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Larry's Sports Shorts
 

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Welcome to our Website! Check here for Larry's Sports Shorts -- Information and Comments on Central Illinois Sports.


   

Sports Shorts . . . 
5/18/13 If you are a fan of the Astoria (South Fulton) Rebels you knew that Routt Catholic is a solid hitting baseball team and you were hopeful the defense would be good enough today.  It didn't turn out that way however and 8 Rebel errors led to their loss 11-1 and their 16-8 season came to an end.  Once again, this is a young ball team and this was great experience for them.  They made it to a regional championship game and played a team who has now won 6 regional titles in a row so, they will reap the benefits of this game next season.  The Rebels only had 3 singles and 1 run off of Nick Lonergan in the loss.  Jordan Bair took the loss as he went 2 1/3 innings allowing 8 runs with only 3 of them earned.  Routt only had 7 hits themselves but their relentless batting put too much heat on the defense.  They had 7 hits, 11 runs, 2 errors and left 6 runners on base.  Lonergan and Whalen had hits each as Whalen drove in Stremlau for the winning run in the bottom of the 5th.  Lonergan struck out 5 and walked no one in the win as he improved to 6-1 on the year.  Routt will take a 20-4 record to Lewistown next Wednesday where they will face the Griggsville-Perry Tornadoes at 6:30.  G-P defeated Triopia 10-2 to earn their sectional spot next week.  Routt and G-P were rained out earlier this year and this will be their first meeting.  It should be a good high school baseball game.  
5/16/13 Astoria South Fulton came up big in the bottom of the 4th with 6 runs to finish off the Lewistown Indians today in the second semi final game at the Lutheran regional.  The Rebels had scored 1 in the first and 3 in the 3rd and it looked like the game would go on for a while but lightning struck in the 4th and the shortened game ended in the top of the 5th.  The Indians made 4 errors in the 4th and Bair hit a 3 run home run to put a capper on it.  Lewistown finished the game with 1 hit (Parrish) and made 4 errors while leaving the 1 runner on base.  Emken took the loss with 3 1/3 innings of work and Shubert came in for 2/3 of an inning to finish it.  The Rebels had 7 hits, 10 runs, 0 errors and 3 runners left on base.  Blickenstaff and Dorethy had 2 hits each as 5 of the Rebels had hits and 7 scored in the win.  Blickenstaff was strong in 5 innings of work as he threw just 57 pitches, walking no one and striking out 4.  South Fulton improved to 16-7 with the win and the Indians ended their season 5-16. The South Fulton vs Routt Catholic game will be interesting.  It will match a veteran Rocket team against a young Rebel team.  I think, no matter what happens, this is going to be good for South Fulton.  If they were to win, that would be excellent for their program and if they lose this will be great experience for them as Routt is one of the premier 1A teams in the state - in my opinion.  Come to the game if you can as it is a nice field with good teams matching up no matter how it turns out.  This will be good stuff.     
5/15/13 In game #1 of the semi-final round for boys baseball at Griggsville-Perry's regional, it was the host school knocking off West Central 10-4 behind Dryden Craven.  West Central got a good effort out of Corey Barnett but the Tornadoes hitters hit the long ball today with a home run, 2 triples, 2 doubles.  G-P had 11 hits, 10 runs, 0 errors and 7 runners left on base. Craven, Wyatt Bradshaw, Kaleb Bradshaw and Hannant had 2 hits each.  Barnett went 5 innings and Mathews 1 in the loss the the Cougars finished their year with 10 wins and 10 losses.  Boehs, Strohecker, Drew Barnett and Peyton Rock all had 2 hits in the loss.  West Central led early in the game 1-0 and 2-1 before they surrendered the lead for good in the third as Kaleb Bradshaw went yard with Whitaker on base.  Griggsville-Perry will take on Triopia on Saturday for the title.

Triopia got a wonderful pitching performance out of Josh Millard as they won the 4-0 game over Brown County.  The Hornets got 5 hits, committed 1 error and left 5 runners on base in their loss. McDara went 5 innings with 5 w3alks and 9 strikeouts which was a pretty good effort.  The problem for the Hornets was the 3rd inning when Triopia had 6 hits to go with the 4 runs.  They hit up and down the line up in that inning with Coil, Cox, Alexander and Schone picking up the RBI's.  Schone, Winkleman and Greene had 2 hits each in the Trojan win and 4 other players had at least 1 hit in the game.  Millard went 7 innings with 2 walks and 8 strike outs as he made the right pitches at the right time.  It will be a competitive title game on Saturday.  The winner will play the winner of the Lutheran regional at Lewistown in game #2 next Wednesday.      

5/14/13 Brown County and South Fulton played an even game until the bottom of the 6th inning when the Hornets scored 5 runs and held on for their 9-4 win.  They will play either Triopia or CPC on Saturday for the championship of the Mt. Sterling regional for softball.  Crouse and Butler had the only hits for the Rebels as they made it close until the end.  Butler threw 6 innings with 1 walk and 7 strike outs. They finished their season with 6 wins and 13 losses.  The Hornets had 2 hits from Kitchell and from Kelly Buss in their 9 hit attack.  Ryssman, Kitchell, Wegs and Buss all had 2 RBI's in the win.  Wegs went the distance and recorded the win with 5 walks and 9 strike outs.  Brown County is 9-8 after the win and put themselves in line for a regional title.  If they can stay away from too many errors, they may pull it off.
5/13/13 In the opening game of the Griggsville-Perry baseball regional, Brown Co. beat Pleasant Hill 17-6 @ Mt. Sterling.  With the win, the Hornets will take on Triopia on Wednesday at Perry@ 6:30 pm.  Brown Co. scored 4 in the 1st, 7 in the 2nd, 4 in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th to improve to 9-14 on the year.  Woodward was 4 for 4 , Long 3 for 4 and Phelps 2 for 3 to lead the 14 hit attack. Hobson was the winning pitcher.  The Wolves ended their season with 1 win and 15 losses but they finished today's game with 4 runs in the final inning as they picked up 6 hits and nearly extended the game.  They had 9 hits, 6 runs, 4 errors and left 4 runners on base in the loss.  Alex Rodhouse and Wyatt Williams shared the pitching chores for Pleasant Hill.    
5/10/13 Routt Catholic got a big win tonight as they knocked off the New Berlin Pretzels 6-3 in a well played game by both teams.  The Pretzels fell to 9-12 on the year and the Rockets improved to 17-4 with the win.  New Berlin had 3 hits with 3 runs, 1 error and 6 runners left on base.  Hunt went 3 2/3 innings and took the loss while Cross came in for a 2 1/3 innings of solid relief.  Jones threw 6 innings for the win and Long pitched 1 inning of excellent relief.  He came in with runners at 1st and 2nd, threw a double play ball and then struck out the last batter to put the finishing touches on the game.  Lonergan and Jones each hit a home run in the game as they had 9 hits and 6 runs with 1 error and 6 runners left on base.  Lindsey (2 RBI's), Whalen and Jones all had 2 hits in the win.  Routt will play Hardin-Calhoun on Monday and the winner of the Lutheran-Calvary game on Tuesday in the Lutheran regional. Jones walked 4, hit 2 and struck out 7 in the game.    
5/8/13 There were some complaints about the umpiring in today's high school baseball game between Routt Catholic and Marquette Catholic but, in my opinion, that was not the problem.  Routt had 1 hit in the game and that was the real problem.  They had runners in scoring position on 2 occasions with just 1 out and never moved them and that is unlike the Rockets.  Lindsey had a double and Routt had 5 walks in the game and that was their offense and that won't do it against a good team like the Explorers.  Marquette had 8 hits and no errors and played the better game today as they improved to 22-8 on the year.  Routt fell to 16-4 and the good news is this was another good 3A team they lost to and it will help them in the long run.  Lonergan went the distance and fell to 5-1 on the year.  He walked 5 and struck out 7 in the loss.  Hayden pitched an equally good game for the Explorers as he walked 5 and struck out 5 while giving up the 1 hit.  These were two good teams doing battle and Marquette won the day.  It's only my opinion but I felt the umpire was consistent all day long and that is something that you have to adjust to.  Let's move on to the Hardin-Calhoun game on Thursday and get ready for regional play next week. 
5/7/13 It was senior night at Rushville-Industry as they hosted the Quincy High Blue Devils in softball.  Hannah Salrin, Michala Swanger, Emma Fried and Katie Reische were honored after the 6-1 win by the Rockets.  Quincy had 3 hits, 1 run, committed 1 error and left 4 runners on base in the loss.  Labre went the distance as she walked 5, struck out 2 and hit 2 batters while giving up only 5 hits.  Reller had 2 hits and Bordewick 1 as the Devils dropped to 5 and 14 on the year.  Rachel Salrin, Hannah Salrin, Breedlove, Higgins and Swanger, who had the game winning hit, each had 1 hit in the win.  R. I. played errorless ball and if they play like that in post season, they will make some noise.  They open against Petersburg Porta on Monday, at home, and hope to face Beardstown on the 14th in round two.  If so, that will be a fun game. 
5/6/13 In a well played class 1A baseball game, it was Routt Catholic defeating Brown County 2-0.  Both teams played errorless ball and it could have gone either way.  It went the way of the Rockets because they got 2 big RBI's from Lindsey and Stremlau then hung on for the win.  Rout finished with 8 hits, 2 runs, 0 errors and 6 runners left on base.  Brown County only had 1 hit but they had 5 walks, 0 errors and they left 5 on base.  Mekdara took the loss but he pitched well with 2 walks and 3 strike outs as he held the potent Rocket team in check to the end.  Boylen had the only hit and threw out 2 runners who were attempting to steal. Lonergan and Elliott had 2 hits each in the Routt win as they improved to 16-3 on the year.  Lindsey, Stremlau, Whalen, and Overton had the other 4 hits.  Long pitched a complete game with 11 strike outs and 5 walks.  Routt will face Alton Marquette, at home, on Wednesday afternoon.   
4/30/13 Coach Pohlman of Carrollton said he had a young team with a 6-8 record going into today's game with a veteran ball club, Routt Catholic.  He was hopeful they could stay away from too many mistakes but, it didn't happen.  The Hawks make 5 errors and lost the 13-2 game to the Rockets.  They did have 5 hit and 2 runs but the mistakes were a little too much to stay close in the end.  Gardner went 4 1/3 innings and Watts finished the game. Krumweide led the Hawks with 2 hits while Ringhausen had 2 RBI's in the loss.  Routt had all 9 batters with at least 1 hit and 1 run scored in the game as they showed their depth.  It is hard to pitch around anyone in their line up.  They are 14-3 on the year and playing well.  Jones went the distance as he improved to 4-0 on the season with 0 walks and 6 strikeouts in the win. Lonergan and Whalen each had 3 hits while Jones and Ketcham had 2 each.  Routt finished with 15 hits, 13 runs, 0 errors and they left 7 on base.  Carrollton will get better but they were no match for Routt today.
4/29/13 Today's Routt and Jacksonville baseball game was a benefit for the Manchester families.  Half of the money raised went to the medical expenses of the injured child and the other half went to funeral expenses.  The game itself was a solid game with just 1 error for each team and a Rocket victory 3-1.  Lonergan went the distance with 7 walks and 7 strike outs in the win.  Ring threw 5 innings for Jacksonville with 1 walk and 6 strike outs.  He allowed 1 earned run and 1 unearned run in the loss.  The Crimson could only manage a single by Andrew Jackson and a single by Tyler Ring in the game.  Rowe scored the unearned run in the game on an error by Overton.  Routt had 7 hits with 2 earned runs and 1 unearned run and they left 5 runners on base in their win.  Lonergan had 2 of the 7 hits while Jones and Overton scored a run each and Ketcham contributed with a slo home run in the bottom of the 6th.  Stremlau had a pinch hit double in the game as he continues to be an excellent player coming in off of the bench as needed.  The Rockets are 13-3 and Jacksonville 15-9 after today's action. 
4/27/13 It was a cool and drizzly day at Liberty today as Routt Catholic came to town to take on the Eagles in baseball.  The field is very impressive and in great condition so win or lose it was going to be a nice experience.  Routt won the game 12-6 but it was up and down affair as they led 6-0, 8-4 and had to keep scoring as Liberty fought back each time.  Brent Long was the winning pitcher as he faced 31 batters, gave up 6 hits and 5 earned runs with 2 walks and 5 strike outs while hitting one batter.  He threw 106 pitches in the win.  Hanzel went the distance for the Eagles and threw 157 pitches as he gave up 9 hits and 9 earned runs with 8 walks and struck out 10.  Six batters had 1 hit for Liberty and they committed3 errors.  Rout was led by Lonergan and Elliott who each had 3 hits in the win while Lindsey, Ketcham and Long each had 1 hit.  With the win, Routt improved to 12-3 on the year and Liberty fell to 7-4.  Routt will play Jacksonville in a benefit game on Monday as they raise money for Manchester residents who suffered through the tragedy last week. 
4/25/13 The baseball game between Pleasant Plains and Routt Catholic was a much anticipated event and it was a solid performance by both teams.  The final score was a 2-1 win by the Rockets as they had 8 hits, 1 error and they left 3 runners on base.  Whalen led the was with a 3 for 4 day and both RBI's in the win. Lindsey had a couple of hits while Bickhaus, Jones and Overton each had one.  Lindsey and Overton scored the two runs.  Jones pitched a nice game with only 4 hits, 1 run, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.  With the win, Routt Catholic improved to 11-3 and will take on Liberty on Saturday.  Plains played well enough to win the game as they fell to 12-4.  Koehler threw a nice game with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts.  Lucchesi played very well with 2 doubles, 1 RBI and 2 solid defensive plays in left field.  Sprague and Hayes had the other two hits for the Cardinals in the loss.  Plains will take on Triopia tomorrow afternoon at the home of the Trojans in a game you can hear on 92.5 WKXQ.   
4/22/13 For 4 innings today, it was a great softball game between Rushville-Industry and Triopia.  Then 2 hits, 2 errors, 1 walk and 1 hit batsman later the Rockets had 4 runs across the plate and a 5-1 lead that they never relinquished.  The final score was 11-2 as the Rockets improved to 6-5 on the year and the Trojans fell to 5-8.  Werries took the loss and Swanger recorded the win. O'Daniel led the Triopia attack with 3 hits and a walk.  Shelley Campbell had 2 hits while Carls, Shanks and Emily Campbell added 1.  The Trojan downfall started with the 6 errors in game and the 6 walks.  The Rockets had 9 hits of their own as Breedlove, Hannah Salrin and Swanger each had 2 hits while Fried, Higgins and Murk added a hit each.  Swanger walked 2 and struck out 10 in the win.  On a good day, the Rushville-Industry Rockets are a very good team.    
4/20/13 Saturday was a beautiful day with the temperatures in the mid 50's and sunshine however, Routt Catholic's baseball game with Springfield Southeast was pushed back until after 9:00 pm.  It wasn't nearly as warm but, Routt won the 5-3 game to improve to 10-3 on the season.  Plains also won a couple of games and that is important as they will lay in the Rockets, in a make up game, on Thursday the 25th in Jacksonville.  These are two of the more fundamentally strong teams in the area.  S. E. had only 2 hits in the game with 3 runs, and 4 errors.  Weaver went 5 2/3 innings and took the loss. Senor and Ringer had the two hits and Palmer scored the only earned run.  Dylan Jones threw 6 innings, 107 pitches and recorded the win as he walked 4, hit 2 and struck out 11 to improve to 2-0 on the year.  Elliott led the Routt offense with 2 hits while Lonergan, Ketcham, Bickhaus and Jones all added 1 hit.  Jones also won the MVP award for the game. Routt hit a batter, walked 1 and committed 2 errors in the 7th as they gave up 2 unearned runs but, it was good enough to hang on for the win.  
4/16/13 Routt Catholic baseball got off to a slow start this afternoon and fell behind West Central 3-0 in the first inning.  Lonergan was not sharp early as he walked 2 and hit 1 to go along with 2 hits.  The Rockets did what the Rockets do and came back with 1 in the first and 1 in the second to trail 3-2 going into the bottom of the 5th.  They posted 7 runs on 6 hits and 2 Cougar errors to take a 9-3 lead which they pushed to 13-3 and the win in the bottom of the 6th.  West Central made 7 errors in the game and you can't do that against a strong ball club like Routt.  Lonergan posted the win and Barnett went 5 innings and suffered the loss.  The Cougars had 5 hits in the game (Strohecker 3) but the errors hurt them.  Routt had 15 hits, 13 runs, 0 errors and 5 runners left on base.  Bickhau led the way with 3 hits while 5 other Rockets had 2 hits each as 8 of the 9 starters had at least 1 hit.  Lonergan walked 3, hit 1 and struck out 8 in the win.  Weather permitting, these two teams will face each other again on Thursday afternoon.  Routt is 7-3 and West Central 3-6.
4/13/13 It was about 40 degrees with the 2013 version of the Rushville-Industry invitation softball tournament started today and it was near 57 degrees when it ended in the afternoon. Rushville-Industry dominated Routt in the opener 12-1 and West Central got all over Peoria in game two with a 16-0 win.  

In game three, Routt Catholic won their first game of they year as they dropped Peoria 10-0. Casey Dolen led the way with 3 hits while Birdsell, Pirkle, Brahler and Robinson had 2 hits each.  The 13 hits, 10 runs, only 1 error and 10 runners left on base was the best effort of the year for the Rockets.  Halpin allowed 0 hits while striking out 10 and walking 3 in the win.  

The championship game was a fitting battle between West Central and Rushville-Industry.  The Rockets jumped out to a 2-0 lead, then the Cougars took the lead 3-2 and 4-2 before the Rockets tied it at 4-4.  West Central re-took the lead 5-4, then 6-4 and had to hang on for the 6-5 win.  Rushville had 3 hits in the 7th and had the tieing and leading runners on base but couldn't get that key hit.  Nash took the win and Swanger the loss in a thrilling finish to the game.  Swanger and Reische led the Rockets with 2 hits each.  Rachel Moore, Wade and Timmerman had 2 hits each in the 11 hit barrage from West Central.  Each team made very nice defensive play in the game and it was a good experience for both teams and should help them  as the season rolls on.   

4/11/13 On a cold, windy afternoon @ Lenz field the West Central Cougars softball team won a come from behind 6-4 game over the Triopia Lady Trojans.  Nash did  not have one of her dominant performances but she pitched well enough  and recorded the win.  She walked 5 and struck out 6 in the game and had to throw 98 pitches through 5 innings.  Five different hitters had 1 hit in the game and they only made 1 error in the win.  Triopia basically did themselves in as they committed 8 errors in the game and that gives you little chance to pick up a win. Triopia out hit West Central with their 7 hits and they led 3-0 and 4-3 before falling at the end. O'Daniel scored 2 runs in the game and made an outstanding defensive play from her position as catcher.  Werries pitched well again with 0 walks and 7 strikeouts and only gave up 5 hits but that wasn't good enough as Triopia did not field the ball well. 
4/9/13 You knew a pitching match up between Werries of Triopia and Nash of West Central would make for a good high school softball game and no one was disappointed in the effort.  The Cougars won the 3-0 game with 3 unearned runs in the top of the 5th inning and the good news, from a fans point of view, they will play again on Thursday in Winchester if the rain allows.  Nash was very good with 2 walks and 8 strikeouts and only 1 hit with no runs.  Nash had pitched 8 innings on the previous night and has been working her way back from surgery last year so it was a very good effort on her part.  Gina Nash also had 3 of the 4 Cougar hits and 2 of the RBI's so it was a great night for her. As for the Trojans, Shelby Campbell had the only hit and the other 2 base runners were on walks.  Triopia also made the only error of the game which led to the 3 runs.  We should see a similar game on Thursday and it is hard to say who will win.  Werries gave up 4 hits, 3 unearned runs, while walking 4 and striking out 5 so she pitched well enough to record the win.  Both teams are 4-5 after the game and anything goes in their next game.  Nash threw 85 pitches and Werries 102 in the game.    
4/8/13 Routt Catholic baseball got off to a great start tonight with 3 runs in the bottom of the first  in their game with Auburn.  They were tied in the 5th, improved to an 8-3 lead and then had to hold on for the 8-5 win as they made a few mistakes in the 7th inning defensively.  Auburn fell to 6-4 with the loss but finished with 8 hits, 5 runs, 2 errors and they left nine runners on base.  Weaver took the loss and Williams came in for 2 innings of relief. Muench and Presker had 2 hits each in the loss.  Routt got another double digit efforts in hits with 12 , had 1 error and left 6 runners on base. Lonergan continued his hot hitting with a 3 for 4 nights with 2 runs scored.  He is one of the best lead off hitters in the area. Lindsey drove in 2 and scored 2 with his 3 hits.  Whalen and Ketcham had 2 hits also. Ketcham was the winning pitcher and Lonergan threw 2 innings to finish it.  Keep in mind that Ketcham had a dislocated little finger on his throwing hand on Saturday and was able to throw 5 innings today.  Routt continues to show they are one of the premier 1A teams with their all around performance game in and game out.  They will get a strong test on Friday when they host the Pleasant Plains Cardinals. 
4/6/13 Routt Catholic split a double-header of sorts at Rochester today as they defeated Tolono Unity 18-1 and lost to Rochester 13-11. 

In the opener, Rout had 18 hits, 18 runs, 1 error and they only left 2 runners on base. Lonergan led the way with a 3 for 4 day with 2 home runs and 6 RBI's.  He was also the winning pitcher. Ketcham had 3 also but he suffered a dislocated finger and was not able to play in the night cap. Lindsey, Long, Jones and Elliott all had 2 hits while Bickhaus and Overton had 1 hit each.  Not only did Routt lose Ketcham in the game, they lost Wes Long who suffered a wrist injury.  Tolono had been beaten 18-8 earlier against Rochester and were held with no hits in their loss to Routt.

In the second game, it was an up and down affair for both teams as the lead changed hands numerous times.  The final runs came on a 2 run home run for Nick Murphy and Rochester won the 13 to 11 exciting game.  Stremlau led the Routt attack with a 3 for 3 day while Lonergan, Lindsay and Elliott had 2 hits each.  Routt finished with 12 hits, 11 runs, 2 errors and they uncharacteristlly left 6 runners on base. Rochester was able to trade runs with Routt and while trailing 11-7, they got a grand slam home run from Garrett Dooly to tie it in the 6th and then they won it in the 7th.  Fitzgerald, Green, Bunch, Watson and Murphy all had 2 hits with 8 of the nine Rochester starters had at least one hit in the game.  Rochester improved to 7-4 on the year and Routt fell to 5-2.  On the day, Lonergan had 2 homeruns, Long 1, Bickhaus 1, Elliott 1 and Stremlau 1 as, even though they were wind aided, the Rockets showed their power.   

