Quincy Catholic, Brown County eighth-grade boys basketball teams to play for IESA state titles on Thursday

The eighth-grade boys basketball teams from Quincy Catholic and Brown County will play for state championships on Thursday night after both won two games on Saturday.

Quincy Catholic (19-3) will play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Tolono Unity High School against Metamora (27-1) for the Class 8-3A title. The same teams met last year in the semifinals of the Class 7-3A state tournament, with the Redbirds winning 52-23 on their way to the championship.

Brown County (28-1) will play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee against Assumption Central A&M (26-1) for the Class 8-2A title. Defending champion Peoria St. Philomena, which defeated Brown County in the semifinals of the Class 7-2A state tournament last year, lost 41-40 to Assumption Central A&M in Saturday’s semifinals.

Quincy Catholic outscored Calumet City Schrum 17-10 in the fourth quarter to pull out a 56-45 victory in Saturday’s semifinals. T.J. Togarepi scored 23 points for the Crusaders, and Rowan Stegeman scored 22. Dakari Nesbitt, who led Schrum to the Class 7-3A state championship last weekend, scored 17 points for the Spartans (21-6).

The Crusaders advanced to the semifinals by defeating Downs Tri-Valley 35-25 in Saturday morning’s quarterfinal game. Quincy Catholic led 21-20 at halftime, then shut out the Vikings in the third quarter and allowed just five points in the fourth quarter. Stegeman led the Crusaders with 13 points, while Togarepi and Kaden Marth each added seven.

Brown County rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat Ford Heights Cottage Grove 41-34 in the semifinals. The Hornets led 25-16 at halftime, but they were outscored 12-0 in the third quarter. Brown County then won the fourth quarter 16-6. Beau Little scored 14 points for the Hornets, while Bradley Markert scored 12 and Henry Ingram chipped in with 10.

The Hornets advanced to the semifinals after defeating Pawnee 33-16 in Saturday morning’s quarterfinals. Pawnee scored just four points in the second and third quarters combined. Markert scored 12 points for Brown County, Michael Kassing scored nine and Ingram added eight.

Griggsville-Perry was eliminated from the Class 8-1A state tournament at Warrensburg-Latham High School, falling 46-29 to Mendota Holy Cross in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Quentin Booker had 15 points for the Eagles (18-10).