of the Brown County Regional at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the semifinals of the Abingdon-Avon Sectional.

Tuesday’s matchups

In the Class 4A regional at Alton, Quincy High School (19-11) meets Collinsville (14-17) at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Quincy is the fourth seed, and Collinsville the fifth seed. The winner likely will get top seed Alton, which has a 29-1 record and is and ranked No. 3 in Class 4A entering Monday’s semifinal against Granite City.

The winner of the Quincy Notre Dame Class 2A regional (either QND or Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin) will meet the winner of the Pittsfield Regional at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Pleasant Plains. Pittsfield is the No. 3 seed in the regional played at Voshall Gym and will play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against North Mac in the semifinals. The other semifinal matchup pits No. 2 seed Hillsboro against Waverly at 6 p.m. Tuesday.