4/5/13 Griggsville-Perry softball improved to 6-2 on the year with their 11-0 shut out over Routt Catholic today.  Routt got hits from Casey Dolen and Marie Langdon in the last inning and were stranded on base.  The only two other runners were Pirkle and Birdsell who were both walked.  The good news is that the Rockets only made 2 errors in the game and that is a step in the right direction.  The Tornadoes had 13 hits and 11 runs with 0 errors and left 6 runners on base.  The freshman, Lynley Ellis pitched and won the game.  Bonds and Vose had 3 hits each while Witaker had 2 and 5 other Tornadoes had at least 1 hit.  Bonds scored 4 times in the game.  Griggsville-Perry is not as strong as they have been in the past but I like this team.  They play good defense, have decent pitching and play fundamental softball.  They will win a lot of games this year. 
4/2/13 On paper, Routt Catholic looked like a better hitting team than Triopia and it turned out to be reality on the field as the Rockets won an 8-1 decision.  It was timely hitting than it was hitting in general as the Rockets only out hit the Trojans 5 to 3 but Triopia left 6 players on base while Routt didn't leave anyone on.  Schone, Parker and Cox had the 3 hits for Triopia and Millard took the loss as the pitcher.  Lonergan had 2 hits including a lead off triple in the game and he scored twice while picking up the win with 3 walks and 9 strike outs.  Whalen, Brent Long and Ketcham had the other 3 hits in the win.  Routt improved to 3-1 on the season and Triopia fell to 1-3.  They will play each other again, on Thursday, at the home of the Trojans.  Triopia committed 3 errors in the game and Routt 1.  
4/1/13 On a cold, windy afternoon Triopia took a 9 run lead in the first inning and hung on to defeat Liberty in softball, 16-10.  Our hats off to the Eagles as they could have given up after falling deeply in a hold but they chose to fight hard and got to within a 10-6 game before the Trojans scored some more runs.  Liberty finished with 11 hits, 10 runs, 2 errors and 8 runners left on base.  Katy Claus recorded the loss while she also led the offense with a 4 for 5 day, 2 runs scored and 1 RBI.  Seven of the 9 Eagles had at least 1 hit in the game.  Triopia had 19 hits, 16 runs, 4 errors and 11 runners left on base.  Shanks had 4 hits while Carls, Werries and Emily Burns each had 3 hits.  Hancock and Shelby Campbell added 2 hits each.  Eight of the nine starters had at least one hit for the Trojans.  Triopia is 1-3 after the game and Liberty is 0-4.  The Trojans will take on Routt Catholic in Jacksonville tomorrow.
3/19/13 In another cold and windy night of high school baseball, the Routt Catholic Rockets held off WHNG 7-2 to move to 2-1 on the season.  Nick Lonergan pitched a nice game as he went 5 innings with 2 hits and 2 runs and 8 strike outs verses 2 walks. Holliman and Heberling had the two hits for the Spartans. Rustin threw 4 innings and suffered the loss for WHNG.  Lonergan had 3 hits with a triple, 2 runs scored and 1 RBI.  Ketcham had 1 hit and 3 RBI's while Jones, Elliott and Brent Long each had a hit.  Routt finished with 7 runs on 7 hits, 2 errors and 6 runners left on base.  For the Spartans, they had 2 runs on 2 hits with 3 errors and 3 runners left.  WHNG is 0-3 on the year with losses to Ottawa Marquette and Chicago Christian.  Routt beat Greenfield and lost to Riverton.  Routts girls lost 8-2 to the Lady Spartans tonight. 
3/18/13 Routt Catholic could only manage 3 hits and 3 runs against some very good pitching from Riverton today and lost their baseball game 13-3 to fall to 1-1 on the early season.  Lonergan, Brent Long and Stremlau had the 3 hits as Stremlau and Lindsey picked up the RBI's.  Brent Long threw 3 innings and recorded the loss. Riverton had 9 hits and 13 runs in the win as they also improved to 1-1 on the year.  Camp had 3 hits with 4 runs scored. Borski had 2 hits, 4 runs scored and 1 RBI.  Schneider had 2 hits, 6 RBI's and 2 runs scored including a grand-slam.  While Bertolo had no hits in the game, he still had 3 RBI's with some great work of putting the ball in play with runners in scoring position. Snyder and Szoke had the other 2 hits.  Patterson threw 4 innings for the win as he only allowed 1 hit and no runs while only striking out 2 and hitting 1.  Nine hits and thirteen runs was a big day for the Hawks.  Routt will take on WHNG tomorrow afternoon as they hope to get back to winning.  It was a very cold and windy day for both teams.  
3/15/13 Our first softball game of the year was a good one and hopefully is an indication of what we may see all season long.  Triopia got off to a good start and led 2-0 going into the 5th inning.  The Tornadoes picked up a run in the top of the 5th, then 3 more in the 6th and 3 more in the 7th to pick up a 7-3 win.  Triopia scored in the 1st, 3rd and 6th to close it down to a 4-3 game but Griggsville-Perry got 3 insurance runs to put it away.  Vose recorded the win and Werries, who had a few more walks than you will normally see from her, suffered the loss.  Shanks had 3 hits for the Trojans and Werries 2 while 4 other players had at least 1.  Even though they lost, the Trojans look like they may have a very good year.  As for the Tornadoes, they got off to a slow start and did make 3 errors in the game with a couple of passed balls, but they showed some real promise.  Lindsey Hobson had 3 hits in the game while Vinyard added 2.  They also had 4 more players with 1 hit each.  Smith and Bingham each had 2 RBI's and Bond played a very solid 3rd base.  She has a strong arm and provided a double plus a run scored and an RBI from the plate.  Look for these two teams to win a lot of games this year.    
3/12/13 On paper, Routt Catholic Baseball looks like a good team. In there season opener tonight, against Greenfield-Northwestern, they looked very good.  They have 4 starting pitchers with experience and they all threw tonight.  They combined for a 1 hit shut out over the Tigers.  Jones took the win, with 2 innings of work, 1 infield single and 5 strike outs.  Brent Long face 3 batters and struck out 2.  Ketcham faced 4 batter, hit 1 and struck out 1.  Lonergan came in to finish the short game with 3 batters and 2 strike outs.  Routt also had 13 hits to go with 16 runs as 7 players had at least 1 hit.  Lonergan and Whalen each had 3 hits while Lindsey and Jones had 2.  Elliott, Ketcham and Overton rounded out the hitting with 1 each.  Lonergan had a double and Wes Long had a sacrifice fly with an RBI.  It was an all around well played game with cold, windy and snowy conditions at times.  The Rockets will be a hand full this season and could be one of the best teams in the area if they can stay away from injuries.  They are 1-0 but probably will not play again until next week due to the weather condition for the area.     
3/9/13 Shea O'Brien led the South to a 44-33 win over the North in the 7th annual Girl's All-Star Basketball game tonight.  She scored 19 points and a played a very nice defensive game.  Nine players from the South scored but no one else had double digits.  They shot 39% from the field and 5 of 7 from long range.  The North had 8 players score in the game and were led by Erin Washington with 7 points.  They hit 24% of their shot from the field and 8 for 11 from beyond the arc.  This is always a fun event and well attended and tonight was no different.  Josh Sorrels and Jimmy Maltby coached the North and Aaron Baalman and Geoff Driskill coached the South. 
2/20/13 You knew the match up between Springfield Lutheran and Routt Catholic boys would be good tonight and it was.  The final was a 42-38 win for Lutheran but it was a struggle for four quarters. The win puts the Crusaders into the Franklin championship game against New Berlin who upset the #1 seed Waverly Scotties 55-36.  Routt had 3 players in double digits as Long and Jones scored 11 and Lindsey finished with 10.  They shot 52% from the field but only 37% from the free throw line with 16 turnovers. They ended the year with 19 wins and 10 losses.  Lutheran will take a 22-8 record into their title game.  Wofford came up big with 14 points in the second half of the game while Kirby scored 11 before fouling out.  The Crusaders hit 47% of their shots and only 40% of their free throws as they allowed the Rockets to hang around.  The committed 14 turnovers in the win.  It was a very physical game with intentional fouls and a technical at the end but it had little serious effect on the outcome.  This was a game where the officials worked as hard as the players to keep it in check.  It could have gone either way and the Crusaders prevailed.
2/19/13 Routt Catholic boy's basketball has been hoping to get another shot at Springfield Lutheran and maybe Waverly and they got off to the right start tonight with a hard-fought 49-40 win over Franklin.  The Flashes came out of the gate very quickly with 3 treys and a 19-14 first quarter lead.  They just couldn't keep it up however and only scored 4 points in the 2nd quarter and 5 in the 3rd and got themselves too deep in the hold to recover.Tillery (16), Watson (10), Dressendorfer (9) and Spencer (5) led the offense but it wasn't enough.  They only hit 33% of their shots and 10 of 24 free throws in the loss.  They ended their season with 6 wins and 17 losses.  As for the Rockets, they will take a 19-9 record into their game with the Crusaders tomorrow night in the semi-final round of the Franklin regional.  Lindsey found his shot and knocked down 20 points while Long added 14.  They hit 45% of their shots from the field and just 10 of 22 free throws with only 6 of 13 in the 4th quarter when you can allow your opponents back into the game.  They had 20 turnovers in the Beardstown game on Saturday night and cut it to just 10 tonight so that is a step in the right direction.  Game time Wednesday is 7:30 and the winner will get New Berlin or Waverly in the title game on Friday. 
2/14/13 A couple of weeks ago Illini Bluffs defeated Mt. Pulaski in girl's basketball in regular season play at Glasford.  Tonight in the Mt. Pulaski sectional championship game the Lady Toppers got their revenge in a big way as they stayed alive in post season play and will play in the super-sectional against Okawville.  Awe had 19, Dickerson 17, Leever 17 and Nichols 12 in a team win.  The Toppers had 9 treys in the game from 4 different shooters and knocked down 19 of 28 free throws while shooting 61% from the field.  It was a solidly played ball game and they were the better team tonight.  Illini Bluffs got 25 points from Taylor McClintock, 12 from Sydney McClintock, 9 from Russell, 8 from Ari Young and Jaycee Johnson scored 6 in the loss.  They hit 38% from the field and 75% from the free throw line.  Both teams turned the ball over 12 times in the game.  The Tigers ended their season with 29 wins and 3 losses and the Toppers will take a 28-4 record into the next round.
2/12/13 QND is the #1 seed at the Jacksonville girl's regional with a 23-0 record and Jacksonville the #5 seed with a record of 11-19.  You knew the Crimson were going to have to play the best game of their season to just stay in the game with the Raiders.  They did not get it done and lost 85-26 to end their season.  Saxer had a good game with 14 points while Keene and Smith each added 6. Jacksonville shot 31% from the field and 40% from the free throw line but their downfall was partially due to their 41 turnovers.  The Raiders hit 48% of their shots with 62% from the free throw line and 15 turnovers.  They had 12 of their 13 players score in the game and were led by Hugenberg who knocked down 21.  Kassidy Gengenbacher had 16 points and Frericks 15 as QND was relentless in their pressure and attack.  They will take on the winner of the Springfield Southeast and Sacred Heart Griffin game for the champion ship on Thursday.  
2/11/13 Jacksonville came out extremely hot in the first quarter as they hit 5 of 8 treys and 8 of 9 shots to take a 25-3 lead over Springfield Lanphier in the girl's regional at Jacksonville.  They cooled down in the game and the Lions cut the game to just 9 points by the 4th quarter but the Crimson hit their free throws in the late going and hung on for the 61-45 win.  They have earned the right to play #1 seed, QND at 6:00 tomorrow night.  Marvel and Fairconnetue hit 15 each to the lead the Lions in the loss. They shot 28% from the field and 8 of 16 from the free throw line with 16 turnovers.  They ended their season with 8 wins and 19 losses.  For Jacksonville, they will take an 11-19 record into the game Tuesday night.  Keene had 20, Saxer 17, Smith 12 and Fenner 10 as they spread the ball around well tonight.  They hit 37% of their shots and 64% of their free shots with 22 turnovers. The Crimson will be severely pushed in their next game to take care of the ball as the Raiders specialize in turning their opponents over and scoring easy transition baskets.  If you have not seen QND this year, come to Jacksonville High and watch them play the host school as you may see them on TV a little later in the championship round. 
2/9/13 The boys basketball game between Triopia and Routt Catholic was important to the Rockets as they only had 2 losses in the WIVC and could get a piece of the title with a win.  Triopia had a different idea and wanted to protect their home court.  The score at the end was 58-55 with the Trojans on top in a very exciting finish.  Lindsey scored 20 points for Routt before he fouled out.  Long added 18 as they worked their inside-outside game.  Nick Lonergan added 8 as Routt shot 42% from the field and 64% in free throws.  They had 10 turnovers in the loss.  Huddleston needed 8 points in the game for 1,000 in his high school career and put in 23 in a strong effort.  Millard added 16 while Kole Jackson scored 10 and Halsne 7.  Triopia only shot 38% from the field and could only manage 59% from the free throw line but their 8 turnovers and persistence at the end made the difference in the game.
2/9/13 Year in and year out the Our Saviour Shamrocks have some good teams for boys and girls basketball and this season was no different.  The 8-1A boys defeated Triopia, upset Waverly and earned the right to play Oglesby Holy Family in state play at Auburn.  They came up short in the game in scoring and in height as the tall and strong Crusader team defeated them 47-34.  The Shamrocks put up a good early fight but the height and inside game of Oglesby was too much in the long run.  Booker (9) and Shipp (11) along with Dose (5) did the damage on the offensive and defensive boards and Plankenhorn hit 17 from the outside, including 4 treys so the all around game of the Crusaders was impressive.  Whalen hit 3 treys in the first half and Oglesby clamped down on him in the second half.  He led the Shamrocks with 9 points while Chumley and May tossed in 6 each.  Seven Shamrocks scored in the game and 3 7th graders got the state play off experience so, this could be a good team next year as well.  While Our Saviour only hit 25% from the field and 33% from the line,  they only turned the ball over 5 times so there was some good news as they forced 14 in the loss. (In a side note, the Crusaders beat Peoria St. Marks 59-43 in the second round to earn their way into the title game on Thursday).
2/8/13 West Central hosted the WHNG Spartans in a game the Spartans needed to win to come close to locking up the WIVC title.  Hunter Bettis hit a 3 point shot at the buzzer and the Cougars won the 55-52 decision, so the Spartans will have to defeat Greenfield on Friday night to win the conference outright.  Corey Barnett led the scoring for the Cougars with 23, Boehs added 13 and VanDeVelde 8 but it was the Bettis shot that provided the exciting ending to the game.  W. C. shot 50% from the field and 66% from the line with only 8 turnovers.  Vincent led WHNG with 15 points while Rusten added 14 and Davis 11 as the Spartans played a nice game in spite of the loss.  They shot 46% from the field, 85% from the free throw line and only had 10 turnovers, which are good enough numbers to have won the game. 
2/7/13 In a double overtime game at the Greenfield regional, the Carrollton Hawks defeated West Central 58-54.  They were tied 42-42 in regulation, 49-49 after the first over time period and it was a hard earned win for the Hawks.  They hit 5 of 6 free throws in the first over time period and 9 of 10 in the 2nd OT period for the win.  Coonrod played a tremendous game for the Hawks as she scored 19 before fouling out. Ruyle added 11, Ross 8, Williams 8 and Mountain 7 with Cook adding 5.  The Hawks will take a 24-6 record to Lebanon to take on the Greyhounds on Monday.  Carrollton knocked down 23 of 33 free throws in this physical game where Carrollton had 22 fouls and the Cougars 27 with 4 players fouling out.  The Cougars ended their season with 21 wins and 9 losses.  Abby Lashmett scored 15  and Carmody 12 to lead West Central.  Megan Lashmett added 9 including a trey that tied the game at the buzzer in the first over time period. Hurrelbrink scored 8, while eight of the Cougars scored in the game.  They hit 17 of 24 free throws and turned the ball over 26 times in the loss.  Both teams had a chance to win the game and it was very tense at the end as Carrollton prevailed.  It was an exciting high school girl's basketball game and very entertaining for both crowds. 
2/6/13 Routt Catholic entered their semi-final regional game with Springfield Lutheran an the under dog and nearly pulled off the upset.  They were down by 12 points in the first half and again in the second half and fought their way back to a 1 point deficit at 54-53 before eventually falling 62-54 to end their season with 17 wins and 11 losses.  That is a very good year considering the consistent injuries that plagued their team.  Tonry had 23 points and Halpin 21 in the loss as they hit 38% of their shots and 73% of their free throws with 11 turnovers.  Lutheran hit some key shots late in the game and got 24 from Roat, 13 from Burton and 12 from Kauffman as they improved to 21-8 on the year and got a measure of revenge from their loss in regular season to the Rockets when they were healthy.  The Crusaders hit 53% of their shots with 63% from the charity stripe and they had 6 turnovers in each half.  
2/6/13 Our Saviour School had been beaten 5 times in a row by the Waverly Scotties in boy's 8-1A basketball and they met at the Waverly Sectional Championship.  The Shamrocks got the job done as they knocked off Waverly 32-30 behind some stellar defense and some timely shooting.  They hit 5 of 6 free throws in the 4th quarter to hang on for the win.  Jack Whalen led the way with 3 treys, 1 2-point basket and 2 of 3 free throws.  It was a nice team win for OSS and earned them a game with the 24-0 Oglesby Holy Family team at Auburn on Saturday at 10:00.  They will be the under dog again but this team seems to thrive on the challenge and will leave it all out on the floor in this state game. 
2/2/13 Routt added Rachel Langdon and Lilly Schwederski to their walking wounded and were short-handed today when they took on West Hancock at QND.  After falling behind 39-21 at half time, they came back very strongly in the second half and actually took the lead 57-56 with 5:59 left in the game.  They could not hold on, as they used too much energy in the third quarter, and lost 73-62.  The comeback was the fun part of the game however as they hit 6 of 7 three point attempts in the 3rd quarter.  Halpin excited the crowd with her 3-point shooting and 25 points in the game.  Tonry added 18 points and suffered a bloody nose late in the contest.  Dietrich was a solid addition to the Rocket offense as she hit 4 of 5 shots from beyond the arc.  Birsdell was the 4th Rocket with a 3-point bucket as they hit 12 of 20 attempts.  56% shooting, from the field, 40% from the line kept the Rockets in the game but, their 22 turnovers was part of their down fall.  As for the Titans, they got a great day from Koehler who knocked down 30 points including 4 treys in the first half.  Runge hit 5 of 14 from long range and totaled 17 points and DeWald added 18 points with 2 treys and 4 for 4 from the free throw line. West Hancock shot 51% from the field and 71% from the line but, they only had 11 turnovers in the win.    
2/2/13 Illini West and West Central squared off today at QND and the Chargers prevailed 40-32 behind the 18 points of Bastert.  Carlisle added 7 as the Chargers shot 37% from the free throw line and 64% from the free throw line with 9 turnovers.  The Cougars out shot Illini West (44%) and hit 6 of 9 free throws but they had 23 turnovers and had a hard time running their offense and playing defense.  They seem to temporarily have lost their outside game and are relying on Abby Lashmett for too much of their scoring.  Lashmett has been drawing double and triple teams and they continue to turn the ball over by trying to get the ball into the paint in spite of open shots being available.  They also seemed a little tired on the defensive side of the ball and may merely need some rest in preparation for their run in post season play.  West Central will take a 20-8 record into the Greenfield regional where they are favored to win.
2/1/13 It was a very physical game tonight between Routt Catholic and Greenfield/Northwestern in boys basketball.  The Rockets had a 13 point lead on a couple of occasions but lost it and was tied 36-36 in the 4th quarter and lost the lead 39-36 before coming back and winning the game 49-43.  They and the Tigers are now 5-2 in the WIVC.  McEvers led Greenfield with 17 points while Rothe tossed in 10.  They shot 48% from the field and 5 for 11 from the free throw line with 11 turnovers.  They played well enough to win but came up a little short.  Routt is 15-8 after the win and were able to match the strong play from Greenfield.  They had two players, Lindsey (18) and Long (14) in double figures and had 6 players score over all.  The Rockets knocked down 17 of 42 shots from the field and 10 of 13 free throws with 15 turnovers.

Our Saviou School and Triopia played in the regional championship game for the 8-1A division @ OSS.  It was a very tight game and the difference was likely the 18 Trojan turnovers that cost them in the end.  The Shamrocks hitting 6 of 8 free throws in the 4th quarter helped preserve the win.  Lowe and Arnold each scored 8 points for Triopia as they hit 34% of their shots and were 0-2 from the free throw line.  OSS did a nice job of holding Werries to only 6 points in their win.  Beckman led OSS with 16 points and a strong inside game.  Overton played one of his best games of the year with 9 points and some very good defense while Whalen added 6 points to the win. Chumley had a bucket and 2 free throws and Perry rounded out the scoring with 2 points and some very good play in the paint. OSS shot 38% from the field and 80% from the charity stripe with only 9 turnovers, and seem to be on top of their game. Next up will be a sectional game with Waverly @ Waverly on Wednesday night @ 6:00.  Waverly is a very good team with a 5 game winning streak over OSS but keep in mind this is only a 1 game play off so the Shamrocks will try to put the heat on the Scotties and earn their way to state.  It should be a fun game so join us for the play by play. 

