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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s happening around the area:
Members of the Heritage/Academy High girls’ basketball team takes a break from practice to strike a pose at Lyle Loman Court in Broadlands. From left (front row), Loran Tate and Bailee Lubben, (second row) Addi Hopper, Bre Ploense, Hannah Walker, Maegan Frye (third row) Brooklynn Powell holding Bre Patte and Kalyn Miller holding Violet Chestnut. The Hawks have experienced a turnaround this season, carrying an 18-11 record into the final week of the regular season after going 2-27 last season.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. Congrats to Aiden White of the Westville boys’ basketball team and Maegan Frye of the Heritage/Academy High girls’ basketball team. The duo is our latest high school Athletes of the Week, powered by Copper Creek Contractors. Read more about them in Monday’s paper.
➜ 2. The IHSA released boys’ basketball postseason seeds on Thursday, with area programs Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin and Unity in Class 2A, along with Salt Fork in 1A, receiving No. 1 seeds. Pairings are set to be released on Friday.
➜ 3. It wasn’t the result the Champaign Holy Cross seventh-grade boys’ basketball team wanted Thursday night, but a state runner-up finish in Class 1A is still something the Crusaders can cherish. Lincoln West Lincoln-Broadwell defeated Holy Cross 57-33 in the state championship game, with the game tied at 23 at halftime.
Terrence Shannon Jr. had the most prolific offensive season in Illinois basketball history in scoring a single-season record 736 points in 2023-24.
Numbers game: 1,270
points Terrence Shannon Jr. (left) scored during his two seasons with the Illinois men’s basketball program from 2022-24. The Illini will honor Shannon on Saturday night by raising his No. 0 to the rafters at State Farm Center when Illinois hosts Michigan State in a Big Ten showdown. His 1,270 points ranks 30th in program history. Just for fun, average his scoring out to four seasons, and Shannon would have scored 2,540 points. Deon Thomas still holds the Illini career scoring record of 2,129 points set from 1990-94.
After losing 80-78 at Michigan State last month, Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn and the Illini get a second shot at the Spartans on Saturday night in Champaign.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. No. 11 Michigan State at Illinois men’s basketball. The Illini have beat the Spartans by a combined 13 points the last three times they have met in Champaign. The next game happens at 7 p.m. Saturday at a sold-out State Farm Center.
➜ 2. Illinois vs. Abilene Christian baseball. Tyler Schmitt, a right-hander from Madison, Wis., who spent the last two seasons at Wiscosin-LaCrosse, is expected to start on the mound Friday in the Illini’s season opener from Corpus Christi, Texas.
âžś 3. Illinois tennis. Busy Saturday at Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, with the Illini men hosting Clemson at 11 a.m. and Notre Dame at 6 p.m., and the Illini women playing Baylor at 3 p.m.
Steve Roustio and his granddaughter, Juniper Murphey.
Coach’s corner
Three questions with La Salette boys’ basketball coach Steve Roustio:
âžś 1. My favorite sports team is … the St. Louis Cardinals.
âžś 2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are … John Wooden, Herb Brooks and Bruce Bochy.
âžś 3. My biggest pet peeve is … watching athletes learn how to experience being comfortable being uncomfortable and not willing to sustain it game in and game out.