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Boys
Class A sectionals
At Minonk
Illini Central
16 29 45 53
Putnam County 13 33
47 57
Illini Central -- VanEtten 0-0-0, Norton 3-0-8, Williams 4-0-8,
Harrison 0-0-0, Cunningham 0-0-0, Hieronymous 3-0-6, Scott 8-4-23,
Schrick 0-0-0, Swaar 0-0-0, Sickmeyer 4-0-8. Totals 22-8-53.
Three-point field goals (5): Scott 3, Norton 2. |
Shelbyville Sectional
At Shelbyville
Friday, 7:30 p.m. -- Nokomis vs. Warrensburg-Latham.
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Lincoln
does it again
The Lincoln Railsplitters had one last
tough assignment in CS8 play. And that was to beat the always
difficult Lions of Lanphier High. No coach prides himself more on
scouting and being prepared for Lincoln than former Railer coach
Craig Patton. And late in the third quarter and early in the fourth
quarter when Lanphier cut a substantial lead to four points, you
began to worry. They even had chances to cut into the lead further,
but the Railers would have none of that!
With the victory Lincoln now stands at
an incredible 28-2 and ends up sharing the league title with
Springfield Southeast. Postseason play is the next level for
Lincoln, as they will host Springfield Tuesday night in their own
regional.
Illini
win one of biggest games ever
You may be wondering if you read that
subtitle correctly. Is it just another Mayfield overstatement? In a
word, no. It is one of the biggest victories ever because of the
possible implications or consequences. The Illini had to at least
split their remaining road games.
Kudos and props to Greg Taylor, Brad
Neal, Tom Seggelke and a host of others who felt all along that
Illinois could win at Michigan easier than at Wisconsin.
Normally, I would've agreed with them.
But that was before I watched Michigan do everything but beat us in
their last trip to the Hall. Thank God for Brian Cook, or we
would've already been eliminated from the league race. It was also
before I saw how much Michigan had improved and saw for myself that
they were as good as anybody and better than most. Then, when you
consider how tough it is to win on the road, especially the last few
years in the league… Or when you analyze how young the Illini truly
are… Not to mention that since Michigan is on probation (something I
might vote for on a permanent basis), winning the league
championship and tourney title is the only postseason that they will
have. Weighing those options, the scales seemed to tip in favor of
Michigan.
But, I didn't know that they weren't
going to watch film and remember that No. 34 lit them up in the last
meeting. I didn't know that Sean Harrington would find himself, and
I didn't know that Dee Brown would want the ball in crunch time and
make a huge midrange jumper to deliver a dagger.
And did you happen to see the ball
screen that Cook used to free up Brown? Or how 'bout the pick Cook
displayed freeing up James Augustine for another nail in the coffin?
Cook only had 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists and may have
even helped usher some of the patrons to their seats, especially
with the last 3-pointer that he nailed!
I agree with longtime central Illinois
resident John Coady, who once said that if you could place
microphones over the TV rooms of fans all over the state in games
like yesterday's, the noise level would be nuclear or louder. The
final possessions of either half would certainly, I think, prove Mr.
Coady's hypothesis!
[to top of second column in this
article] |
Oh, and the biggest reason that I think
this win was one of the biggest ever was because the victory gives
Illinois a chance to three-peat for the first time ever in their
history.
In an unrelated development, I think
that Brian Cook may have solidified his position as the possible
player of the year in the league. It may also help him get
consideration for national player of the year honors.
STILL if you would've told me in
November that this team would be 20-5 with a realistic shot at yet
another Big Ten championship, I would've laughed, given you a stamp
and mailed it in for you! Who knows? Maybe we can even win at
Wisconsin…
Congratulations, Lynx
CONGRATULATIONS to the Lincoln College
Lynx on winning the Collegiate Conference of Central Illinois league
title with a 15-1 record. With Saturday's 83-64 victory over John
Wood, LC extended their sparkling record to 22-7 overall. They will
play a first-round game in the Region XXIV Tournament Friday at
Southwestern.
Lady Lynx
tonight
We believe you can catch the Lady Lynx
in a first-round game at home tonight at 5:30, as LC is seeded
seventh. They will take a 16-14 record into the postseason.
Not
everyone…
…had the karma flowing. LCC's teams did
for at least one night, as both the ladies and the men won exciting
first-round regional matchups. The ladies had their chances in round
two in Wyoming, Mich., but just came up short. The LCC men, on the
other hand, had their hands full with the always phenomenal
Maranatha Baptist team. Maranatha took out the Preachers early and
often, and before you knew it, their season was over.
But what a nice feature on them on
WAND! And congratulations to coach Randy Kirk and the men for
sticking through one of the most obstacle-filled seasons this
reporter can ever remember. Lesser men would've folded up their tent
and gone home months ago. What you men did by sticking out the
season with dignity is a testament to your strong character. Too bad
there are no trophies for that.
"FANdamonium"
Please join my good friend Greg Taylor
tonight at 6 right here on LDN or on CITV Channel 5 or FIX 96.3 as
he hosts Josh Gallagher and John Peters from the Lincoln Railers
basketball team. Call 735-3306 with your question or comment on the
Railers, the Illini, the Cubs, the Cards or yesterday's wrestling!
Have a good
week, everyone, and good luck, Railers and Illini!!!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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The first clinic will focus on offense
and defense and will be offered twice, June 9-12 and June 23-26. All
sessions will run from 9 a.m. to noon, and the clinic is open to all
youths ages 11-17. Cost of the clinic is $100.
The second clinic will emphasize the
fundamentals of pitching and catching and will take place June 9-12.
The pitching and catching clinic will be open to youths ages 9-17
and will run from 1 to 3 p.m. Cost for this clinic is $100.
The third baseball clinic offered at
Illinois State in June will be a developmental clinic. It is
designed to instruct younger children the fundamentals of baseball.
This clinic will be offered on June 16-19 from 9 a.m. to noon and is
available for children ages 6-10. Cost for the developmental clinic
is $100.
[to top of second column in this
article] |
Participants in any of the three
clinics will receive a Redbird Baseball Clinic T-shirt and an
in-depth take-home evaluation upon completion.
For further information regarding any
of these three clinics, please contact Seth Kenny, assistant
baseball coach at Illinois State, at (309) 438-3338 or
sakenny@ilstu.edu.
Registration forms
are available online from the baseball page of the
Illinois State athletics
website.
[To download the Adobe Acrobat reader
for the registration file,
click
here.]
[Rob Huizenga, athletics media relations,
Illinois State University] |