1/31/13 Congratulations to the Hardin-Calhoun Lady Warriors as they knocked off the West Central Lady Cougars and won the WIVC championship outright.  Winning was one thing but, the way they won was very impressive.  They had 4 players in double digits, Maddie Baalman (14), Courtney Squier (12), Shelby Hayn (10) and Emma Baalman (10) while Kailynn Baalman hit 6 as the Warriors shot 58% from the field and 75% from the free thrown line with only 17 turnovers in the win.  They stayed undefeated in conference play and played an excellent game tonight.  The Cougars got in the hole early and trailed in all 4 quarters of play. They only hit 21% of their shots and 50% of their free throws and were not able to get the Warriors out of their game plan. Kilver led the Cougarss with 13 points and Carmody added 10 in the loss.  Calhoun did a nice job on Abby Lashmett as they doubled on her all night and held the talented sophomore to 4 points.  Both of these teams will play in the QND showcase this week end and start regionals next week. 
1/28/13 West Central and Hardin-Calhoun did what they needed tonight with wins and are set for their showdown on Thursday night in Winchester.  The Warriors had a tough game with Routt Catholic and hung on for the 32-28 win.  That eliminated the Rockets from the WIVC title picture.  As for West Central, they took care of business at Carrollton and defeated the Lady Hawks 51-38. Cassie Palan led the Hawks with 12 points as she played a nice all around game. Carrollton shot 36% from the field and only 6 for 17 from the free throw line.  They turned the ball over 16 times.  The Cougars got a strong game from Carmody as she hit 18.  Kilver scored 9 while Abby and Megan Lashmett scored 8 each.  West Central shot 45% from the field and 57% from the line with 21 turnovers.  They will need to play a different type of game on Thursday when they face the Warriors of Calhoun but, they are at home and will make the Warriors work hard.  If the Cougars win, they will share the WIVC crown and if the Warriors win, they will be the outright conference winner.
1/26/13 The 39th annual Carrollton Lady Hawk Tournament came to an end last night in the same style as the last 5 as QND dominated to win their 6th in a row.  They defeated Civic Memorial 61-22 as Frericks hit 21 and Kassidy Gengenbacher 20 to show the way. Fencel and Satterfield had 6 each to lead the Eagles.

Pana took 3rd place with a 55-47 win over West Central.  The host, Lady Hawks, defeated Granite City 39-32 and Alton beat Alton Marquette 44-43 for the Consolation Championship. QND will not be back next year and it will give the tournament a different look and feel.  They are such a good team and no one has beaten them since Taylorville in 2007.

The Lady Hawk Invitational All-Tournament team:  Tori Knight and McKenzie Satterfield (Civic Memorial), Kassidy Gengenbacher and Jordan Frericks , who is also the MVP (QND), Patsy Coonrod and Rachel Williams (Carrollton), Emma Baalman (Calhoun), Natalie Halpin (Routt), Jordan Wilson (Alton), Abby Lashmett (West Central), Allie Schoonover (Pana) and Natalie O'Keefe (Granite City).

The 2000 and 2001 Lady Hawk State Basketball Champions teams were recognized at half time of the 3rd place game as they are going to be enshrined, on April 27th, into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.  It was a well deserved and well received ceremony for the ladies. 

1/25/13 Calhoun and Carrollton are very familiar with each other and you knew tonight would be a close and competitive girls basketball game.  It was a 54-44 win for the Hawks but it took overtime to get it decided.  The biggest problem for the Warriors was their turnovers.  They had 20 in regulation and 5 more in overtime and could not overcome it.  Emma Baalman had 11 points while Squier scored 10, Maddie Baalman 8, Hayn 6 and Kailynn Baalman 4.  They shot 41% from the field and 66% from the line. Coonrod (19) and Williams (12) hit double digits for the Hawks while Mountain added 9.  They had 59 shots in the game and hit 19 of them with 15 for 23 from the line with only 8 turnovers in regulation and 2 in overtime.  The game was tied 41-41 after 4 quarters and Carrollton out scored the Warriors 13 to 3 in the extra period.  Carrollton will play Granite City in the 5th place on Saturday.  
1/24/13 While West Central was hoping to keep their game close with QND, it turned out to be an 82-27 win for the Raiders and a place in the title game on Saturday night.  Abby Lashmett and Carmody each scored 10 points for the Cougars but their 27% shooting and 2 for 3 performance from the free throw line with 22 turnovers wasn't good enough to keep the game close.  For the Raiders they did what they do.  65% from the field with 71% from the free throw line with 13 turnovers and 10 players in the scoring column.  Kassidy Gengenbacher (17), Hugenburg (16), Frericks (15) and Keating (10) led the  way while Foley and Kristen Genbacher each scored 7.  QND was too strong and too deep for West Central to stay with them.

Pana and Civic Memorial, the #2 and #3 seeds battled for the right to play QND for the championship on Saturday night and the Eagles played an excellent game.  They shot 63% from the field and 83% from the free throw line with only 11 turnovers as their inside game dominated.  Knight scored 18 and Ballard 17 to lead the way.  Pana had trouble with the Eagles height and also had 22 turnovers which did not help their cause.  They shot a respectable 47% with 75% from the free throw line but they gave up too many shots in the paint to win the game. Nadine Vaughn had 14 points, Funneman 12, Charley Lett 9 and Allie Schoonover 7 as Pana could not get their offense in gear and fell too far behind.  They will take on West Central at 6:00 Saturday for 3rd place and that will be a good match up.

1/23/13 After being tied 12-12 at the end of the first quarter and falling behind 31-21 at half time, the Routt Rockets came back to take the lead in the 3rd quarter.  Then Alton Marquette came back to lead 39-36 at the end of the quarter and went on to win 54-50 to knock the Rockets out of the consolation bracket.  Langdon had 20 points and Halpin 18 to lead the Rockets who fell to 16-8.  They hit 81% from the free throw line and only had 7 turnovers so, there was some good news for Routt.  The Explorers hit 45% of their shots and 59% of their free throws while turning the ball over 15 times.  They had well balanced scoring as Repking (14), Youngblood (14), Darr (13) and Emma Snider (10) spread the ball around.  Routt's next game will be Monday when they take on the Hardin-Calhoun Warriors.

West Central got off to a great start and led the Jerseyville Panthers 22-4 after the first quarter.  They extended it to 33-11 at half and went on to dominate the Panthers 61-41 and earned the right to play QND in the semi-final round at 6:30 on Thursday.  The Cougars had 7 players in the scoring column and were led by Carmody (18), Abby Lashmett (14) and Meghan Lashmett (12)  as they hit 43% of their shots, 36% from beyond the arc and 60% from the free throw line.  They committed 14 turnovers while forcing 22 on the Panthers.  West Central  improved to 19-4 with the win.  

1/22/13 Pana, the #2 seed in the Lady Hawk had to come around late in the game but was able to defeat the Calhoun Warriors 63-48. The 27 turnovers were a few too many for Calhoun and they dug a hold they could not get out of.  Charley Lett and Funneman had 16 each and Schoonover 12 to lead the Panthers as they shot 43% from the field and 18 of 21 free throws to lock up the win. They did a nice job of taking care of the ball with 14 turnovers. The Warriors got 11 points from Hayn and Maddie Baalman while shooting 33% from the field and made 19 of 22 free throws but they came up a little short.  

Civic Memorial earned the right to play Pana in the semi-final round of the championship bracket with their 50-41 win over Carrollton. Satterfield did a good job of holding Cook to just one shot in the game.  Coonrod was active with 16 points for the Hawks and Williams, who played on a tender ankle, scored 10 in the loss.  The Hawks made 16 of 32 shots from the field and 9 of 16 free throws but their 21 turnovers was a few too man.  The Eagles made 18 of 41 shots and 12 of 23 free throws with 14 turnovers.  Trost hit 12 points, Fencel 9 and Niemier 9 as seven Eagles scored in the win.  Civic Memorial improved to 17-6 with the win and Carrollton vell to 19-4.    

1/21/13 In a basketball game that Greenfield/NW and Routt Catholic both needed to win, to get their momentum turned around, it went the way of the Rockets as they knocked off the Tiger 64-34.  It was a solid start for the Tigers as they led most of the first quarter and only trailed 13-12 after one.  Routt scored 21 of the next 27 points and basically put the game away.  Megan Bishop had her best game of the tournament with 14 points and Kerr scored 10 in the loss.  Greenfield shot 37% from the field and only 2 of 6 from the free throw line.  They also had 27 turnovers which contributed to their loss.  Routt got a 29 point performance from Halpin and 18 from Tonry, plus 10 points from Rachel Langdon. They also picked up 5 points from Caroline Casler and 2 from Schwederski.  Routt hit 43% of their shots and 16 of 20 free throw shots while turning the ball over 15 times.  With the win, the Rockets will face Alton Marquette at 5:00 in the semi final round of the consolation bracket.  Routt is 16-7 after the win. 
1/19/13 West Central got off to a great start with a 16-2 lead over the Greenfield/NW Tigers and never looked back.  They won the game 52-12 and moved into the second round with a game against the Jerseyville Panthers.  Bettis (16), Abby Lashmett (12) and Carmody (11) led the Cougars as they shot 36% from the field and 56% from the free throw line with only 9 turnovers.  Megan Bishop led the Tigers with 6 points.  They will play Routt at 6:30 on Monday.

Jerseyville came into their game with Routt Catholic with a 2-17 record and played a great game as they knocked off the 15-6 Rockets 60-45.  Roundcount was solid with 26 points and Gorman added 13.  Marshall and Thurston each added 8.  The Panthers hit 53% from the field and 66% from the free throw line and won in spite of their 19 turnovers. Halpin had a nice day with 23 points as Tonry and Langdon each scored 9.  Routt shot 35% from the field and only had 5 turnovers but their problem came from the free throw line as they only hit 4 of 14 as they dug a hole they could not get out of.  

Calhoun defeated Pana last year and was hoping to get a shot at them this year in the second round.  They beat Madison 75-45 after getting off to a slow start.  Madison was led by Williams with 19 points, as Hardin scored 14 and Dixon 9.  The Lady Trojans will play Metro East in the next round  in the consolation bracket.  Calhoun got 15 points from Maddie Baalman and Courtney Squier and were led in scoring by Emma Baalman who hit 19. They had 11 players in the scoring column and hit 44% from the field plus 74% from the free throw line.

The host school, Carrollton, cruised to a 50-21 win over Brussels and earned the right to play Civic Memorial at 8:00 on Tuesday night.  Nolle had 9 to lead the Lady Raiders but they just got in trouble early and never recovered.  They had 23% of their shots, 63% of their free throws and had 20 turnovers in the loss.  The Lady Hawks  Eight Hawks scored in the win and were led by Williams with 15 and Coonrod with 14.  They shot 34% from the field and only 40% from the line but dominated the boards and only had 8 turnovers in their win.  Thier match up with C.M. should be one of the better games on Tuesday.  

1/17/13 The Lady Rockets of Routt Catholic lost their 3rd game in a row as they were beaten in a conference battle with Carrollton 51-31. Langdon scored 11 to lead Routt while Halpin added 8 and Tonry 7 in the loss.  Routt falls to 15-6 on the year and will open their Tournament play at the Lady Hawk on Saturday when they face the Jerseyville Panthers.  They only shot 28% tonight and 50% from the free throw line.  Carrollton played pretty much under control tonight with the exception of their 18 turnovers.  Williams (14), Cook (12) and Coonrod (10) led the way for the Hawks as 7 players scored in the win.  They hit 53% from the field and 9 for 12 from the free throw line as they improved to 18-3 with the win.  They will open play at 8:00 Saturday when they face Brussels in the final game of day one at the Lady Hawk.  They will finish their WIVC regular season on the Monday following the Lady Hawk when they take on West Central.
1/15/13 Routt Catholic was home tonight for their girl's basketball game and they were hoping to rebound after a 19 point loss on Saturday at the WHNG championship game.  They played better but they were not able to hold off the Liberty Eagles and lost 61-55.  Routt did not take the lead in the game until early in the 3rd quarter and just couldn't hang on.  Graham played a nice game for the Eagles with 5 treys in 7 attempts and 17 points over all.  Neisen had 16 points as she knocked down 8 out of 9 free throws in the 2nd half.  Hyer also hit 12 points as 7 Eagles scored in the win.  Liberty hit 21 of 44 shots and 12 of 15 free throws as their only down side in the game was the 19 turnovers.  Routt came close in the game and had a chance to win and they are now hoping that sets them up for their re-match with Carrollton in a big WIVC tilt on Thursday.  Halpin, who was held scoreless in the Carrollton game, came back with 23 points.  Langdon had her best offensive output of the season with 18 points while Tonry had 8 and Birdsell 6.  Routt shot 40% in the game but only 6 for 14 from the free throw line.  They took care of the ball with only 9 turnovers.  They have Carrollton and Calhoun left in the regular season for conference games and will have to play a better game in the paint if they hope to win.  They are not very tall and will have to get some great position for the boards. The Rockets are 15-5 on the year and Liberty improved to 13-8 with the win.  
1/12/13 The 2013 edition of the Lady Spartan Tournament @ WHNG came to a close today.  In the Consolation championship the Lady Tigers of Beardstown were a little too tall for Madison and won the game 65-52 behind 26 from Harris and 14 from Herter.  Newman and Lindsey hit 7 each.  Madison got 18 from Hardin 13 from Williams and 12 from Dixon.

The 5th place game was exciting and went to overtime before WFNB knocked off Pittsfield 49-47.  It was 10-9, 20-19, 35-35 and 45-45 in regulation and finally needed an additional 4 minutes to get it done.  Pittsfield got 32 points from O'Brien who was playing her first game since her appendectomy.  Nichols and Peebles had 10 each to lead 7 Scotties in the scoring column.

West Central got off to a great start as they hit 9 of 13 shots in the first quarter and they never trailed in their 49-38 win over the Panthers of Litchfield.  Abby Lashmett lead the way with 22 while Bettis (12) and Kilver (10) hit double digits.  The Cougars shot 40% from the field and 75% from the free throw line.  The Panthers got a good day from Scharf who scored 19 and Steffens added 12.  Litchfield also shot 77% from the free throw line in the loss and had 20 turnovers.  West Central improved to 15-4 with the win.

In the Championship game Carrollton had 7 players in the scoring column in the first half and 6 in the second half and were hard to defend for Routt Catholic.  The Hawks won the game 61-42 as they hit 54% from the field.  While they only shot 27% from the free throw line and had 16 turnovers, they had enough offense to get the job done.  Williams was strong with 17 points and Coonrod had 16 as they dominated the paint.  Routt was able to get 16 from Tonry and 11 from Birdsell as she stepped up nicely.  The Rockets were playing without one of their playmakers as Garde was on crutches.  She is an integral part of the Routt offense with good penetration and passes to her teammates and it all showed lacking today.  The Rockets will need to re-group again and put together some offense as their conference and post season closes in on them. They have played without Gross, when she was their leading scorer, and now without Garde who is their current leading scorer so someone else will need to step up.  77% free throw shooting kept them in the game today and only 7 turnovers was nice but someone is going to have to put the ball in the basket.  Carrollton tracked Halpin all day long and held her with zero points so they need another shooter to help out Tonry. Their next game will be at home against Liberty on Tuesday so it will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments they can make.   

12/28/12 After today's games, the table is set for the championship round for tomorrow at the 31st Lady Tiger Classic.  In the opening game, Illini Central won their first game of the season with the 41-34 decision over Griggsville-Perry.  Paskach score 13 and Bradshaw 14 to lead the Cougars.Bingham had a nice game for the Tornadoes with 13 points.

Mendon Unity got 16 from Begeman and defeated Triopia 43-30 and will play Pittsfield at 12:30 tomorrow.

Beardstown and Rushville-Industry played for the second time this year and got a measure of revenge  with their 48-39 win. Rawlins had 12 and Lindsey 11  while Collins with 14 and Plumere had 10 for the Rockets.  

Pleasant Plains continued to play well as they defeated Farmington 53-40.  Hergenrother had 15 points and Yakel hit for double digits in the win.  Austin Camp had 14 points  and Danley 9 in the loss.

Canton dominated the West Central Cougars with a 59-30 win and earned the right to play for the championship tomorrow . They had 10 players in the scoring column  as Churchill led the way with 16 points. Abby Lashmett had 16 for the Cougars  but West Central never got their offense in gear.  With the loss, they will face Havana in the 3rd place game on Saturday.

 In a very exciting game, Illini Bluffs beat Havana 60-57 as they came down to the last second of the game.  Huber played very well, for Havana, with 20 points and Jones hit 11.  Taylor McClintock scored 29, for the Tigers, in the nail-biter and will get a chance to face a strong defense on Saturday night in the championship game.

12/27/12 In the second round of the Lady Tiger Tournament, Brown Co. defeated North Fulton 48-35.  Markert led the Hornets with 17 points and Yingling had one of her better games with 12.  The Hornets shot 28% from the field and 52% from the free throw lines with 22 turnovers.  Lexi Peterson scored 12 for the Wildcats and Savannah Noe 9 as North Fulton fell to 2-12 on the year.  They hit 13 of 45 from the field and 6 of 14 free throws with 26 turnovers

Griggsville Perry played better in day two than they did in the opener but, they lost to Beardstown 50-17.  Craven led the way for the Tornadoes with 11 points.  Harris scored 16 for the Tigers and Rawlins played well with 15.

Havana defeated Illini West on a last second shot by Hughes after turning the ball over for a game leading shot with 3.9 seconds left.  Bastert got the steal and the final basket for the Chargers and led the way with 10 points over all.  Nine of the Illini West players  hit the scoring column as they shot 31% and hit 46% of their free throws.  They had 25 turnovers in the loss.  Havana got well rounded scoring as Huber scored 10, Hughes 8, Boyce 8 and Jones 8.  They shot 31% of their shots, 60% of their charity stripe shots and had 22 turnovers as well.  It was obviously a controversial call but, in my opinion, was correct.

West Central beat West Hancock 52-40 to move on to the semi-final game in the championship bracket.  Carmody (16), Bettis (11) and Abby Lashmett (10) hit double digits in the win and Megan Lashmett scored 8.  The Cougars shot 40% in the win and hit 3 of 5 free throws with 25 turnovers.  The Titans also had three players, Dewald (12), Koehler (10) and Hammel (10) in the loss.  They shot 34% from the field, 37.5 from the line and had 26 turnovers in the game.

The #2 seed, Canton Lady Giants won a 63-48 decision over the Bombers of Macomb to move to the semi-finals where they will take on the West Central Cougars.  Kumer (26) and Churchill (18) were especially strong in the win as 7 Canton players scored in the win.  37% from the field and 39% from the line with 17 turnovers was good enough to secure the win.  Nine of the Bombers scored as Macomb fell to 9-9.  Saddler had a good scoring day with 18 points and Sullivan added 7.  They hit 43% of their shots and only 21% of their free throws with 29 turnovers.

Illini Bluffs came into the tournament as the #1 rated team and played well in their 65-44 win over Liberty.  Taylor McClintock scored 30 and Jaycee Johnson 12 in the win.  56% shooting  with 75% free throw shooting with 19 turnovers was good enough for the win and a date in the semi-final round against the Havana Ducks. Hyer led the Eagles with 11 points as 8 Liberty players scored in the game. Liberty only hit 33% of their shots and 43% of their free throws with 27 turnovers.  

12/26/12 Day one of the 31st annual Beardstown Lady Tiger Classic is in the books.  In the High School Gym, Macomb got out quickly, set the pace of the game and won 73-19 over the Cougars of Illini Central.  Gilley had 17, Mueller 16 and Sullivan 12 to lead 9 Bombers in the scoring column.  They shot 53% from the field and from the line and had 13 turnovers in the win.  Illini Central was led by Paskach with 8 and Bradshaw with 7 as they shot 22% from the field and 33% from the line with 37 turnovers in the loss.  Macomb is 8-8 and Illini Central 0-12.

In game #2, Brown County played very well early and led for the first 2 1/2 quarters before they surrendered the lead and finally the game in a 46-39 loss to Illini West.  Markert scored 30 of the 39 points put up by the Hornets as she hit 14 in the first half and 16 in the second half in a well-rounded game.  The Hornets show 46% from the field and 47% from the line with 43 turnovers which cost them the game.  The Chargers got 16 from Bastert and 8 from Gronewold in the come from behind win.  They hit 33% of their shots and 56% from the line with 18 turnovers. 

Macomb defeated Farmington 78-51 as they lead every quarter of the game.  Saddler had 14, Sullivan 12 Hare 11 in the win. They hit 7 of 11 from the charity stripe.  For Farmington, they got 19 from Danley and 16 from Putrich and could only hit 12 of 24 free throws in the loss.  Farmington will take on Triopia tomorrow and Macomb will face the #2 seed Canton.

Illini West trailed Routt Catholic for 3 quarters and tied them at 32 in regulation.  The final score in overtime was the Chargers 41 and Routt 37.  White stepped up with 12 points in the win as Illini West shot 39% from the field and 6 for 10 from the line.  They had 21 turnovers in the game.  Routt came up short on their free throw shooting and could have won the game in 4 quarters.  They only hit 6 of 13 attempts  and had 18 turnovers in the loss with 33% shooting from the field.  Routt will face Pittsfield tomorrow in tough match up and will need to re-group.  They are 9-3 on the season. It was the 2nd come from behind win for Illini West and they will need to get past Havana in their next game. 

In the most one-sided game of the day, Pleasant Plains defeated Griggsville-Perry 52-1 as 12 of the Cardinals scored in the game.  Clouser led the way with 9 points as they only had 6 turnovers while forcing 22 on the Tornadoes.  The Tornadoes are 2-9 on the year and the win improved Plains to 9-5 and a match up with the West Central Cougars in round two.

Lewistown defeated White Hall North Greene 41-24 to earn the right to play the #1 seed in the second round.  Battefeld had 13 points to lead the Indians as 8 players hit the scoring column in the win.  Lewistown had 3 treys and hit 6 of 15 from the free throw line.  WHNG only had 6 of 16 free throws and were led in scoring by Elliott with 6 points.

Pleasant Plains and West Central played at 6:30 and were tied at 24 at half time.  The cougars led 44-38 after 3 quarters and won the game 53-48.  Yakel led the Cardinals with 12 points and Pankey scored 10.  Plains shot 34% in the loss and did a nice job from the line as they knocked down 10 of 13.  They had 15 turnovers and forced 22 on the Cougars.  Abby Lashmett had a nice game with 21 points and Megan Lashmett hit double figures with 15.  Carmody also had 8 points as the Cougars hit 51% of their shots and 54% of their free throws.  West Central will have a tough match up with West Hancock tomorrow as they hope to advance in the winners bracket.  It will be a 3:30 game in the high school gym.  

