The Illinois Wesleyan Lady Titans started 4 local ladies against the Titans.  On the floor at the tip off were Seniors Rebekah Ehresman (EP-G), Molly McGraw (CCHS), Junior Maddie Merritt (TVHS), Sophomore Sydney Shanks (CCHS) with the 5th starter a Junior from Nokomis, Ashley Schneider. The game progressed with both teams taking scoring runs and exchanging the lead.  Close to midway through the 3rd quarter, the score was tied at 61.  The Titans made the adjustments and ended the competition on top 88 to 81. The Titans had 4 players in double figures.  Rebekah Ehresman dropped in 16 to lead the Titans with Maddie Merritt and Kendall Sosa both adding 15. Raven Hughes rounded out those in double digits with 12.  Hannah Frazier led the Thunder with 25 points and Maggie Dansdill with 19.  The only other Thunder player in double digits was Jennifer Berg with 13.

The Heyworth girl's basketball team on paper is short on experience, especially in the depth of the bench.  The roster shows 4 seniors and the rest are all sophomores.  The lack of juniors would normally signal an alarm, and it probably does in this situation as well. The 4 seniors take the center, forward and one guard positions, whilst the starting sophomore handles the point guard duties.  It served them well in the defeat of the Eureka Hornets.  When I first looked up at the scoreboard it read 21-7, Heyworth in charge.  Eureka managed to bring it back to within 5 a couple of times, but Heyworth ended the comp at the buzzer with a 67-56 victory.  The sophomores that came in from the bench showed great poise and potential.  The Hornets outlook is good. Eureka had hosted the travelling trophy since the end of last year, their first year of eligibility after joining the HOIC.  Us old timers know that those golden globed trophies started their ex...

The Blue Ridge Lady Knights and the Ridgeview Mustangs tipped off Heart of (HOIC) play on the 27th of November on Kellars Court in Colfax.  The Mustangs moved out to a 12-2 start and held the lead throughout the competition soundly defeating the Knights at the final buzzer by 36 points.

The Blue Ridge Lady Knights and the Ridgeview Mustangs tipped off Heart of (HOIC) play on the 27th of November on Kellars Court in Colfax.  The Mustangs moved out to a 12-2 start and held the lead throughout the competition soundly defeating the Knights at the final buzzer by 36 points.

Boys Intercity always has a couple good rivalry games.  For years, the Central Catholic Saints and the University High Pioneers have had a pretty good one.  This years seems no different, maybe even a little moreso since they are now in different conferences.  The whole game was a back and forth affair that had the Saints trailing most of the night.  They closed the gap in the 4th quarter and nearly won it in the last minutes with a foul to get the ball back strategy.  In the end, the Pioneers remained on top by 4. BHS and NCHS have had a rivalry for years, even before Normal West came to exist.  The game last night was between the West Wildcats and the Bloomington Raiders.  They also have a rivalry, but with 2 of the best players in the state - one on each team - the game took on a tone of its own.  The Shirk Center was 3 rows deep of standing room only during the 4th quarter of the earlier game.  At the start of this affair the SRO had dw...

For the first time since 2006, the Missouri Valley Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament is being held at Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal Illinois.  Participating teams are the Drake Bulldogs, Indiana State Sycamores, Valparaiso Crusaders, Illinois State Redbirds, Missouri State Bears and Northern Iowa Panthers.  The Bears pulled in the #1 ranking followed by the Panthers as #2.  Both teams had the first round off.  The Redbirds ranked 3rd.  Surviving the 1st round were the Sycamores and the Redbirds.  Round two will pit the Sycamores against the Bears and the Redbirds against the Panthers. 

If you skipped last nights game at Redbird Arena, you missed a good game to watch some of the players that don't dust the floor very often.  Among those was Luke Litwiler, a walk on from Olympia High School who hit 3 points from beyond the arch and narrowly missed a 4th bringing the crowd to their feet!