In the final game of the night in the High School Gym, the #1 seed Illini Bluffs Tigers defeated a scrappy Lewistown club 74-57.  The Indians played well and Battefeld in spite of some foul trouble finished the game with 25 points. LeGrande came in off the bench with 12 points also as Lewistown shot 37% from the field and only 38'% from the charity stripe.  They had 21 turnovers in the loss also.   Taylor McClintock led the Tigers with 24 and her sister, Sydney, had 16 as the freshman was impressive in her style of play.  Nine players hit the floor for the Tigers and all 9 scored in the game.  They hit 46% of their shots and 68% of their free throws with 15 turnovers.  They will play Liberty tomorrow night in the final game of the day in the high school gym.  They are 15 and 1 on the year with their only loss coming at the hands of Rock Island, a 4A ball club.  

12/22/12 It wasn't a pretty game today, between Triopia and Lewistown, but the Trojans posted the 38-30 win and improved to 5-1 on the year.  The loss dropped the Indians to 1-10 as they stayed with Triopia and came up a little short in the end.  Both teams shot 26% (11-42) and were relatively even with turnovers as Triopia  had 12 and Lewistown 16.  The difference in the game came at the free throw line as the aggressive Trojans made 13 of 17 (76%) while the Indians only shot 6 and made 4 of them.  Triopia continually took the ball inside and drew the fouls to force the issue.  Burdess led the Indians with 13 points while Ebert hit for 8. Triopia got 24 from Huddleston as he hit 11 of 15 from the charity stripe.  Halsne added 6 points and good play from the point guard position.  Triopia will play in the Waverly Holiday Tournament and at the Winchester Invitational Tournament in January. 
12/21/12 The Routt Catholic girl's basketball team improved to 9-2 with their 58-34 win over White Hall North Greene.  Jennings led the Spartans with 10 points and Elliott scored 8 as the turnovers got WHNG in trouble and put them in a hole they could not get out of. The Spartans hit 31% of their shots and only shot 2 free throws while Routt shot 27.  The Rockets continually took the ball into the paint and drew the fouls and made 14 of their attempts.  Routt shot 39% from the field and 52% from the line.  Garde and Tonry led the way again with 25 points and 19 points respectively.  Routt forced the 33 turnovers and only committed 12 of their own and that is part of their formula for winning games.  Their next game will be against either Illini West or Brown County at 2:00 on the 26th at the Lady Tiger.

White North Greene boy's team played a competitive first half and only trailed Routt 22-20 at the intermission.  They were out scored 20 to 7 in the 3rd and never recovered as the final score showed Routt on top 59-39.  They improved to 7-1 with the win and the Spartans dropped to 4-4.  Twelve turnovers in the second half hurt WHNG and the Rocket defense made them work hard for their shots.  Rusten scored 16, Vincent 11, Davis 8 and Roesch 3 in the Spartan loss.  They shot 30% in the game and hit 57% of their free throws.  Routt averages 52 points a game only allows 36 so they were right on average tonight.  Ketcham was the leading scorer for the Rockets as he scored 12 from the field and 10 from the charity stripe.  He earned the start with his 6 point game against Mendon and by tying the score 47-47 with only 7 seconds left in the game.  Lindsey scored 12 and Strelau came in off of the bench with 7.  Eight Rockets scored in the game as they hit 40% of their shots from the field and 72% from the line.  They have a nice inside-outside game and are playing very good defense as they led in every quarter tonight.   

12/19/12 Coach Gale Thoroman won his 400th high school basketball game tonight as Routt Catholic trailed for 90 per cent of their game with Mendon Unity and came back to win 48-47.  The Mustangs had the ball with .07 seconds left and turned it over as they crossed the time line, then fouled Brent Long who made the second of a 2 shot foul.  There were only 1.7 seconds left and Mendon could not get off a shot.  Routt improved to 6-1 with the win and will take on White Hall North Greene on Friday night at the Routt Dome.  Blickhan led the Mustangs with 15 points and an all around good game.  Davis added 8, Thomas Donley 7 and Klusmeyer 7 in the loss as Unity dropped to 8-5 on the season. This is a good fundamentally strong team that shot 45% from the field, 60% from the line and had 14 turnovers.  Routt hit 17 of 41 shots for 41%, 17 of 20 from the free throw line which helped them win the game and had 17 turnovers in the win.  Long finished with 16 points, Lindsey tallied 12 and 5 other Rockets scored in the game.

West Central started out slowly again tonight but came alive in the 3rd quarter and got out of the Bruner Center with a 50-34 win over South Fork-Kincaid.  Steven Schmidt led the Ponies with 16 points and Crowder had 9 in their loss.  They hit 44% from the filed and only shot 4 free throws in the game while the Cougars shot 24.  West Central had 7 players in the scoring column as Barnett scored 13 of his 15 points in the 2nd half. Devlin had 11, VanDeVelde 10 and Bettis knocked downs 3 treys for his 9 points.  The Cougars shot 39% from the floor, 62% from the free throw line and had 16 turnovers with 11 in the first half and only 5 in the second half when they made their run.  With the win, West Central is 10-2 on the season with their only losses coming at the hands of Springfield Lutheran (OT) and Pittsfield.     

12/17/12 West Central girl's basketball improved to 8-2 with their 52-26 win over the Lady Triopia Trojans @ Winchester.  The Cougars had just too much fire power and led at every quarter. Triopia fell to 6-5 with the loss.  They were led by Sayre with 11, Washington added 7 and Musch 6.  Carls rounded out the scoring with 2 points.  Triopia shot 23% from the field, 57% from the free throw line and had 25 turnovers in the game.  Carmody led the Cougars with 15 points in spite of 4 early fouls.  Abby Lashmett was strong inside with 13 points and she did a nice job of denying the high-low post game of Triopia.  Hurrelbrink (7), Megan Lashmett (6), Kilver (5), Bettis (4) and Kayla Moore (40 put up a well-rounded offense for the win.  West Central hit 37% of their shots with 58% free throws and they also had too many turnovers (22) in spite of the win.  West Central is #6 in the up-coming Lady Tiger and Triopia will enter the tournament as the #15 seed. 
12/13/12 While the Routt girl's basketball game tonight may be a preview of their roster and line up for the balance of the year, we can only give them a great deal of credit for their play.  Gross and Halpin have been out for the last 4 games where the Rockets went 3-1 and are getting good effort from players who are filling in for the missing starters.  Garde stepped up with 23 again tonight and Tonry tossed in 12.  Birdsell did a good job tonight as she scored 8 points and Langdon finished with 4.  Dietrich was 0 for 3 from long range but I applaud her effort as the Rockets know they are going to have to get more players involved in the offense.  Routt shot 37% from the field and only 55% from the free throw line with 16 turnovers.  They led at all quarters and withstood a strong surge by the Trojans in the 4th quarter to hold on and win.  Auburn came in with a 4-5 record and a young team who refused to give up.  They were down by 10 heading into the 4th quarter and closed it to a 1 point game before falling 47-40 in the final score.  Jenkins led the way with 12 points while Annie Jessup and Pacini added 7 each.  Abbie Jessup came in off of the bench with 6 points as the Trojans showed they are scrappy and will not go away.  They also shot 37% in the game and only 40% from the free throw line.  They turned it over 29 times and that was the major part of their losing effort. Routt puts the pressure on defensively and have an 8-2 record to show for their effort.  
12/11/12 Last night Calhoun traveled to West Central in a WIVC boys basketball match up.  These two teams are complete opposites of each other in the terms that Calhoun was only getting ready to play their 3rd game of the season.  This game got off to a slow start for the Cougars as they struggled a lot on the defensive side of the ball.  Calhoun took advantage of this and it allowed them to keep the game close most of the 1st half.  Finally though, West Central’s defense came to life and Calhoun just did not have an answer for it other than to shoot 3-pointers and then battle it out for the rebound on a miss.  West Central would end up coming away with the 67-44 victory.  Calhoun was led in scoring by Mitchell Bick’s 15 points while West Centrals’ Colin VanDeVelde led all scorers with 16 points on the night.  Calhoun’s Gus Baalman is a 6’3 Sophomore who I saw a lot of potential in tonight, though he was over matched on the inside by the experience of Corey Barnett.  Baalman tried multiple times to get around Barnett but he just was always a half step behind.  Give it a couple of years and Baalman may become one big force for anyone to deal with underneath.
12/10/12 Routt Catholic girls are waiting for the return of 2 of their leading scorers (Halpin & Gross)  but are taking care of business in the mean time.  They defeated a very tall Brown County Hornet team tonight 64-53, in spite of 35 points from the very talented Vanessa Markert.  She is 6' 2" tall and knows her position well as she is strong down in the paint.  She also had some help from 6' 0" Jenna Yingling who contributed 10 points.  The tallest starter for Routt was 5' 8" and they tried, unsuccessfully, to deny the ball inside.  Markert hit 16 of 24 shots from the field and 3 of 4 from the free throw line with 5 blocks.  The Hornets hit 44% from the field and 83% from the line but their downfall started with their 30 turnovers.  For Routt, they got another big night from Garde and Tonry who hit 30 and 21 respectively for 51 of the 64 Rocket points.  Langdon hit 3, Nix 3, Langdon 6 and Birdsell 1 as the Rockets improved to 7-1 on the year.  Routt shot 43% from the field, 74% from the free throw line and only turned the ball over 10 times so they were plus 20 on the turnovers with a good night of defense.  They will take on a bigger school, O'Fallon, in a road game tomorrow and Auburn on Thursday.    
12/8/12 All wins are good ones when it comes to sporting events but, the win today for Routt Catholic girls basketball, over the Athens Warriors was especially good.  Routt came into the game with 2 of their 3 leading scorers not able to play due to knee injuries. They were giving up 10 points (Halpin) and 16.5 points (Gross) per game and were undersized in the paint.  Jarrard (6" 0") and Kern (5' 10") had the advantage over the Rockets whose biggest player was 5' 8" tall.  Good guard play and solid defense kept the Rockets ahead for the bulk of the game and they came away with a 46-30 win as they improved to 6-1 on the year.  Garde led the Rockets with 24 points and Tonry tossed in 16 while Dietrich (2), Langdon (2), Spaulding (1) and Nix (1) rounded out the scoring.  Routt shot 12 for 32 from the field, 18 for 34 from the line and had 15 turnovers in the win.  The Warriors got 10 from Kern and 8 from Jarrard while Nordsiek scored 5, Andel 4 and Penrod 3 in the loss.  With the loss, Athens fell to 3-8 on the year.  They had 22 turnovers in the game, shot 32% from the field and only hit 5 of 14 free throws.  They just didn't take advantage of their size and Langdon did a masterful job on defense as she gave up 6 inches to Jarrard and held her to only 8 points.   Next up for the Rockets will be the MRI's for Gross and Halpin on Monday and Tuesday and the Brown County Hornets in a conference game Monday night.
12/7/12 Tonight the Triopia Trojans traveled to Liberty to take on a very tough Eagles ball club.  The 1st half would be played very well on both sides with each going on runs throughout the half with Liberty picking up the final run of the half.  But in the 3rd quarter, Triopia could not find a way to get their offense going against a very tough Eagles defense, which would prove to be the biggest factor in the contest as Liberty would come away with the 56-45 victory.  Tanner Huddleston really carried this Triopia team in the 2nd quarter tonight as he realized Liberty wasn’t stopping him so he took full advantage of that to give his team momentum.  Then in the 2nd half, Chase Halsne’s work on defense created a lot of turnovers against Liberty.  The Trojans ultimately struggled with rebounding on both sides of the ball and that no one can afford to do against this Liberty team.  Michael Blewett led Liberty with 20 points tonight while Tanner Huddleston led Triopia with 17 points of his own.  Hopefully Triopia can learn from this game tonight and they can find a way to really build upon this strong foundation that have going for them early in the season.
12/6/12 Winchester took a 27-0 record into tonight's championship game in 7-2A girl's basketball against the 20-2 Saints of Bloomington Holy Trinity.  The lost a 30-18 decision and finished 2nd place in the state.  It was a wonderful year for the Wolverines and they were under sized in their game tonight.  The Saints owned the boards on both ends of the floor and hit 14 of 44 shots in their win.  They also had 14 turnovers and only hit 2 of 12 free throws but, their rebounding was just too much for Winchester.  The Wolverines also had their leading scorer in foul trouble with 3 in the first quarter and she (Kaufmann) only ended up with 3 points on the night.  Winchester hit 7 of 30 shots from the field and only 1 of 5 from the charity stripe with 14 turnovers in their loss.  The leading scorer of the night was Loeffler for the Saints as she was dominant (16 points) at both ends of the floor.  The Saints had 7 players in the scoring column and were the best team tonight. Maddie Lashmett (8), Little (2), Cannon (3) Fearneyhough (2) and  Kauffmann (3) rounded out the scoring for the Wolverines.  27-1 and a second place finish in the state is a major accomplishment for Winchester and something they should be very proud of.  They played in front of a large, appreciative crowd tonight at Leroy.    
12/3/12 Routt Catholic and Greenfield's girls entered tonight's basketball game not really knowing what to expect.  Routt was 3-1 and the Tigers 0-6 due to having some of their key players ineligible for 4 of the 6 losses.  As it turned out, Routt was the more polished of the two teams and won rather easily 64-22 as they dominated on both ends of the floor.  Greenfield only hit 7 of 47 shots and 7 of 16 free throws with 32 turnovers and that is a tough way to win a game.  Liz Bishop led the Tigers with 6 points.  Routt hit 40% of their shots and 71% of their free throws with only 10 turnovers as they led through all 4 quarters.  Halpin (18), Gross (15), Garde (14) and Tonry (12) spread the ball around and were hard to defend.  Birdsell added 2, Langdon 2 and Dietrich 1 to finish off the scoring.  Routt will take on Springfield Lutheran on Thursday and Athens on Saturday to finish off the week.  
12/1/12 Our Saviour School made it to the elite 8 in 7-1A state basketball and was defeated by Sigel St. Michael 35-21.  Early foul trouble hurt the Shamrocks as they need Abell to fend off Jansen from the Sharpshooters.  Jansen scored 7 points in the first quarter with Abell on the bench with 2 fouls and the Shamrocks never recovered.  Schmidt came in with 6 points off of the bench and played a nice game. Tobin added 3 and Abell 2.  Too many turnovers (15) hurt OSS also and they were only able to hit 7 of 35 shots against the pressure defense of Sigel St. Michael.  Martin led the Shamrocks with 10 of the 21 points in the loss as they hit 7 of 12 from the free throw line.  Jolene Bueker led the Sharpshooters with 11 points while Schumaker and Jansen added 9 each. Niebrugge added 4 points and Sadie Bueker 2 points in a reserve role.  They hit 36% of their shots, 50% of their free throws and only turned the ball over 8 times in the win. Sigel St. Michael will play Danville Schlarman in the semi-final round.  

Winchester defeated Bismarck-Henning in the Elite 8 for 7-2A girls basketball from Leroy.  They played Kinderhook-Western in the semi-final round and came from behind to win the 31-25 battle.  The Wolverines hit 8 points in the 4th quarter while shutting out the Wildcats.  Ford the Cats, Borrowman had 11 points, Melton 9, Fry 3 and McKee 2 as they finished their season with a 14-5 mark.  They shot 10 for 23 from the field and 4 for 6 from the line with 19 turnovers.  Kauffmann led the Wolverines with 23 of the 31 points including 5 treys.  Maddie Lashmett added 4, Cannon 2 and Fearneyhough 2 in the victory.  They hit 10 of 36 field goals, 6 of 10 free throws and did a nice job of taking care of the ball with only 6 turnovers in the game.  The Wolverines will play Bloomington Holy Trinity on Thursday night. Winchester will take a 27-0 mark into the championship and face the 20 and 2 Saints. 

11/30/12 It was a tough, defensive struggle tonight, especially early in the game between Routt Catholic boys and Springfield Lutheran in basketball.  The final score was a 10 point win (46-36) for the Rockets but it did not come easily.  Routt also lost Long to a lip laceration late in the game which is a key loss.  Lutheran came into the game with a 5 wins and 0 losses and played very good defense for most of the game but, their 21 turnovers was likely the key to their first loss of the season.  Wofford scored 11 and Page 10 to lead the Crusaders however, their 25% shooting didn't help their cause.  They did hit 18 of 26 free throws but only 8 field goals in the game won't get the job done.  Routt only turned the ball over 7 times in the first half and 4 times in the second half in their win.  They hit 11 of 16 free throws and 15 of 39 shots from the field.  Lindsey scored 24 points and Long 14 to lead the way.  Lonergan added 6 and Stremlau 2 in the first game of the season for Routt.  The Rocket defense was impressive and I think they will play a major role in the WIVC this season , especially if they can get Brent Long back relatively soon. 
11/29/12 Routt Catholic girls basketball was 2-1 heading into tonight's game with Triopia and had a short history of starting slowly. They corrected that tonight with a 20-2 first quarter lead and increased it to 32-5 at half time.  The final score was 55-21 as the Rockets never lost control of the game.  Triopia shot 21% from the field, 0 for 3 from the free throw line and turned the ball over 27 times in the loss.  They fell to 3-2 on the year and continue to work on finding some steady scoring on the year.  Routt had 9 players in the scoring column as Halpin led the way (13) and Garde hit double figures (11 ) as well.  They shot 38% from the field, 88% (14-16) from line with only 9 turnovers in the win.  The only down side of the Routt game was this time they started fast  and slowed down as opposed to starting slowly and picking up the pace.  A win is a win but the Rockets are striving for 4 solid quarters of basketball and have shown they have the talent to get it done.
11/26/12 In a much anticipated early season game, the Lady Rockets of Routt Catholic played host to one of their arch rivals, the Lady Cougars of West Central.  The final score was 57-51 in favor of the Rockets but, it was a very hotly contested game.  The Cougars put up 26 3-point shots tonight and made 5 of them. This is a team with the potential to take the ball to the inside behind the talented post player, Abby Lashmett, but Routt's defense was designed to make the Cougars shoot the  long ball and the strategy worked for this one game at least.  Routt took the more conventional approach with 8 treys and came from behind to post the win.  Lashmett had 19 points, Carmody 15, Kilver 9, Bettis 5 and Hurrelbrink 3 in the loss.  They shot 18 of 48 from the field and 9 of 13 from the line.  Their bad number was 20 turnovers.  Gross scored 18, Halpin 17, Garde 11, Tonry 8 and Langdon 3 as the Rockets spread the ball around well. They hit 35% of their shots with 14 of 21 free throws and 14 turnovers in the win.  Routt is 2-1 and West Central 3-1 after tonight's action.  These are couple of good teams who will win a lot of regular season games.  
11/24/12 New Berlin and West Central played their game tonight, at the Gene Bergschneider Turkey Tournament, for second place They knew that Lutheran had already locked down the championship. It was a solid battle that the Cougars won 44-40 as they out scored the Pretzels 10-6 in the 4th quarter in a defensive struggle.  Boehs and Corey Barnett led the offense with 12 points each and Devlin (who made the all tournament team) finished with 8 points.  They shot 17 for 32 from the field and 9 for 11 from the free throw line with only 8 turnovers in the game. The Pretzels played equally well with 20 points from Gustafson and 8 points from McDonald.  They hit 12 of 28 shots from the field and 11 of 13 from the free throw line with 12 turnovers.  Longhta and Gustafson both made the all-tournament also.  

In the second game of the final night of the New Berlin tournament, Rushville-Industry came in short-handed against a good Raymond-Lincolnwood team.  Mason Plater had been injured in the Friday night game and Manning Plater came down with a fever and was not able to play.  They hit 10 of 33 shots and 9 of 18 free throws with 14 turnovers in the loss.  Gardner had his best night of the week with 12 points while Kettering scored 9 and Jones 8 in the loss.  They finished the week with an 0-5 record but have better things ahead.  The Lancers got what they wanted with their first win of the year as they beat Rushville 50-33.  Krager (all-tournament) led the way with 16 points, Snyder 14 and Brockmeier 10 points in the win. They knocked down 48.6% of their shots and 71% of their shots from the charity stripe.  The down side was 19 turnovers but they ended the tournament with 1 win and 4 losses.

The first game of the night was a championship game for the Lutheran Crusdaders as they came in with a 4-0 record and all they had to do was beat Carlinvile for the title.  Sounds easy as the Cavaliers were only 2-2 in the tournament but, if you had been there all week long you would know this is a very scrappy Carlinville team and beating them was not going to be easy. The final score proved exactly that  as the Crusaders hung on for the 41-40 win.  The Cavaliers had two chances at the end to pull out the victory but couldn't finish it off.  It was a fun  game and the Crusaders earned their championship.  The Cavaliers spread the ball around well as Easterday scored 9, Butcher 8, Kleeman 8 and Barber 8 with their leading scorer, Barry Stewart, scoring 4. Carlinville shot 35% from the filed and 57% from the line with 19 turnovers.  Lutheran also had 4 players in the scoring column with Page (12) leading the way while Wofford scored 10, Schahl 8 and Ryan Kirby 7.  Lutheran hit 35% of their shots, 50% of their free throws and 20 turnovers, but they also own the championship for 2012.  

The all-tournament team consists of Austin Jones of Rushville Industry, Noah Krager of Raymond-Lincolnwood, Barry Stewart of Carlinville, Zach Longhta and Eric Gustafson of New Berlin, Jackson Page and Pierson Wofford of Springfield Lutheran, and Tyler Devlin of West Central.     

11/23/12 New Berlin came into tonight's 4th round of the Gene Berschneider Turkey Tournament with a 2-1 record and a hope they could win so they could take 3-1 record into their game with West Central tomorrow night.  They got it done as they knocked off Raymond-Lincolnwood 60-42.  The win gives them a chance to be into the title picture for their own tournament.  The Lancers, in the meantime, are 0-4 and will have to drop the Rushville Industry Rockets to get their first win.  For the Lancers, Snyder led the way with 15 points and Brockmeyer followed with 12 points.  Sale played one of his better game with 6 points and Pope came in with 6 points off of the bench.  They shot 32% in the game with 72% of their free throws and 19 turnovers.  As for the Pretzels, Hunt played very well with 23 points while Longhta added 13, Hodson 9, Gustafson 7 and McDonald 7.  43% shooting helped the Pretzels win and 85% free throw shooting was impressive as well as the 10 turnovers.

Rushville-Industry felt that Carlinville and Raymond-Lincolnwood were two teams they could defeat in their 5 games in the tournament.  They based it partly on their great effort and 3 quarter lead over the West Central Cougars.  They were out shot 62% to 29% in the first quarter and trailed 22-8 and never took the lead.  The Rockets left the game with an 0-4 record and a 51-38 loss to Carlinville and has one more chance tomorrow to get that elusive first win.  Jones shot 17 times with 6 free throw attempts to end up scoring 12 points to lead the Rockets.  Mason Plater added 11 points on 14 shots and Manning Plater had 10 points on 11 shots as the Rockets hit 13 of 52 shots for 25%. They shot 56% from the free throw and turned the ball over just 8 times in the loss.  Carlinville did the right thing at the right time tonight and did not give up the lead in any quarter. Kleeman played well with 18 points, Easterday had another good game with 9 points, McCaherty 8 points in the first quarter as 7 of the Cavaliers scored in the game.  They hit 51% of their shots, 69% of their free throws and finished with 15 turnovers and a 2-2 mark in the tournament.  They will have the task of trying to up-end the Crusaders on Saturday night to finish 3-2.

Night four of the Gene Bergschneider tournament started off with a bang as Lutheran defeated West Central 47-43 in overtime in a very exciting game.  It was physical, combative and very competitive all night long.  Corey Barnett was the strongest physical player on the court and played a very nice game with his 18 points.  He was intimidating and controlled the inside game from the first points to the moment he fouled out.  Boehs is playing good basketball in the tournament, scored 14 points, and is invaluable on both ends of the floor. West Central scored on 13 of 39 from the field, 15 of 23 from the line and had 13 turnovers in the loss.  They came from behind in their first three wins but couldn't do it tonight and it will be fun to watch them play New Berlin tomorrow night.  Lutheran got dominated in the first quarter and was trailing 12-5 and it looked like they were going to systematically get beaten.  Steve Allen and his coaching staff made the right adjustments and tied the game 34-34 at the end of regulation.  They hit 2 of 2 in the overtime period and hit 8 of 12 from the free throw line. Seven players scored for the Crusaders as they shot 42% from the field 57% from the line and over came 18 turnovers.  If these two teams played again, it would be difficult to predict who would come out on top.  It was just a fun game and while some of the fans were upset with the officiating, it never looked one-sided to me but, it did look like a hard game to call because this was a couple of teams full of good athletes who were going at each other.       

11/21/12 As well as New Berlin has been playing in the tournament, they could not get the offense going tonight against the Springfield Lutheran defense.  The final score had the Crusaders on top 42-30 as they stayed tied with West Central as one of the two undefeated teams.  Wofford was dominating with his 21 points and Hennig came in off of the bench with 2 treys.  They hit 14 of 28 shots for 50% and 10 of 18 free throws with 11 turnovers in the first half and only 4 in the second half.  Longhta scored 8 to lead the Pretzels while McDonald scored 6, Hunt and Minder 5 and Gustafson, who was averaging 21 per game, scored just 4. Springfield Lutheran will play West Central on Friday.  New Berlin had an 11 for 37 night for 29% and 4 for 10 in free throws.

Rushville-Industry entered tonight's game with an 0-2 record and were outscored 113 to 76.  They led for 3 quarters tonight and lost a 48-36 decision to West Central.  Jones had 4 treys in the first half and finished the game with 13 points.  Manning Plater scored 8 and Mason Plater 6 in the loss.  The Rockets hit 14 of 29 shots for 48% and just 1 of 9 free throws in the game.  After only 6 turnovers in the first half, they turned it over 10 more times in the second half.  Corey Barnett owned the inside and scored 17 points tonight while Devlin knocked down 13.  VanDeVelde had 9 points and Boehs 5 in the win.  They were 18 of 46 for 39% from the field, 7 of 10 from the line and only had 6 turnovers as they did a great job of taking care of the ball.  This is the third game in a row the Cougars trailed early and came back for the win. 

In the opening game of the Gene Bergschneider Tournament this evening the Carlinville Cavaliers took care of the Raymond Lincolnwood Lancers 70-42 in a wider margin than most fans thought it would be.  Snyder led the Lancers with 15 and no one else had double digits in the loss.  Lincolnwood was 11 for 39 with a 17 for 29 free throw night and 15 turnovers.  Carlinville spread the ball around well as Easterday had 12, Marchiori 12, Kleeman 11 , Stewart 11 and Butcher 9.  Nine Cavaliers scored in the game as they hit 30 of 49 shots and 9 of 16 free throws.  They turned the ball over 12 times and looked good through out the game as they never trailed.   

11/20/12 On paper, it looked like the New Berlin and Carlinville game would be close but the Pretzels had a different idea and won the game on cruise control at 57-38.  New Berlin joins West Central and Springfield Lutheran at 2-0 in the Gene Bergschneider Turkey Tournament.  Rushville-Industry, Carlinville and Raymond-Lincolnwood are all 0-2.  Kleeman led the Cavaliers with 12 points while Stewart added 8 and Siegel 6 in the loss. Carlinville shot 44% from the field, 28.5% from the line and turned the ball over 18 times.  For the Pretzels, Gustafson had another nice game with 20 points, Hodson 14, Longhta 7, Hunt 5, McDonald 4, Finke 4 and Minder 3 while shooting 56% from the field, 73% from the line and they finished with 16 turnovers. 

West Central had a harder time with Raymond-Lincolnwood than you would expect as they held on for the 48-43 win.  This was another one of those character building games as the Cougars two wins have not come easily.  Krager scored 21 for the Lancers in a losing cause.  Brockmeyer added 9, Snyder 6, Pope had 4 and Braham 3.  The Lancers shot 38% from the field, 56% from the free throw line and had 18 turnovers but had to feel very good about their effort tonight.  Devlin had 17, Boehs 9, Slagle 7, VanDeVelde 6, Corey Barnett 5 and Bettis 3 and the Cougar defense had as much to do with their win as their offense. They shot 48.6 from the field, 69.5 from the charity stripe and only had 7 turnovers as they did a great job of taking care of the ball. 

Springfield Lutheran took charge in the third quarter against Rushville-Industry tonight as they won the 46-34 battle.  Kirby, Schahl and Page all scored 8 points and Wofford led the way with 15 points as the Crusaders spread the ball around. The hit 48% of their shots and 62% of their free throws.  They had 14 turnovers in the win.  R-I played a close first half again but just couldn't stay close in the second half as their 1 for 6 shooting in the third put them in a hole.  Jones hit 14 points and Manning Plater 10 to lead the "Rockets.  Mason Plater added 5 points but R-I could only shoot 32% from the field, with 16 turnovers and 7 for 10 from the free throw line.  The Rockets will face West Central tomorrow night and will be severely challenged once again as they look for their first win of the season.     

11/19/12 In the final game of the first night of the Gene Bergschneider Turkey Tournament, New Berlin played a nice second half and got away from Rushville-Industry who had tied them 22-22 at half time.  The final score was 56-38 as the third quarter made all of the difference in the win.  The Pretzels were 7 of 17 in the quarter while the Rockets were 2 of 7 and New Berlin never looked back.  Gustafson had a nice game with 22 points, McDonald 11, Longhta 9, Minder 5, Hunt 5 and Hodson 4.  They shot 44% from the field and 80% from the free throw line with only 11 turnovers.  Rushville-Industry got off to a nice start and stayed even through 2 quarters but failed to keep up with the Pretzels intensity in the 3rd and had too many turnovers (21) in the loss.  They started out with an inside game and reverted back to their familiar style of too many outside shots and will have to regroup before their game with Springfield Lutheran tomorrow night.  Manning Plater, Johnny Kettering and Brady Crane all had 6 points and Jones led the way with 10 points but they just didn't play strong enough physically to stay with the Pretzels.  They show some talent and depth but they need to work hard to get it together as their are some strong teams in this year's tournament.

Springfield Lutheran did not do anything special tonight but they played pretty steady ball and led at every quarter as they knocked off Raymond-Lincolnwood 40-31.  Wofford was active with 10 points, Page 9, Schahl 8, Kirby 6 and Hennig 6 as the Crusaders got well rounded scoring and were more aggressive than the Lancers in the win. They shot 47% from the field and 42% from the line with too many (25) turnovers in the win. They will have an interesting game with R-I tomorrow night.  The Lancers shot 34% from the field and 70% from the line with 26 turnovers.  Brockmeyer played well with 16 points while Snyder had 6 and Graham 4 in the loss.  Raymond-Lincolnwood will have their hands full with West Central tomorrow and are going to have to step it up.

West Central struggled early tonight and were down 11-0 and 17-3 before they got it going and took a half time lead 25-20. After getting tied 44-44 late they got 2 of 3 free throws from VanDeVelde to post the 46-44 win.  Devlin led the Cougars with 14 while Boehs and Bettis added 9 each.  VanDeVelde made 7 points including the two big free throws with 1.1 seconds left on the clock.  The Cougars shot 37% in the game and 48% from the free throw line with 20 turnovers and you will normally lose those games.  Carlinville got off to a great start and lost their intensity for some reason and trailed 33-28 gong into the 4th quarter. Easterday (7) Kleeman (4) and Stewart (5) came alive late in the 4th and they almost pulled off a very big win.  Stewart finished with 18, Kleeman 8 and Easterday 8 as the Cavaliers shot 47% from the field and 50% from the free throw line.  They had 17 turnovers in the first half and caused themselves a lot of problems.  They forced 9 in the second half and only committed four of their own to get back into the game.  This Carlinville team may cause some problems before the tournament is over.          

11/17/12 Triopia's football season came to an end today at the hands of a very strong Maroa-Forsythe team 40-12.  Triopia had a solid season with wins over Moweaqua A & M and Leroy and their only losses at the hands of Central Southeastern (2A) and Maroa-Forsythe (2A) so they don't need to hang their heads.  It was a very nice accomplishment and something to be proud of. Today M-F stepped up big with nearly 400 yards of offense and came with a 2-headed attack as Bond (on the ground) and Hockaday (through the air) were hard to stop.  Bond finished with 13 carries, 105 yards and 4 touchdowns.  Hockaday was 16 for 21 for 199 yards in the win and he did a nice job of running the offense for his team.  Zilz had 6 catches for 93 yards, Fredericksen 3 for 41 and a TD, Ascherman 4 for 46 and Martin 2 for 23.  M-F fumbled 3 times and lost 2 of them and had3 penalties for 30 yards.  Schone carried only 13 times today for 46 yards which put him at 1,017 for the season as he ended his high school career.  He has an injured shoulder or collar bone and missed most of the 2nd half.  Parker carried 11 times for 46 yards and Huddleston 10 times for 54 yards.  He also was 5 for 10 in passes (1 interception) for 55 yards.  The Triopia Trojans put the ball on the ground 3 times and lost 2 of them.  They had 1 penalty for 10 yards and played M-F even in the second half of the game.  They ended their year with 11 wins and 2 losses while the Trojans of M-F are now 12-1 and will play Stockton for the state title on Friday in Champaign.  We can add another good season for Triopia as they add the results to their excellent legacy.
11/15/12 Tonight was a match up in girl's basketball between two of the taller talented players in the area.  Triopia was playing Beardstown and Washington (6'0") and Harris (6'0") faced each other and it was a good battle.  Both players blocked 2 shots  and Washington scored 12 while Harris scored 10 and it was fun to watch.  The final score was a 43-37 win for the Trojans as they improved to 2-0 on the season and the Tigers fell to 0-2.  Herter and Harris scored 10 each for Beardstown and Newman added 9 in the loss.  They hit 15 of 45 shots and 4 for 4 from the free throw line with 25 (second game in a row) turnovers.  Triopia shot pretty well as they hit 24 of 46 from the field but their free throw shooting left a little to be desired.  They were 2 of 9 in the first half and 8 for 19 in the game at 42%.  They also had 24 turnovers which will need to improve.  Washington scored 12 and Sayre added 11 (all in the 2nd half).  O'Daniell is a very talented sophomore who scored 6 big points in the game and was joined by Emily Carls who scored 6.  Bailey Ganz came in with 4 points also as 7 Trojans scored in the game.  If they can improve on their free throw shooting and take better care of the ball, this might be a good season for Triopia. 
11/12/12 Barry Western opened their girls ' basketball season at West Central tonight and was defeated 64-44.  Motley led the Cats with 16 points and was the only player in double figures.  They had 20 turnovers in the game and on shot 50% from the free throw line. Platt was the second leading scorer with 8 points as eight players, over all, scored in the loss.  The Cougars played a good game with a 17-5 first quarter lead and they never trailed in the game.  They had 4 players (Kilver 14, Bettis 13, Carmody 12, Abby Lashmett 12) in double figures and shot 63.6 from the free throw line as they start the season 1-0.  They did turn the ball over 10 times with their starters and 19 times total in the win. West Central will take on Brown County at Mt. Sterling on Thursday in a 6:330 start as the Hornets do not have a JV squad.  Hurrelbrink also added 7 points for th Cougars tonight as the team hit 10 treys.  
11/10/12 Today's quarterfinal round of class 1A football between Leroy and Triopia was one of those games where you hated to see either team lose.  It was quality football between two very good programs and the end, 22-20, win by Triopia was hard earned. It could have gone either way on numerous occasions today as both teams bent and rarely broke.  The Panthers scored first on a 39 yard sweep by Cory Eastham in the first quarter.  Late in the 2nd quarter, Parker, caught a screen pass, picked up some solid blocking and cruised into the end zone for a 70 yard TD. The conversion was missed and Leroy held a 7-6 half time lead and most fans knew this game was up for grabs.  Leroy came into the game averaging 52 points a game and Triopia 35, so the only surprise was the low scoring affair as both defenses came to play.  Triopia got an inadvertent on-side kick to start the 2nd half as it came off of the right side of Greenes kick off and the Trojans recovered the ball at the 50 yard line.  Triopia went 50 yards in 4 plays and Schone scored on a 15 yard run to the right side behind very good blocking.  The 2-point conversion was good as Millard caught a Huddleston pass.  Triopia led 14 to 7 but the Panthers came right back and got a 30 yard touchdown run from Shane Bruning and the conversion made it 14-14.  Triopia used up 9:16 of the 3rd quarter and polished off a 16 play drive with 10:22 to go in the 4th with a 1 yard quarterback sneak from Huddleston.  It was 22-14 and Leroy had a slight problem as they had to score and make a 2-point conversion to get this game tied. They got the score at the 6:41 mark on a 12 yard pass from Stephens to Bruning but, the conversion failed and the Trojans had to burn the final 6:41 which wasn't easy.  They turned the ball over on downs at the 2:01 mark and that was time for Leroy to score either touchdown or kick a field goal but neither happened as Richardson intercepted a Stephens pass with 52 seconds left in the game.  A couple of knees for Huddleston and the Trojans moved to the semi-final round to take on Maroa-Forsythe at 1:30 next week at Don Kemp Field where the Trojans have not lost this year.  Triopia had 126 yards on the ground and 84 through the air while Leroy finished with 259 on the ground and 65 through the air for 324 yards total offense. Eastham (93), Bruning (84) and Eddy (55) led the ground game while Schone (86) Curry (35) and Parker (21) led the way for Triopia.  Eighty four yards of passing (2-5-1) for Huddleston was a little uncharacteristic but it worked and the Trojans will take an 11-1 record into the semi-final round and see if they can make it to the title game in the following week.  The Trojans finished with 2 penalties for 26 yards and Leroy 3 for 18 yards in a very clearn game of football.    
11/3/12 What a tremendous defensive football game today between the #5 seed Central A & M Raiders and the #4 seed, Triopia Trojans at Don Kemp Field.  The final was a 12-7 win for Triopia and a quarter-final game with, more than likely, Leroy who had a big win late in their game with Flanagan.  Triopia will be on the road no matter who wins that game.  A & M scored early, after taking advantage of a Trojan fumble at their own 40 yard line.  Ramsey ran it in from 20 yards out and the extra kick by Ade was good. While they threatened a couple more times on the day, the Raiders were not able to score again on the stingy Triopia defense.  Central had 41 plays for 190 yards of total offense with 121 on the ground and 69 through the air.  Ramsey had 54 yards, Ballenger 26, Snyder 13 and Simms minus 1 while Ramsey hit Snyder for 58 and Ballenger for 11 and also had one interception.  The Raiders fumbled once and got it back and had 4 penalties for 20 yards but 2 of them were off sides and ended up in a Triopia first down.  Schone carried 24 times for 136 yards for Triop[ia, Parker 6 for 26 yards, Huddleston 13 for 36 and a touchdown and Curry 9 for 60 and a big  touchdown which turned out to be the game winner.  Triopia missed on 2 point conversions twice but their defense made it stand up.  Triopia never threw the ball today and lost both of their fumbles while having 2 penalties for 26 yards.  They had 52 offensive plays for 253 yards in the win.  They are 10-1 and will face Leroy who is 11-0.  Moweaqua Central A & M finished their season with 9 wins and 2 losses.  Carrollton also won 26-20 CPC was up 25-13 late and Jacksonville lost in overtime 37-36 to SHG.   
11/1/12 If you like high school volleyball, you would have wanted to be in Carrollton tonight for the sectional championship between Routt Catholic and Edinburg.  The Wildcats won the title 25-22, 17-25, 26-24 and will advance to the super-sectional round in Windsor on Saturday.  It did not come easy as Edinburg picked up their 27th win vs 12 losses.  It was a roller coaster ride for both teams and a game of momentum.  Edinburg had a 23-17 lead in the deciding game and fell behind 24-23 before closing it out.  This is the furthest any Wildcat team has advanced in volleyball and they deserved the win tonight.  For Routt, they will end their season with 21 wins and 17 losses and a solid year.  Garde had 4 points and 20 assists, Tonry 3 points and 1 kill, Langdon 5 points and 3 kills, McGee was strong with 9 kills and 1 block, West 9 points, Gross 14 kills and 2 blocks, Jokisch 4 points, Nix 3 assists, 1 kill and 1 block and Halpin finished with 8 points.  Routt only had 4 service errors on the evening and can certainly count this season as very successful.  Edinburg is not a big team but they are very scrappy and just wouldn't go away.  Craig had 3 kills, Prince 7 points, 7 kills and 1 block with 1 ace, Casey Smith 4 points, 10 assists and 2 kills, Megan Smith 2 points and several good digs, A. Broccardo 7 points, 1 kill and 2 aces, Schroeder 7 points, 8 kills, 1 block and 2 aces, Payne 8 assists and 4 kills and Anderson 2 kills.  The Wildcats had 9 service errors against Hardin-Calhoun and reduced that to only 4 in their win over Routt so that was a necessary adjustment that worked out well for them. It was a great volleyball season for our local teams and conferences and Jacksonville is our only local team in the super sectional round with their 25-7, 25-21 win over Mattoon.  
10/30/12 Routt Catholic played a very strong schedule again this season in the hopes it would make them strong in post season.  It worked for them tonight as they knocked off a good Payson-Seymour team who had defeated them earlier in the year.  The final was 25-19, 10-25, 25-19 and advanced the Rockets to the title game on Thursday against Edinburg.  For the Indians tonight, Flesner had 4 points and 10 kills with 1 ace, Pryor 1 point and 1 kill, Lippincott 1 kill and 1 block, Brown 4 points and numerous good digs, Wolf 9 points, 22 assists and 4 kills with 1 ace, Loos had 2 points, 7 kills and 1 block while Gregg finished with 10 points, 5 kills and 1 ace.  The Indians only had 3 service errors in the loss and finished their year with 25 wins and 13 losses.  Routt was a little up and down tonight but did the right things at the right time and only had 3 service errors of their own.  Garde had 2 points, 23 assists and 7 kills, Tonry 3 points and 4 kills, Langdon 10 kills, McGee 4 kills and 4 blocks, Dietrich 1 kill, West 4 points and 3 assists, Halpin 8 points, Gross 9 kills and Jockisch had 10 points with 6 aces.  Jockisch did a great job in game 1 and, in my opinion, deserves a game ball for her effort from the service line.  Routt improved to 21-16 on the year and it will be an interesting match with the Wildcats on Thursday.

We knew very little about Edinburg going into tonight's match  with Hardin-Calhoun.  They don't play in a local conference and we got our first look at what seems to be a real scrappy competitor.  They dropped the Warriors 25-23, 20-25, 25-21 and just didn't give up when they had their backs against the wall. The Warriors were on a roller coaster ride all night long and could not make the shots at crunch time as they end their season with a 25-8 mark.  We lost another one of our WIVC teams in the Warriors tonight and that leaves Routt as the sole survivor.  The Warriors numbers looked like this:  Oswald 11 points with 3 kills, Kay Baalman 3 points, Godar 2 points, Maddid Baalman 10 points, 26 assists, 1 kill and 3 aces, Klocke 2 assists and 3 kills, Hurley 4 points, Squier 4 points, 1 assist, 8 kills and 1 block, Emma Baalman 4 kills and Gerson 5 kills.  Hardin-Calhoun only had 4 service errors in the loss.  Edinburg improved to 26-12, with the win, in spite of 9 service errors.  Craig finished with 4 kills, LeVault 5 points, Prince 1 point and 4 kills with 1 ace, Casey Smith 5 points, 6 assists and 2 kills, Megan Smith 4 points, Ashley Broccardo 8 points and 1 kill with 1 ace, Schroeder 7 points, 8 kills, 1 ace, 4 blocks and 1 ace, and Payne had 6 assists and 6 kills.  Alex Schroeder played a solid game tonight and came around with good senior leadership at just the right time to help with the win.         

10/27/12 Triopia played a very sound defensive game today as they held the Mt. Olive Wildcats to minus 1 yard of offense and took a 49-0 win in the first round of the 1A state football play offs.  They also earned a second round home game against the 5th ranked Raiders of Moweaqua Central A & M who won 55-27 over Milford. The Wildcats just couldn't get any sustained offense today as the hard-hitting Trojan defense came to play.  Mt. Olive only had 2 penalties for 20 yards and had 3 fumbles and lost 2 of them. As for the Trojans, the only down side was their high number of penalties.  They had 8 penalties for 70 yards and had two touchdowns called back.  They had lost their 1 and only fumble but made up for it with an interception by Huddleston.  Their offense was  good with 37 rushes for 400 yards and were 2 for 4 through the air for 30 yards and 2 scores.  Schone carried for 117 yards and 4 touchdowns today.  Curry had 111 yards and Parker 86 yards  with 36 for Wilhite and 26 for Huddleston.  The Trojans also had great special teams on both sides of the ball. Longley played solid defense and caught an 11 yard touchdown pass while Wise ran for 39 yards on a sweep to the left side late in the game.  One of Schone's TD's was a 52 yard scamper and one was a 19 yard pass play.  Triopia simply dominated from the very beginning and never allowed the Wildcats to have any breathing room.  Nest week the Trojans will be home against A & M and it could be a shoot out.  A lot hinges on the Triopia defense as I think they can score on the Raiders and will have to hold them on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage.  Their goal is a shot at Leroy, in round 3,  who was a 61-24 winner today over Brown County.   
10/25/12 The championship game at the Triopia Regional for volleyball was as exciting as we had anticipated as Routt defeated the Trojans 22-25, 25-17, 25-18 .  Breanna Lacy finished with 1 assist and 7 kills, Bunfill had 5 points, Washington 1 point, 9 kills and 3 blocks, Meyer 2 points 13 assists and 1 kill, Carls 8 points with 3 kills, Sayre 1 point and 1 kill, Musch 6 kills and 3 blocks, Burns 1 point, Brooklyn Lacy 4 points and Katie Evans 12 assists.  Triopia ended the night with 6 service points and their season came to an end with a record of 24-8 and their 3rd 20 win season in a row.  For Routt they improved to 20-16 on the year and a run at the Carrollton sectional next Tuesday when they play Payson Seymour at 6:00.  Hardin Calhoun who defeated Carrollton will play game #2 against the Edinburg co-op.  Garde had a nice night with 3 points and 28 assists.  Tonry had 4 points and 4 kills, Langdon 6 points and 7 kills, McGee 4 kills with 1 block, West 5 points with 1 assists, Halpin 5 points and several digs, Gross 15 kills with a solid attack tonight, Jockisch 8 points with 2 aces, Nix 3 points, 1 assist and 4 kills.  Greenfield-Northwestern also lost tonight as the WIVC had 4 of their 6 remaining teams end their season.  We will lose at least 1 more next week at the sectional at Carrollton.  All in all, it has been a wonderful year for the conference.  
10/23/12 It was semi-final volleyball night at Triopia High School and the Trojans and Rockets were the favored teams.  While it was a couple of hard fought matches, Triopia and Routt moved on to the title game on Thursday night.  While Triopia didn't consistently lead until the end of the opening game, they won 27-25, 25-12.  For Franklin, Nevius had 1 point and 1 kill, Jerrika Wilson 1 kill, Walden 10 assists and 1 kill, Couturiax 5 points with 1 ace, Isabella Wilson 4 kills, Duewer 3 kills and 1 block, Lane 3 points, Mutsch 7 points, 1 kill and 1 block and while Henry only had 1 point, she was excellent with here digs and defense.  The Flashes also served well with only 2 errors.  Triopia got 2 kills from Breanna Lacy, Washington had 3 points and 15 kills, Meyer 2 points with 17 assists and 1 kill.  Carls had 2 points with 7 kills.  Sayre 10 points, 1 assist and 2 kills, Musch 3 kills and 1 block, Burns 5 service points, Brooklyn Lacy finished with 7 points and Katie Evans 9 assists.  The Trojans had 5 service errors.  With the win, Triopia will take on Routt in the championship game Thursday.

Routt played well tonight and won a 25-13, 25-18 match with New Berlin.  The Pretzels had 2 points, 11 assists while Hammitt had 2 points and5 kills, Simpson 1 point, Wyatt 4 kills and 2 blocks.  Kloppe contributed 1 assist, 3 kills and 1 block, Volz 1 kill and Williams 3 points and 1 kill.  Routt got solid numbers from several players:  Garde 9 points, 9 assists, 3 kills and 1 block.  Tonry 3 points with 6 kills, Langdon had 5 points with 4 kills, McGee 1 kill and 1 block, West had 4 points with 1 assist, Halpin 3 points, Gross 6 kills and 2 blocks, Jockisch 1 point and 1 kill and Nix rounded out the scoring with 2 points, 6 assist and 2 kills.  Routt will play the host Trojans on Thursday and will try to get some pay back for their earlier loss during the regular season.    

10/19/12 Triopia faced an early challenge from White Hall North Greene tonight and only had an 8-0 lead at half time.  They opened it up in the second half with special team play and won the 34-0 decision and improved to 8-1 on they year.  They will wait to see who they host next week end in the first round of the play off for 1A football.  With the loss, it is likely the 4-5 Spartans were eliminated.  They have a lot of play off points due to their tough schedule but the 4 wins will likely keep them from advancing.  The Spartans could only mange 70 yards of offense  with 3 fumbles (1 lost) and 2 interceptions.  David led the way with 22 yards and Heberling had 20.  They had 2 penalties for 20 yards and 6 first downs in the loss.  Triopia only had 223 yards of offense with 206 on the ground and 17 through the air. Schone led the way with 80 yards in the first half and he set out the 2nd half due to a tender shoulder. He had a 36 yard touchdown run. Parker had 52 yards and Curry 45.  Wilhite came in off of the bench for 3 carries, 30 yards and a touchdown.   Huddleston was 3 for 6 passing for 17 yards and had a 5 yard touchdown run with a 51 yard punt return for a TD. Kory Kleinschmidt blocked a punt and ran it in for a 25 yard TD run.  Richardson played another good defensive game with an interception that set up a touchdown from the 7 yard line.  Regular season came to an end for the Trojans and they look like they are ready for their post season run.
10/15/12 All Triopia had to do was get by the 13-14 Greenfield/NW Tigers and they would share the title in the WIVC for 2012.  Easier said than done because the Tigers were fresh off of a 4th place finish in the Waverly tournament and 2 wins over Routt Catholic.  The Trojans started sluggish and got down 5-0 in the opener and that set the tone for game 1 and they lost it 25-14.  In game #2 Triopia came out with more fire and built a nice lead but then frittered it away in the end as the tenacity of Greenfield/NS paid off and they won 25-23 to take the Trojans out of the title picture. Clemens had 3 pts, Releford 4 pts and 1 kill, McNeely 5 pts with 6 assists, Bishop 1 assist and 3 kills, Barrow 7 pts with 3 kills, Smith 5 kills and 3 blocks, Pembrook 5 pts, 7 assists and 3 kills, Kerr 1 assist, 2 kills and 1 block and Conrady had 7 pts in the Tiger win.  Triopia dropped to 22-7 with the loss and have a tough Central Southeastern Panther to deal with on senior night and volley for the cure night Thursday.  Breanna Lacy finished with 3 kills, Washington 4 pts and 8 kills, Meyer 1 pt, 10 assiss and 2 kills, Carls 6 pts with 2 kills, Sayre 5 pts and 1 kill, Musch 4 kills, Brookly Lacy 3 pts and Evans ended the evening with 10 assists and 1 kill.  Triopia only had 1 service error and the Tigers had just 1 service error in each game.  If the Tigers play like they did tonight, in post season, they are going to cause some real problems. 
10/13/12 The Waverly Volleyball tournament was won by Pleasant Plains as they knocked off Hardin-Calhoun 21-25, 25-10 15-9 after going t 5-1 in pool play.  They were in with Hardin-Calhoun, White Hall North Greene and New Berlin.  West Central finished 3rd as they defeated Greenfield/Northweatern 25-19, 25-16 and had finished 1st with a 5-1 record in pool B.  Routt Catholic after going 1-5 in pool play, came back to win the consolation championship as they dropped Franklin/Waverly 25-20, 25-16. The All-Tournament team  was Rachel Kilver and Victoria Miller of West Central, Ainsley Slifer and Katie Speaks of Pleasant Plains, Emily Lascody of New Berlin, Randi Barrow of Greenfield/Northwestern, Josie Mutch of Franklin/Waverly and Maddie Baalman of Haridn-Calhoun.

On a rainy and wind-blown football field tonight West Central improved to 5-3 on the season with their 26-6 win over Routt Catholic who fell to 2-6.  It was poor field conditions as the Rockets were only able to rush for 48 yards while the Cougars tallied 220 yards.  Routt passed for 19 yards and an interception while West Central threw for 11 yards.  Routt had 5 penalties for 45 yards and West Central 7 for 80 yards.  The Rockets had 5 first downs and the Cougars 12.  Whalen had 9 yards, Stremau minus 10, Lonergan 42 with 1 touchdown, Birdsell 5 yards, Overton 1 yard and Lindsey 1 yard.  West Central won with 3 touchdowns from Boehs and 1 from Drew Barnett.  Corey Barnett rushed for 26 yards, Boehs 112, Reid 20, Drew Barnett 59, Weder 10, Bigalow 5 and Hoover 1.  Routt could not move the ball with any consistency and West Central pretty much dominated the game and time of possession.  West Central will finish their regular season at ISD next week and hope to finish the season with 6 wins and 3 losses.  Routt will play Greenfield/Northwestern at Palmyra and go for win number 3 on the year.     

10/11/12 It was Volley for the Cure at Beardstown tonight and a large crowd attended for a wonderful cause.  We also had volleyball between the Tigers and the visiting Triopia Trojans.  It turned out to be a great match between a 15-3 2A Beardstown team and a 19-4 1A Triopia team.  The Tigers won 25-17, 25-27, 25-23 in a hard fought battle that is going to be good for both teams as they get ready for post season play.  For Triopia, Breanna Lacy had 7 kills, Washington 5 points and 13 kills, Meyer 2 points 10 assists and 4 kills, Carls 4 points, 1 assist and 2 kills, Sayre 6 points, 2 kills and 1 block, Musch 7 kills and 1 block, Burns 7 points, Brooklyn Lacy 3 points and Katie Evans 15 assists.  Triopia finished with 6 service errors on the night.  For the Tigers it was  Kramer with 7 points and 4 assists, Hardwick 5 points and 3 kills, Newman 5 points, 1 assist and 8 kills, Rawlins 6 points, 16 assists and 1 kill, Harris 7 points, 13 assists, 16 kills and 2 blocks, Herter 3 points and 3 kills and Leischner 1 assist with several digs.  The Tigers had 5 service errors in the win.
10/10/12 Routt went to Hardin-Calhoun and were looking to hold on to their piece of the WIVC volleyball championship.  They started out slowly and got down 4-0 in the opener but, when they got it together it turned out to be a good night with wind  25-18, 25-10. Maddie Baalman played well with 6 points, 1 ace, 5 assists and 1 kill, Klocke had 2 points, 3 kills and 1 block, Hurley 3 points, Hayn 3 points and 1 block, Squier 2 kills, Emma Baalman 4 kills and Gerson added 1 assist and 2 kills.  The Warriors finished the night with 3 service errors and dropped to 19-5 on the year.  For the Rockets Nix had 4 assists and 4 kills, Gross 1 assist, 4 kills and 1 block, Halpin 1 assists and several digs, West served well with 10 points, McGee was strong with 6 kills, Langdon added 4 points and 7 kills, Tonry played one of her better service games with 11 points and she contributed 6 kills.  Garde played well with 6 points, 17 assists and 1 kill and Routt only had 2 service errors tonight, which has been a relatively consistent problem for them. With the win, they improved to 13-10 on the season  Don't forget that if the Rockets and Triopia Trojans don't stumble, they are on a collision course in post season play at the Triopia regional.l   
10/6/12 Triopia got off to a slow start tonight and Routt Catholic played excellent early defense but, before the night was over it was a 52-0 win for the Trojans as they moved to 6-1 on the year. For the Rockets, they came into the game with a lot of injuries and missing their starting quarterback and fullback with one of their other backs not playing offense.  The end result was not unexpected but it wasn't a typical Routt-Triopia football game as they normally come down to a tense finish.  Routt finished the night with only 72 yards of offense and 0 points.  Whalen ran 11 times for 19 yards, Lindsey 6 for 13, Birdsell 2 for 7 and Overton 5 for 9.  Birdsell also was 2 for 8 in passing with 1 interception and 35 yards.  The Rockets had 5 penalties for 56 yards, 2 lost fumbles and just couldn't get any sustained offense.  Their best scoring opportunity came early when they recovered a fumble on the Triopia 30, advanced it to the 20 then, lost it on a fumble.  The Trojans got 113 yards from Curry on 14 carries.  Parker ran 5 times for 25 yards, Wilhite 5 for 56, Arendt 1 for 13, Alexander 4 for 55, Clayton 1 for 3 and Jacoby 1 carry for 0 yards.  Totally it was 305 yards on the ground and 87 through the air for 392 in total yards.  Triopia fumbled 5 times and lost 2 of them and had 4 penalties for 20 yards.  Huddleston completed 5 passes for 8 yards as Millard (38), Longley (20) and Curry 3 for 29.  Curry had 2 touchdowns, Huddleston 2, Longley 1, Arendt 1 and Alexander 1 in a nice offensive outing for the Trojans.  They have Pleasant Hill and White Hall North Greene left on their schedule and a date for the play offs.  Routt will finish with a game against West Central and Greenfield/Northwestern.
10/2/12 White Hall North Greene came to the Routt Dome with 2 wins and 16 losses and started out very nicely before falling 25-12, 25-8 to Routt Catholic.  Routt was a little sluggish at the beginning but once they realized the Spartans came to Jacksonville to win, they settled in and did a lot of things right.  For WHNG,  Kraushaar had 2 kills, Powell 1 kill, Denny 2 points, 11 assists and 1 ace, Hull 1 block, Elliott 4 points and 1 block and Jennings 2 aces.  The Spartans had 5 service errors in the loss.  Routt got good numbers from several players again tonight as their win kept them tied for first place in the WIVC with Triopia (who beat Carrollton) and with West Central.  Garde finished the night with 16 points and 13 assists, Tonry 1 point, 3 assists and 3 kills, Langdon 1 point, MCGee 6 kills, Dietrich 1 kill and 1 block, West 1 point and 3 assists, Halpin 11 points, Chuml;ey 1 kill and 1 block, Gross 3 points, 10 kills and 1 block and Nix 5 points, 3 assists and 2 kills.  The Rockets had 5 service errors also as they improved to 11-10 over all and 6-1 in conference.  
10/1/12 In a well attended Volley for the Cure game tonight at the Bowl in Jacksonville, the Crimsons were too big, too strong and too deep for the Routt Catholic Rockets and took the 25-15, 25-9 win.  The match does not count in the records for the teams and was for a fund raiser that was a lot of fun for everyone who attended and played.  This is a match that Jacksonville and Routt look forward to annually but there is a huge difference in the enrollment of these two schools and they play in different classes in the regular season.  For Routt, Garde had 3 points and 7 assists, Tonry 3 points and 4 kills, Langdon 1point and 1 kill, Dietrich 1 kill, West 3 points, Gross 2 kills, Birdsell 2 kills, Jockisch 3 assists and Nix 1 assist and 1 kill.  The Rockets had 6 service errors in the loss.  Jacksonville looked sluggish at the beginning of the first game, then they played very well and had the games on cruise control most of the night.  Stewart finished with 9 points a 14 assists with 2 aces.  McNeal had 3 assists and 1 kill, Thornley 1 point and 1 kill, Pate 4 kills, Keene was very impressive with 11 points, 4 kills and 5 aces.  She is the "real deal" and is still a junior.  Steckel and a point, Woods 4 points and Hinton played a nice match with 6 points, 5 kills and 1 block with 2 aces.  The Crimsons ended the night with 4 service errors and everyone who participated at any level came away a winner. 
9/28/12 Tonight's much anticipated football game between the undefeated Trojans of Triopia and the undefeated Panthers of Central Southeastern was a lot of fun and not disappointing from a fans or a broadcasters point of view.  It wasn't as much for for the Trojans who lost the game 33-22 but, when you think about it, it was a great set up game for post season play.  This is a good Panther football team and they will compete at the 2A level next month.  Triopia will play in 1A and they had a chance tonight to face some strong opposition and it will help them in the long run. They would have loved to have won the WIVC North and played well enough at times to get it done but this CSE team did not falter and came back each time Triopia put the heat on them. Each time Triopia looked like they had gained the momentum and the upper hand, the Panthers put the ball in the end zone and took away edge.  Schone led the Trojans with 134 yards of rushing and 8 yards in receptions and 2 touchdowns.  Huddleston scored the other one. Parker rushed for 73 yards and Longley caught passes for 35 yards as Triopia amassed 287 yards of offense.  The 4 fumbles and 2 interceptions hurt the flow of the Trojan offense along with the 5 penalties for 61 yards.  CSE, after the Trojan opening touchdown, pretty much dictated the flow of the game and made some some nice scoring drives in the win as they ate up the clock.  They finished the night with 292 yards of total offense.  Heubner had 169 yards in rushing and caught a pass for 7 yards and scored twice.  Weiss had 40 yards and scored a touchdown also. Keltz and Leezer scored the other TD's and Leezer was 2 for 6 for 48 yards.  The Panthers lost 3 fumbles also and were penalized 7 times for 50 yards.  It was a solid football game between two real competitors and the fumbles and interceptions were a result of hard hitting and nervous tension as this was a big game for both teams, played in a play off atmosphere in front of a noisy crowd.  Both teams are play off bound and deservedly so.  The fans, parents and coaching staff need to be proud of the effort they were a witness to tonight.       
9/25/12 After their big win last night over West Central, it was interesting to see how Routt Catholic would play tonight against Carrollton. They did well with a 25-19, 25-21 win that improved their record to 10-9 over all and 5-1 in the WIVC.  They will have to battle Hardin-Calhoun before the season ends.  For the Lady Hawks, they fell to 5-10 on the year.  Christison had 1 point and 2 kills while Williams finished with 3 kills and 1 block.  Weber added 2 points, Stienacher 1 assist, Coonrod 3 points and 3 kills, Pohlman 5 assists, Alexander 3 points, 1 assist  and 1 block, Dunlap 1 point, Struble 2 points, 1 kill and 3 blocks, Mountain 2 points and 1 kill and Duba 2 kills.  Carrollton finished the night with 5 service errors.  Routt got a good night from Garde with 8 points, 12 assists, 3 kills and 1 block.  Tonry 5 points and 1 kill, Langdon 6 points and 2 kills, McGee 1 kill and 1 block.  West had 1 point and an assist while Halpin played solid defense with 1 assists.  Chumley had 2 kills, Gross 7 kills and 2 block and Birdsell 3 kills.  Nix rounded out the scoring with 3 points, 4 assists and 3 kills.  Routt improved on their service game also as they only had 3 errors in tonight's match.   
9/24/12 As the season rolls on, volleyball always seems to heat up and such was the case tonight at the Routt Dome in Jacksonville.  The Rockets had 8 wins and 9 losses heading into the game and the West Central Cougars only had 1 loss on the season, to a non-conference opponent.  With a win, the Cougars would have a leg up on the Triopia Trojans and 2 steps up on the Rockets but, Routt was having none of it.  They won 25-19, 27-25 and have a temporary piece of the pie.  Routt will have to take on a strong Carrollton team tomorrow at home.  Carrollton is a solid contender and it should be a nice match.  Tonight the Cougars couldn't make the late comeback in either game and fell a little short.  They had service errors on the 23rd and 24th point in game number two and that didn't help their cause.  Carmody had 3 points, 2 kills and 2 blocks while Moore played well again with 3 points and 19 assists.  Street finished with 5 kills and Kilver added 2 points, 1 assist and 3 kills.  Brown had 3 points and 2 kills and Victoria Miller led the way with 7 points and 10 kills. The Cougars had 5 service errors on the night and the last two hurt them at crunch time.  Routt put it all together tonight and hit the ball as hard as they have hit all year.  Garde was solid with 7 points, 14 assists and 2 kills.  Tonry contributed 4 points, 1 assist, 3 kills and 1 block.  Langdon added 2 points and 4 kills while McGee hit the ball well with 2 assists, 1 block and 4 kills.  West had 3 points and a kill and Halpin served 5 points plus she had numerous digs as the libero.  Gross was strong at the net with 4 kills and 3 blocks while Nix had a versatile game with 4 points, 2 assists and 4 kills.  The Rockets had 5 service in the opening game and only 1 in the second game.  Routt's JV also won tonight after losing the opening game.    
9/22/12 Today's 50-0 win for the Triopia Trojans over the Unity-Payson Mustangs has now set the table for the much anticipated WIVC championship game next Friday between the Trojans and the CSE Panthers.  Both teams are 5-0 and averaging over 35 points per game.  You might feel an offensive night of football is in store but, you might be wrong also as these are two pretty stingy defenses.  I think it will be about special teams and which team makes the fewer mistakes.  As for today, the Mustangs had trouble from the beginning and were only able to muster 89 yards rushing and 31 pass for 120 total on the day.  Triopia had 0 yards passing on an 0-2 day however, they rushed for 200 yards in the first half and 293 in the second half for a total of 493.  Parker had 126 yards and a TD.  Curry finished with 38 yards and a touchdown.  Schone had 68 yards with 2 touchdowns and Huddleston finished with 35 yards and 3 scores.  Beck came in off of the bench to lead the Mustangs with 64 yards rushing and Wand added 29.  Mendon fumbled twice and lost 1 while the Trojans put the ball on the ground 3 times and lost 1.  It was a relatively penalty free game as Unity had 3 for 20 yards and Triopia had 2 for 18.  It was a nice homecoming win for the Trojans and they will start preparing for their biggest game of the season next Friday.  Win or lose, both Triopia and CSE will be better prepared for post-season play after Friday and we can only hope no one gets injured in the battle.  It will be fun so make plans for attending as it will be high school football between two of the best teams in our area and the state.  
9/21/12 Watching the Central Southeastern/Routt Catholic football game tonight whets your appetite for next Friday's championship game for the WIVC north.  Routt was under-manned, injured and not ready for the Panthers tonight and the end result was a 56-6 CPC victory to keep them perfect on the year with 5 wins and no losses.  They will be in attendance tomorrow when Triopia takes on Mendon Unity in what could very well set the table for the Trojans and Panthers to play for all the marbles in their show down.  Routt never was in this game tonight and only able to muster 57 yards of offense with the 1 touchdown (Overton).  As for the Panthers, they amassed 342 yards of offense including an 11 yard touchdown pass from Leezer to Weese to start the scoring onslaught.  Heubner had a 49 yard touchdown run, Weese recovered a blocked punt in the end zone, Weese had a 46 yard rushing score, Keltz a 3 yard TD, Saldana scored on a 28 yard sweep, Hinnen on a 2 yard run and Smith scored on a 3 yard touchdown run.  CPC had 1 fumble along with 3 penalties for 15 yards.  Routt had a fumble lost and 3 penalties for 20 yards in the loss.  Whalen, Lonergan, Birdsell and Stremlau all played very little or not at all due to injuries so hopefully they will be healed and ready for their road game at Brown County next Friday.  The Rockets are 2-3 and the Panthers 5-0.  
9/20/12 In a much anticipated volleyball match, Triopia made the short trip to Bluffs to take on the West Central Cougars.  It took 3 games but the Cougars won 25-18, 23-25, 25-22 to stay undefeated in the WIVC and in first place.  They still need to get past Routt Catholic to hang on to sole ownership of the title. As for the Trojans, they will pulling for the Rockets on Tuesday night in Jacksonville.  Breanna Lacy had 6 kills in one of her better matches.  Bunfill had 1 point, Washington 1 point, 4 kills and 6 blocks.  Sydney Meyer finished with 3 points, 11 assists and 4 kills.  Carls played well with 6 points and 6 kills.  Sayre ended up with 3 points and 2 assists and Musch had 3 kills and 6 blocks. Burns played well with 3 points under pressure while Brooklyn Lacy had 8 points and Katie Evans had 8 assists.  Triopia had 5 service errors and the Cougars had 7.  Carmody had 2 points and 4 kills while Moore did very well with 13 points and 24 assists. Street was strong with 3 points and8 kills.  Kilver 3 points and 9 kills while Victoria Miller had 2 points, 9 kills and 4 blocks and Brown rounded out the scoring with 10 points and 2 kills.  The Cougars are 17-1 and Triopia 14-4 as they hope for the best in the WIVC as they prepare for post season play.  
9/18/12 Any time Triopia and Routt play each other in sports, for boys or girls, it is an event and tonight was no different.  It was a large and noisy crowd that got the chance to watch WIVC volleyball action at the home of the Trojans.  Triopia played the best game I have seen them play this year as they took the opener 25-17 with some stellar hitting and defense.  Not to be denied, the Rockets got off to a great start in game two with an 8-0 lead. The Trojans weren't sharp at the onset of game two and Routt took advantage.  The Trojans kept creeping closer and closer and some unforced errors from the Rockets helped the cause as Triopia tied the game at 20-20 and went on to win 25-22.  With the win, Triopia improved to 14-3 on the year and the Rockets fell to 8-8 (all 7 losses to larger schools).  Garde had 13 assists and 1 kill tonight while Tonry finished with 4 points and 3 kills.  Langdon was active with 3 points and 5 kills and McGee played solid as she contributed 4 kills and 3 blocks.  West served well with 12 points, 2 aces and 1 service error.  Halpin had 2 points, Gross 4 kills and Nix had 3 assists and 2 kills.  Routt ended the night with 6 service errors in the loss.  Breanna Lacy had 3 kills for the Trojans while Bunfill had 5 points.  Washington had another nice night with 5 points, 9 kills and 2 blocks as she did a very solid night on net play.  Meyer was steady with 2 points, 1 kill and 11 assists.  Carls had 2 points and 1 kill while Sayre ended the night with 8 points and 1 kill.  Burns came in off of the bench with 2 points and Brooklyn (playing with a muscle pull) had 2 points and Katie Evans had 4 assists.  The Trojans had zero service errors tonight and are looking forward to their match up with West Central on Thursday night as they fight for the WIVC title.     
9/17/12 West Central entered tonight's volleyball match with Western with a 14-1 record while the Wildcasts were 5-6.  On paper, it looked like it would be the Cougars with a 2 win relatively easy match and it turned out to be anything but that.  We had seen Western play earlier in the year and liked them as a team but they just weren't winning a lot of matches.  They put it on the line tonight and nearly pulled off a very big upset.  They lost 19-25, 30-28, 19-25 and left Bluffs with a pretty good feeling about themselves.  It will be interesting to see if they can use this well played match and build a nice run.  Platt was excellent with 30 sets and 1 kill.  Robbins finished with 4 points and 3 kills, Colston 9 points, 7 kills and 2 blocks, Brace 8 points, 1 kill and 1 block.  Motley had 5 points, 1 assist and 15 kills and Christison played a solid match with 8 kills and 5 blocks.  The Cats had 7 service errors in the loss.  For the Cougars, they had several players with good numbers also.  Carmody had 5 points and 8 kills.  Moore 1 point, 31 assists and 1 kill.  Street added 12 points and 4 kills while Kilver was solid with 4 points, 2 assists, 10 kills and 2 blocks.  Haley Brown had 9 points, 1 assist and 3 kills and Miller was rock solid at the net with 1 point, 13 kills and 11 blocks.  They had 5 service errors and our next Cougar broadcast will be Thursday when they host the Triopia Trojans in conference play. 
9/14/12 It was homecoming at Mendon Unity and they entered the game with no wins and 3 losses.  Routt Catholic was coming to town and the Mustang's history with Routt has not been good.  In the end however, Mendon won a hard-fought 13-0 game.  The Rockets lost a key player, Nick Lonergan, early in the game and he may not have been the difference in the game but he would have been helpful for Routt.  The Mustangs played pretty good defense and got touchdown from Scott Beck with 2 field goals from Alex Blickhan to make homecoming memorable.  Mendon had 209 yards of offense and allowed 231.  They fumbled twice and lost them both and had 9 penalties for 48 yards.  Routt fell to 2-2 with the loss and will face a tough Central Southeastern team at home on Friday night.  CPC is still undefeated and ranked 8th in 2A this year.  Whalen led the Rockets with 38 yards rushing and 12 yards in receptions.  Stone had 15 yards and Lonergan 4 before his ankle injury.  Stremlau threw the ball 20 times with 10 completions and 1 interception.  Routt also had 2 fumbles and 48 yards in penalties.  It was a relatively even game but both of these teams will have to step it up this week end as their opponents, CPC and Triopia are undefeated on the season with plans to stay that way.     
9/11/12 Playing volleyball against Hardin-Calhoun is always a challenge but, Triopia defeated them this evening 25-19, 25-17 as they continue to play well. For the Warriors, Maddie Baalman had 12 assists and 4 kills.  Hurley added 5 point and 1 assist.  Hayn did a nice job with 4 points and 4 kills and Squier played an all around game with 2 points, 1 assist and 2 kills.  Gerson finished with 5 kills and Emma Baalman ended up with 1 assist and 6 kills.  Kay Baalman had 2 points and Godar 3 to round out the scoring. The Warriors also had 6 service errors while Triopia only had 1.  For the Trojans, they had a good team win.  Breanna Lacy finished with 5 kills, Bunfill 1 point, 1 kill, Washington 3 points, 5 kills and 3 blocks, Meyer 7 points, 8 assists and 1 kill, Carls 5 points and 3 kills, Sayre had 4 points, 1 assist and 3 kills while Musch ended up with 2 blocks.  Brooklyn Lacy had 8 points and Katie Evans 4 Assists in the Triopia WIVC win. 
9/10/12 Triopia picked up another win on the volleyball court tonight as they defeated White Hall North Greene 25-13, 25-15.  Elliott led the Spartans with 4 points, 1 assist, 2 kills and 2 aces.  The Spartans fell to 0-5 on the year and finished the night with 5 service errors.  As for the Trojans, Washington had a good night with 10 points, 9 kills and 1 block.  Breanna Lacy added 5 kills while Meyer contributed with 1 point, 9 assists and 1 kill.  Carls played her usual active game with 12 points and 3 kills;  Sayre 4 points, 1 kill, Musch 1 kill, 1 block, Burns 1 point, 1 kill, Katie Evans 2 points 8 assists and Triopia ended with 2 service errors as they played good team ball.  We will see them again on Tuesday night when they host the perennially tough Calhoun Warriors.
9/8/12 Routt played in the Jacksonville Invitational Tournament and finished 9th out of 10 teams.  When you look hard at the field you can see why this small 1A team finished where they did. They opened with a 25-22, 25-11 loss to Metamora, then a 25-15. 25-13 defeat at the hands of Sacred Heart Griffin, a loss to Washington 25-18, 25-16 and then they got their first game win against Rochester.  They defeated the Lady Rockets 31-29 before falling in game two 25-20 and game three 15-13.  They did come back to take care of Peoria Richwoods for 9th place. It was not a tournament that Coach Gibson planned on winning but he knew it would give him an excellent opportunity to have his team work against some of the best teams in the area.  It will help with WIVC play and obviously when it comes time for post season play.  He got what he was looking for as this was a nice group of schools to test against.  While they didn't win much, the Routt Rockets had some great moments in the matches and their time was well spent.     
9/7/12 It was a surprising 44-0 win for Triopia football over one of their arch rivals, the Brown County Hornets tonight at Don Kemp Field. On paper, it looked like it would be a tough game for the Hornets as they were having some difficulty with their special teams and Triopia was on top of theirs.  It was going to come down to a game of line play and the Trojans were sharp and moved the ball well all night long.  It didn't help the Hornet cause that Schone returned the opening kick off, 80 yards for a score.  Brown County will get better before the season ends but they have some work to and it doesn't get any easier as they have to face the Camp Point Central Panthers next week.  Brown County only had 30 yards of total offense as they just couldn't get any sustained ball movement or control tonight.  Schone scored 4 touchdowns tonight while Wilhite scored 6 points on 2 point conversions.  Longley had his first touchdown on a 14 yard pass.  The Hornets had an 82 yard kick off return by Phelps called back on a penalty and were stopped on the Trojan 9 after a fumble recovery.  Triopia had 289 yards of total offense in their win. Millard caught 3 passed for 64 yards, Longley 1 for 14 and Schone 1 for 16.  Schone had 13 carries for 112 yards, Wilhite 3 for 27, Parker 13 for 76.  Triopia had 5 penalties for 40 yards and the Hornets 1 for 5.  The Trojans fumbled twice and lost the ball on both occasions while Brown County fumbled 3 times and lost 2 of them.  Triopia will look to improve to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play next week when they will be highly favored as they face ISD. 
9/6/12 Triopia picked up their 7th win this year in volleyball as they knocked off Western 25-11, 25-23.  They only had a couple of lapses in their win tonight and got great front line work from Washington and Musch.  The Wildcats made a nice run in the middle of game 2 and tied Triopia 18-18 before losing and dropped to 4-3 on the year.  Platt led the way with 5 points and 5 assists while Christison had 3 points and 1 kill  and Motley served a point and had 2 kills.  Robbins also added 2 points and 2 kills.  The Trojans had some good numbers as Washington had 1 point, 3 kills and 4 blocks.  Meyer had 3 points, 9 assists and 3 kills. Carls 5 points and 2 kills while Sayre added 7 points and 2 kills. Musch contributed 2 kills and 3 blocks.  Burns served 2 points and Brooklyn Lacy rounded out the scoring with 7 points and 1 assist.  Triopia is 2-0 in conference play and is getting themselves ready for their match up with West Central and with Routt Catholic later in the season.      
8/31/12 Triopia improved to 2-0 on the football season with a 40-0 win over the Greenfield-Northwestern Tigers.  Early in the game it looked like it was going to be a tight battle but, when the Tigers couldn't score when they had a first and goal from the 3 yard line things got a little out of hand. Parker scored a touchdown, Longley scored a safety,  Schone scored a touchdown, Huddleston scored on a quarterback sneak,  Huddleston threw an 11 yard touchdown pass to Parker and Schone a touchdown and 2 point conversion to put the game away with a running clock. Greenfield rushed 31 times for 42 yards and hit 5 of 8 for 35 yards and 1 interception.  They fumbled twice and lost 1 of them.  Triopia rushed 42 times for 251 yards and Huddleston was completed 2 passes for 16 yards and the 1 touchdown.  Schone was 11 for 75 in rushing, Curry 8 for 56, Parker 13 for 75, Huddleston 3 for 13 and Wilhite carried 4 times for 14 yards.  Arendt got his first carries and finished 3 for 9 yards.  It was a nice game for the Trojans once again and the most important part for the young Trojans was another game for experience.  They will have a tough opponent next week when they host the Brown County Hornets.      
8/30/12 Routt Catholic and Auburn volleyball is always a fun match up and tonight was no different.  Routt played very well and Auburn made too many mistakes and the end result was a Rocket win 25-18, 25-18.  Kuhn (8) and Lay (7) led the Trojans in kills while Domescik 2, Cumming 3, Bushnell 2 and Kuenstler 2 all added good numbers.  Lay also had 5 points and 12 assists as she played an all around good match.   Cochran had 4 assists and Auburn had 6 players with service points in the loss.  They did make 7 service errors and played a little out of sync part of the time and it kept them from getting back into the match.  Routt played good volleyball all night long and pretty much dominated the action with a quality win.  Garde had 11 assists, 1 kill and 1 block.  Tonry 4 points and 4 kills and Langdon added 4 points and 2 kills.  McGee had 4 kills and they were well done as she took some speed off of the ball and placed her shots nicely.  Nix served 8 points with 2 aces, West 6 points and an ace and Halpin 4 points with 1 ace.  Gross added 1 kill and 2 blocks and Routt only had 4 service errors in the match.  They improved to 3-0 on the year and Auburn fell to 0-2 as they had an earlier loss to Pleasant Plains.  
8/29/12 The Triopia/West Central match was much anticipated and was not disappointing as it was competitive and won by the Cougars 25-21, 25-21.  They won the game primarily with their defense as they returned numerous hard hits by the Trojans and did not allow them to get on any big runs.  Washington, Meyer and Carls played well in spite of the loss with 12 points, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 17 kills between them.  Musch also added 3 kills and 1 block and Katie Evans added 2 points and 3 assists.  Breanna Lacy had 4 k1lls while Sayre helped out with 1 assist and 1 block.  Triopia played well enough to win the match, with the size of Washington and Musch at the net and the athleticism of Carls and Sayre but, the West Central defense came up big.  Rachel Moore was outstanding with 14 assists, 4 points and 1 kill.  Street was the point leader with 7 and she also added 3 kills.  Haley Brown served 5 points and had 3 kills.  Victoria Miller was real strong on her (5) kills and Carmody rounded out the scoring with 3 points, 1 kill and 1 block.  This was an inspired Cougar team tonight and I think it sets up a great re-match that may come as early as Saturday so get ready for round two.  Triopia had 4 service errors in the match and West Central finished with 1. Triopia, West Central and Routt are going to have some tough match ups in the WIVC this season and it should be fun to watch. 

In match #2 tonight the Meredosia Indians were a little too strong for Griggsville-Perry and defeated them 25-16, 25-12.  Meredosia has some of the hardest hitters, as a group, that we have seen this early season.  When they are on, they can really hurt their opponents from the service line.  Smith had 5 points, Fulkerson 4, Floyd 1, Shelby Campbelll 1, O'Connell 2 and Emily Campbell 15 in their win tonight.  Floyd added 4 assists and 3 kills as Campbelll had 3 assists and 4 kills and Sammi Smith 3 kills.  Griggsville-Perry just could stay with the hard hitting Indians through 2 games.  Vinyard had 4 points and Vose 3 to lead the way.  Vose added 2 assists and 1 kill while Bonds, Vinyard, Bingham and Whitaker each had a kill. Six service errors helped put the Tornadoes in the hole and they lost the match in 2 games.    

8/28/12

Brenda Lawless

 

In day two of the Meredosia Tournament the Triopia Trojans won their 2nd match as they knocked off the Griggsville-Perry Tornadoes 25-10, 25-18.  G-P had trouble as Binghamd (5 kills, 1 block) and Sidwell (3 points) led the way.  The good news for the Tornadoes was the 1 service error they had in the loss.  Triopia was led by Washington with 7 points, 7 kills and 1 block.  Meyer had 9 assists, 2 points and 1 kill and Carls 5 service points.  Musch was strong at the net with 6 kills and Brookly Lacy served 7 points with 1 block.  Katie Evans finished with 2 points and 2 assists and Kailey Evans also had 2 assists.  Triopia ended up with 2 service errors in the win.  
8/27/12

Brenda Lawless

West Central defeated Pleasant Hill 25-13, 25-17 at the Meredosia Volleyball Tournament.  Carmody had 7 points, 2 assists and 3 kills. Morroe finished with 4 points and 12 assists while Taylor Miller added 3 points and 2 kills.  Rachel Kilver had 1 point, 1 assist and 4 kills and Victoria Miller was active with 3 points, 7 kills and 1 block while Haley Brown rounded out the scoring with 1 point and 3 kills.  The Cougars finished the match with 6 service errors.  Pleasant Hill lost their 3rd match of the year as Black led with 3 assists as Clowers contributed 2 kills, Justyce Carsey and Cathorall 1 kill.

In a tough match Triopia dropped Meredosia 25-20, 25-20.  Morgan Floyd and Emily Campbell were strong in the loss. For Floyd, she had 3 points, 4 assists and 7 kills and Campbell had 4 points, 4 assists and 3 kills.  O'Connell had 4 points, Fulkerson 5 points and French 2 points.  For the Trojans, Washington scored 5 service points with 1 assist , 6 kills and 2 blocks.  Myer had 3 points, 5 assists and 3 kills and Carls was strong with 1 point and 6 kills.  Brooklyn Lacy had 5 points, Milby 5 assists and Katie Evans added 7 points and 4 assists.  

8/24/12 Triopia opened their season with a tough win over the West Central Cougars 30-8.  The final score sounds like a blow out but it was far from that.  It was a 14-8 lead for the Trojans late in the third quarter before they put it away.  Triopia also had 10 penalties for 115 yards and will have to straighten that out. They are young and it was understandable but Triopia will work to fix it.  For the Cougars, Reid rushed for 21 yards, Corey Barentt for 22, Boehs for 62 and Drew Barnett had 40 yards for a total of 145 yards.  West Central had 3 yards in passing for a total of 148 yards of offense.  They also only had 35 yards in penalties and 0 fumbles in the loss.  Triopia, except for the flags, played well. They had 375 yards in rushing as Parker had 148, Curry 77, Schone 62 and Huddleston 88 as they spread the ball around. Huddleston was 0-2 in passing with 1 interception.  The Trojans also had 1 fumble and it was lost.  Triopia will be home against the Greenfield-Northwestern Tigers next week, and The Cougars will be on the road at ISD.  Schone, Huddleston and Parker (2) had touchdowns for Triopia in their win.  Both of these teams will win a lot of games before the season is done.  
8/23/12 We got our first look at the 2012 version of Routt volleyball tonight and are already looking forward to their match up with the Triopia Trojans a little later in the season.  Both teams have a similarity of consistency and composure.  They both opened with Pleasant Hill and had similar results.  Triopia won 25-14, 25-12 and Rout won 25-6, 25-9.  Pleasant Hill is a good team but lack the early leadership to compete with teams who are undoubtedly going to be leaders in the WIVC.  Smith had 3 points 2 assists and 1 kill while Clowers finished with 2 points 3 kills and 1 block.  The Lady Wolves had 6 service errors again in their loss tonight.  Routt played an all around very good match.  Garde was strong with 12 points, 14 assists and 1 kill.  Langdon had 5 points, McGee 4 kills and West 6 points.  Gross led in kills with 7 and she also had 1 block.  Birdsell came in off of the bench with 3 kills while Coates had 4 service points.  Nix had a good night with 7 points (1 ace) and 5 assists.  Routt is 1-0 and P. Hill 0-2 after tonight's action. 
8/21/12 The 2012 volleyball season for Triopia and Pleasant Hill opened tonight in Pleasant Hill with the Trojans winning 25-14, 25-12.  It was a nice outing for Triopia as they came out strong and finished both games with a flurry.  They played with a great deal of confidence and started this season like they finished last year. They had won over 20 games for the second year in a row and had also won a regional.  It looked like they set a goal for another solid year and you get the feeling they will be a real challenge for a lot of teams.  For the Wolves, Smith had 4 points, 2 assists and 1 ace.  Clowers, a freshman, had 7 points, 4 kills, 1 block and 3 aces.  Calvin had 2 points, Peebles 4 points and Moor finished with 1 kill.  P. Hill had 4 service errors in game #1 and 2 more in the night cap.  We will see them again on Thursday night when they face the Rockets in the Routt Dome.  The Trojans played well as a team as Bunfill had 6 service points and 6 assists.  Washington was strong with 6 points, 8 assists, 5 kills and 3 blocks.  Emily Carls was active with 8 points and 4 kills.  Cydney Musch added 1 assist, 3 kills and 1 block. Katie Evans finished with 6 points and 5 assists and the Trojans only down side was their 5 service errors. The Triopia JV took 2 out of 3 games to set the tone for the evening.  
8/1/12 Hinsdale is the 2012 9-10 Baseball Champions after their 9-4 win over Tri-Cities.  We saw championship quality baseball tonight in Rushville as the game see-sawed back and forth with Hinsdale making a strong run in the 4th and 5th innings to lock down the title.  Hinsdale had a little more depth in the pitching and it showed as the game went on.  Guy Henry Goss is an excellent third pitcher for a game and he closes well.  Ryan Loughlin and Jack Mahoney battled to a 4-4 tie through 3 1/2 innings but 8 Hinsdale hits to just 3 for Tri-Cities was the difference in the game.  Hinsdale got the big hit when they needed it and Tri-Cities left 7 runners on base so, they had their chances.  Lewis, Konicek and Asplen had the hits for Tri-Cities while Mahoney and Bubala did the pitching.  Liam Smith played an excellent defensive game at 2nd base.  Cal Malchow had 2 hits, 3 RBI's, 1 run scored and made good defensive plays at short and second to lead the Hinsdale squad.  Loughlin led from the pitching rubber with only 2 hits , 2 runs, 2 walks and 2 strike outs.  Six other players had 1 hit for Hinsdale as they showed their balance up and down the line up.  They committed 5 errors in the game but made the big plays when they needed them.  Either one of these teams would make a good Champion and it belongs to Hinsdale. Our hat is off to 2 well coached teams with a good fan base who made the tournament exciting and fun for everyone involved.   
7/31/12 In an elimination game today, Tri-Cities got off to a 5 run first inning and never looked back.  They added 2 in the second, 1 in the 4th and 3 in the 5th to sew up the victory.  Rock Falls, who had been on a scoring rampage, could only muster 1 run in the 2nd inning and got beat in a short game.  Six different Rock Falls players had 1 hit but they just couldn't group them to get the necessary runs.   In the meantime, Tri-Cities had 11 hits and 11 runs with some very good pitching from Brock Lewis who went the distance.  He went 5 innings and only allowed 6 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 1 strike out and 1 wild pitch.  Konicek had a great day with 4 hits, 4 runs scored and 2 RBI's.  Lewis and Mahoney had 2 hits while Liam Smith, Aramburo and Asplen each had 1 hit.  With the win, Tri-Cities have set themselves up for a chance to win the entire tournament.  They will have their hands full but, they are still alive and that is all that matters at this time.  They will need to hit better than they did last game if they want to stay with the Hinsdale squad as they are solid looking team.   
7/30/12 Evergreen Park was eliminated tonight from the 9-10 Boys State Baseball Tournament as Rock Falls defeated them 16-9.  The Evergreen Park team had 13 hits in the game and played a lot better than they did in game one against Tri-Cities. Cahill was 4 for 4 in the game with an RBI and 2 runs scored.  Chase Hall was also 4 for 4with 3 RBI's and 1 run scored.  Walsh and Altman had 2 hits each and Greer rounded out the hitting with 1 hit.  Rock Falls showed their fire power again with 3 runs in the first, 5 runs in the 2nd, and 8 runs in the 5th.  Rasmussen had 3 hits, Ellefsen 2 and 5 other players had at least 1 hit in the win.  Rock Falls had 10 hits and got some help from the wild pitches and passed balls for Evergreen Park.  With the win, Rock Falls assured themselves of at least 1 more game as they will take on either Hinsdale or Tri-Cities in a semi-final game on Tuesday.

Hinsdale and Tri-Cities were the only undefeated teams left in the state play off and faced each other to see who would stay undefeated and play for the championship on Wednesday night. It was a very good game early as Hinsdale had the 3-1 lead after 3 innings.  Six runs in the 5th put the game away for Hinsdale and the earned a day off.  Tri-Cities had 8 hits and 3 runs in the game and Hinsdale finished with 14 hits and 10 runs.  Asplen led Tri-Cities with 2 hits and 6 other players had 1 hit.  It was a good game and they may meet in the title game. Loughlin had 3 hits to lead Hinsdale and 4 other batters had 2 hits with 3 more having 1 hit in the win.  It was an impressive outing and the Hinsdale defense stepped up again with some nice plays.  Brock Lewis played an excellent center field for Tri-Cities also and it makes you feel it was a preview of what we will see on Wednesday night.  Hinsdale has a larger group of pitchers to draw from as they have only played 2 games in the tournament to this point so Tri-Cities is going to have to have someone step up big to force that "if necessary" game on Thursday.  These are, in my opinion, the best two teams in the tournament with the most consistent play so - if they meet - it was be a fun championship game. 

7/29/12 Tri-Cities showed their aggressive offensive style in their game with Rock Falls on Saturday and today they amped it up a little as they knocked off Evergreen Park 16-0 to move to the semi final round against Hinsdale.  Ryan Autumn had the only hit for Evergreen Park in their loss.  Liam Smith was the starting pitcher for Tri-Cities and went 3 for 3 in the game with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI's.  Mahoney also had 3 hits in the game with 1 run scored and 4 RBI's.  Arumburo had 2 hits and Warnke 2 hits also and 5 other players had at least 1 hit in the win.  Tri-Cities ended up with 15 hits and 16 runs with 1 error as they have earned a game with Hinsdale in the championship half of the bracket, at 8:00 tomorrow night.  This will be a fun game as these are two solid ball teams who play good defense along with their offensive clout.  

In the first elimination game of the 2012 tournament, Olney gave up 7 runs in the first inning to Rock Falls and never recovered as they lost 15-5.  Olney had some chances but couldn't get the big hit to stay in the game.  Flanagan and McVicker had 2 hits each in the game today.  Flanagan had played solid defense from center field all tournament long and one of the better players in Rushville.  They had 9 hits, 5 runs and 2 errors in the loss.  Grant Wasson led the Rock Falls attack with a 3 for 4 day with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI's.  Velazquaz hit the ball hard with a 2 for 3 effort while Meenen and Schueler each added 2 hits. The Rock Falls team is up and down with their offense and when they are hot - they are hot.  7 of their players had hits in the game and I think they will be a hand full for Evergreen Park in their next game.  With Rock Falls coming around, with Hinsdale's defense and with Tri-Cities offense this tournament is shaping up to be what a championship tournament should be.

7/28/12 The 2012 9-10 Boys Little League Illinois State Tournament started today and it was a wonderful day of baseball.  We had two 1 runs games, a grand slam and a triple play.  That is more excitement than you may find in a week of play.  In the opener, Tri-Cities-Dundee hit early and got off to a 9-0 lead we we headed into the final inning of play.  Rock Falls had their chances early and just couldn't get the key hit.  They turned it around in the final inning however and came up with 8 runs, including the grand slam home run from Kody Velazquaz to get it to a 1 run game.  Tri-Cities scored 3 in first, 1 in the third, 3 in the fourth and 2 in the sixth and looked like they were going to cruise home with the comfortable win.  It was anything but that.  Tri-Cities had 12 hits, 9 runs and 2 errors in the win while Rock Falls finished with 7 hits, 8 runs and 3 errors in the loss.  Wasson and Velazquaz led Rock Falls with 2 hits each while Mahoney and Konicek had 3 hits each and Liam Smith 2 for the winning Tri-Cities All-stars.  With the win, Tri-Cities will play at 2:00 tomorrow when they take on Evergreen Park.  Rock Falls will play at 4:00 in an elimination game against Olney.

In the second game, Hinsdale scored 3 runs on 3 hits in the first inning and it looked like them may hit Olney's pitcher, McVicker, hard but it did not turn out that way.  McVicker pitched a complete game as he gave up 8 hits and his teammates played excellent defense behind him.  Flanagan was involved with 6 put outs in center field as he covered a lot of ground.  Olney only had 6 hits in the game with 1 earned run and 1 unearned run.  Hinsdale used 3 pitchers and, with the win, will get tomorrow night off.  They will play either Tri-Cities of Evergreen Park at 8:00 on Monday night.  Malchow, Guy Goss and Ryan Loughlin all scored in the first inning and made it stand up.  There were two big defensive innings that saved the game for Hinsdale.  In the 5th inning, Olney had the bases loaded and no one out.  Owen Goss came in in relief and, on his 2nd pitch, Owne Goss had a line drive hit right at him.  He made the catch, dropped the ball on the exchange, looked at second where he saw the runner off of the bag and threw the ball to the shortstop who tagged the runner between 2nd and 3rd.  Then, to finish it off, the runner from third broke for home and Loughlin threw him out as Phillips made the tag while blocking the plate.  You won't see that play made any better, on the high school level, and these are only 9 and 10 year olds.  Then, in the top of the 6th, Loughlin and Malchow made 2 excellent plays to rob Mays and Zuber of hits that could have potentially tied or won the game. In the win, Hinsdale, used 3 different pitchers and had hits from 8 different batters.  We saw 4 good teams today and will get introduced to Evergreen Park Sunday in what is shaping up to be a quality state tournament.   

7/21/12 It is all over in Beardstown for the 9-10 Little League Sectional Tournament.  Beardstown is the winner as they knocked off Silvis 16-1.  While the season for Silvis came to a close today, they had a nice year and were happy to play in the 2012 Sectional. They had no hits today but played a better game than they did on Friday night and were able to finish their season with a nice sense of pride for a job well done.  Delarose scored the solo run and Carroll went the distance as the pitcher.  Coleman, who did a great job at shortstop on Friday, did some catching late in today's game and did a good job as she continued to show she is a talented softball player.  Beardstown only had 4 hits again today but their aggressive base running helped them put 16 runs on the board.  They only had 1 run in the opening inning and were only ahead 8 to 1 at the bottom of the 3rd however, they scored 8 runs in the 4th to lock down the win.  Danner and Craig had 1 hit each and McGill 2 in the Tiger win.  Each team only made 1 error and it was a pretty good championship game in spite of the lack of offense for Silvis.  With the win, Beardstown will move on to state play at South Elgin next week end.  Beardstown has a pretty well balanced team with decent pitching and should represent District #17 well in state play.  Last year's Beardstown team won the state title and this group is trying to repeat with another championship.      
7/20/12 Silvis came to Beardstown to see if they could match up with and defeat the Beardstown 9-10 year old softball team in sectional play.  They had to play without their #1 pitcher as she had suffered a broken thumb in their last game.  They got off to a rough start with 10 walks, 2 hits and 3 hit batsmen while allowing 13 runs.  They did not recover and lost a 24-5 decision and will have to recover by 1:00 tomorrow as they have their backs up against the wall.  They had no hits in the game and only committed 1 error but they will have to play a much better game Saturday as the Beardstown girls are going to try to close it out in two games.  Beardstown did not hit the ball well either but, in all fairness they did not have much of a chance to swing the bats. Danner, McGill, Savage and Craig all had a hit in the game and the majority of the runs were on wild pitches and passed balls, so maybe tomorrow we will get a chance to see the young Tigers swing their bats.  Both teams use 3 pitchers in the game tonight.  The winner will play in the state tournament in South Elgin so, there will be a lot at stake tomorrow.  The "if necessary" game is scheduled for 2:00 on Sunday. 
7/16/12 After a tough week of baseball, Jerseyville made it all the way back to take the title for the 9-10 year old division for baseball.  With the win, Jerseyville will advance to the sectional round  at Tuscola starting on Saturday.  If they can make it through, we will see them at the state level in Rushville the following week.  Both team got good pitching tonight, both had 5 hits and 2 errors as it was a relatively even ball game.  Beardstown got 4 runs in the first inning and but couldn't hold on and got beat 8-5.  Stambaugh had 2 hits to lead the Beardstown All-stars.  Quinn Snider was the leading hitter for Jerseyville and Stork was the winning pitcher.  Jerseyville has shown all week that they have the ability to come back when they get behind and that is the sign of a good team.  They play very well when they are out in front but, they do not get discouraged when they  fall behind as they showed again this evening.  In my opinion, they and Beardstown were the best teams in the tournament and they had to go 3 games to see which one of them would represent District 17 in the next round.  
7/14/12 Jerseyville has come all the way back to the "if necessary" championship game for Monday night.  They will face Beardstown for the 3rd time in the 9-10 year old division as each team has one win.  Beardstown won the first match up 15-5 and tonight the young Panthers from Beardstown won the 10-3 game.  They were down 2-0, 2-1, 3-2 and scored 8 runs in the bottom of the 5th to basically put the game away.  They had gotten 5 hits and 2 runs off of Alec Coil and when he went out on pitch count, they came alive with the 8 runs.  Jack Rice did a nice job in his 4 innings and Stork came in to finish it.  Beardstown ended up with 8 hits and 3 runs with 3 errors in the decisive inning.  Jerseyville had 8 hits also but timely hitting and aggressive base running put them in the title game for Monday.  Quigley had 3 hits with 2 runs scored and Knous added 2 hits.  Quinn Snider led Jerseyville with 2 hits while 6 of his teammates also had at least 1 hit.  Monday's game will come down to pitching and staying away from the errors.  It is fundamental but will likely decide who goes to Tuscola next week end for the sectional round.  
7/13/12 There was only one game tonight at Beardstown in the semi-finals of the 9-10 year old Little League Division.  It felt like a couple of games as we had delays for lightning.  The game was tied at 6-6 in the top of the 5th when the delay came and we nearly had a postponement to Saturday to finish the game. They were able to resume the game and Jerseyville came out on fire as they scored 7 runs in the top of the 5th with the help of 5 Virginia errors.  They added 6 more in the 6th inning and cruised to the 19-9 win.  Virginia ended their season on a high note as they added 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th as they did not give up even though they were in a big hole.  Reid, Bell and Eilers each had 2 hits in the Redbird loss.  Jerseyville had 13 hits and 19 runs with 3 errors as they fought their way into the title game tomorrow with Beardstown who beat them earlier 15-5.Vanost led the way with 4 hits while Quinnn Snider, Kahl and Rice all had 2 hits in the win.  Jerseyville was also able to save most of their pitchers for their championship game with Beardstown on Saturday.  These are the two best teams, in my opinion, in the tournament and it should be a nice match up.  Jerseyville will have to beat Beardstown on Saturday and again on Monday if they want to advance.  
7/12/12 Jerseyville eliminated Rushville tonight, at Beardstown, in the 9-10 year old division of Little League baseball.  Rushville finished their season with 5 hits, 3 runs and 4 errors.  Jacob Reller had a 3 for 3 night but, Rushville simply couldn't keep up with Jerseyville offensively.  The young Panthers had 7 hits, 13 runs and 4 errors but they were very aggressive on the bases and ran Rushville into a lot of mistakes that cost the Rockets some runs.  Jackson had 2 more hits tonight as he continues his barrage in the tournament.  Jerseyville had 6 different hitters with hits tonight and will cause Virginia some problems tomorrow night in the semi-finals.

In the second game tonight the Beardstown All-stars were just too tough with the bats as they knocked off the speedy Redbirds 15-3 behind their 14 hits.  Virginia had 3 hits and 3 runs with 4 costly errors and just couldn't get any sustained offense. The Beardstown team had 2 hits from Quigley, Cooper, Stambaugh, Montoya, Reich and Knous.  Cooper also made an excellent defensive play at 3rd base as Beardstown played a good over all game and will play in the championship game on Saturday night.  They will get a day off and wait to see who their opponent is going to be.  Whoever it is, will have to defeat Beardstown on Saturday night and again on Monday if they want to advance to the sectionals in Tuscola next week.  Coil, Stambaugh and Quigley combined to throw a very nice game tonight.  Marr pitched well for Virginia but his team defense weren't able to make the plays early and he had to leave after 64 pitches.  It was a fun game between to familiar rivals but Virginia has a tough road ahead if they want to win this championship.     

7/11/12 Pike County and Brown County finished their 2012 Little League campaign tonight at the hands of Rushville and Jerseyville National.  Both of the teams played hard and represented themselves well but just didn't have enough fire power to stay in the 6 inning game.  In game #1 Rushville was dominant with 14 hits and 17 runs while holding Pike County to 6 hits and 3 runs. Hulvey went the distance for Rushville and helped them secure their spot against the hard hitting Panthers of Jerseyville in tomorrows game. VanWinkle started the game for Pike County tonight and added 2 hits in the loss.  Klitz and Ewing had 3 hits each for the Rockets while Lewis and Hulvey added 2 each in the 8 player offensive attack.  Rushville scored 5 in the top of the 1st inning and made the runs stand up.  It will be interesting to see if Rushville can hold down the Jerseyville squad in their next game.

Jerseyville scored 9 in the first inning and cruised to a 16-1 win over Brown County tonight and looked more like the game we saw on day 1 than they did against Beardstown in their second game.  They will have to get past Rushville if they want a possible shot at Beardstown later in the tournament.  Tonight they got solid pitching from Stork, Wilson, Eathen Snider and Rice as they were never in danger of losing the game and certainly earned the right to play in the quarter finals on Thursday at 6:00.  They are a nice looking ball team and the only concern is their inability to stay with Beardstown in their 10 run loss.  Was that just a bad game or will Rushville, Virginia or Beardstown expose an inconsistent side of the Panthers.  I like what I see but I do have a question in the back of my mind and am looking forward to the next round of games for the 4 remaining teams. Jackson had 3 more hits tonight for Jerseyville while Vanost, Quinn Snider and Rudolph all had 2. Stopping their hitting is the #1 priority for any teams they face.    

7/10/12 In the championship side of the 9-10 year old bracket last night, it was Beardstown and Virginia who stayed undefeated.  In the first game, Beardstown dropped Jerseyville National 15-5 in a match up that was a little surprising.  Not so much in that the Tigers won, but in the final score.  Jerseyville has been a solid hitting team but, they could not get timely hitting against the Beardstown pitching.  Vanost played an all around good game with 2 hits and Jackson continues to drive the ball well.  Their 3 errors didn't help the cause any either and I look for the young Panthers to come back through the consolation side.  On the other side of the diamond, Beardstown had 15 runs on 11 hits with 3 errors of their own.  Villegas led the way with 3 hits and Quigley added 2.  The Tigers had 8 different batters with hits and that kind of attack is hard to defend against.  Beardstown will take on Virginia on Thursday night at 8:00 to see who can stay undefeated for the championship game on Saturday night.

Game #2 was closely contested early with a 2-2 game at the top of the 4th.  Then Virginia erupted with 8 runs and opened up the game.  They had to hold on at the end but the final was 10-7 and earned the Redbirds the up-coming match up with Beardstown.  This will be a contrast in hitting and a similarity in base running with two of the fastest players in the tournament on the field. Marr from Virginia and Quigley from Beardstown are dangerous on the base paths and will create havoc if you don't watch them.  Virginia only had 7 hits in their first win of the tournament and 4 last night and they will hope for some help from the Tiger pitchers in their next game.  Rushville spread out their 7 hits and played pretty good defense but just didn't have enough sustained fire power to stay in the game early.  They did show they are gamers as they came back with 4 runs in the final inning to close the gap and it will hopefully propel them into their game with the Pike County All-stars.  Hulvey had a couple of strong hits and Seaver made some nice plays defensively but they will need to step it up a little as they try to make their run through the grueling consolation bracket.       

7/9/12 The 9-10 year old baseball District 17 tournament got underway last night with a marathon evening of play.  The opening game was a see-saw event with Jerseyville National winning 16-10 as they scosred 6 runs in the top of the 7th inning.  They had led 7-0 at one point but the Pike County team refused to go away and came back to take a late 10-8 lead that they couldn't hold. Pike County had 10 hits, 10 runs and they committed 6 errors in the loss.  They were ed by McTucker, Tomhave and VanWinkle with 2 hits each.  Jerseyville had 14 hits, 16 runs and they only made 1 error in the win.  Jackson was 4 for 5 in the game while Eathen Snider had a 3 for 4 day.  Vanost and Wilson each recorded 2 hits as this team showed their offensive potential. They may be a team to reckon with before this tournament ends. 

Virginia won the nightcap with a 10-5 victory over Brown County. This is a light hitting Virginia squad, if last night is an indication of their bats.  The thing they do is run the bases aggressively and force their opponents to make mistakes that end up in Redbird runs.  They had 7 hits, 10 runs and 3 errors last night and used 4 pitchers.  Brown County used 4 pitchers as well as they had 5 hits and made 3 errors as well.  Lars Reische hit the ball very well last night as he went 3 for 4 in the loss.  Blake Marr had 3  hits for Virginia and Garrett Snow added 2 more.  Bell started the game on the mound and scored 3 runs also but when this team faces Rushville on Tuesday night, it will be interesting to see if they hit the ball a little better.  The were walked 9 times and had 4 batters hit in the game and most teams will not give them that many base runners.  When they get on however, watch them go.  

7/8/12 Last night's 1st championship game was one of the best we have seen in the last few years at the 11-12 year old division.  Today we were not sure what to expect but, we got a very competitive 5-2 win for Pike County over Brown County.  Wort started the action with a solo shot home run for Brown County on the first pitch of the game.  Personett answered in the 2nd with a long 2 run home run for Pike County.  Brown County tied the game in the 2nd on a wild pitch and Pike County scored 3 in the 3rd to lead for the rest of the game.  Personett not only led Pike County with a solid pitching performance, he also led in hitting with a 2 for 3 day with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI's.  Brown County had 4 hits, 2 runs and unfortunately 3 errors in the loss.  This was a very nice tournament and Pike County will represent District 17 on Friday night in the sectional round at Mt. Sterling. 
7/7/12 Brown County had their backs up against the wall at the start of tonight's baseball game with Pike County in the 11-12 year old division of Little League baseball.  The game was tied 1-1 after 6 innings and it took two more innings before Brown County won the hard fought 2-1 decision.  Stinebaker and Hendricker each pitched outstanding baseball as they both had to leave due to pitch count.  Moore came in for Pike County and Wort for Brown County and the figured in the final score.  Pike Copunty had 5 hits, 1 run and 1 error and Brown County finished with 7 hits, 2 runs and no errors as they played their way to the "if necessary" game on Sunday at 2:00.  Hendricker, Tynan and Wort all had 2 hits for Brown County and 5 different players had 1 hit for Pike County.  It is hard telling what tomorrow's game will bring but these are two quality teams and either one of them will make a good representative for District 17 in the sectional round.
7/6/12 Tonight was another elimination night as Brown County and Rushville squared off to see who would play Pike County on Saturday night for the 11-12 year old title.  Brown County struck quickly with a 2 run home run by Tynan in the first and a solo shot by Ryssman in the 2nd.  Rushville came back with 3 runs in the 3rd, to tie the game, but Brown County added 3 more in the bottom of the 3rd to reestablish their 3 runs lead.  Rushville committed a couple of errors, walked 3 and hit 1 to put themselves in a hole.  After Rushville came back with 1 in the 4th, they gave up 2 more to Brown County in their half of the 4th and things were getting out of hand.  It was 8-4 heading into the 6th and Rushville had 4 hits and 1 runs with the bases loaded when they finally ran out of outs.  They never gave up but los the game 8-5 to end their season.  Brown County will give it their best shot on Saturday night as they face the heavily favored Pike County team.  Game time is set for 7:00 pm.   
7/5/12 Beardstown was eliminated tonight as they lost a 9-2 decision to Brown County.  The young Tigers had 6 hits and 2 runs with 1 error  but, they gave up 5 runs in the first inning and 4 more in the 5th.  Perry had a couple of hits to lead Beardstown however they had 12 strikeouts in the game.  Drake went 4 2/3 innings for the win and Wort finished it off.  Coultas had 2 hits in the win and Brown County had 2 home runs (Tynan and Ryssman) as they showed a little fire power tonight.  They finished with 8 hits and 9 runs with no errors. 

Pike County continued to show their strength tonight as they defeated Rushville 12-2.  To the credit of the Rushville team, they hung around and only trailed 5-0 into the 5th inning.  The Rockets could only score 2 runs in the loss on 3 hits.  Garcia led the way with 2 of the 3 hits.  Pike County, on the other hand, had 16 hits and 12 runs with 3 more home runs.  Tenecyk, Stinebaker and Personett all went yard in the game and the shot by Personett was the longest one I have seen in 8 years of little league action.  Stinebaker has had a great tournament so far and added 4 more hits this evening.  In their 3 games, the Pike County team has only used 3 pitchers also, so they can come at you in a variety of ways.  They will take on either Brown County or Rushville on Saturday night for the 11-12 year old championship. 

7/4/12 There were a lot of fireworks on Independence Day at Mt. Sterling. It was an elimination day and we lost Macomb and Jerseyville in a couple of good games.  In the opener, Brown County defeated Macomb 13-5 in a game that was close early. Macomb was able to gather 6 hits and 5 runs but it wasn't quite enough.  Higgens and Bickers had 2 hits each in the loss and the Bombers committed 2 errors in the loss.  Brown County got 3 hits from Hendricker and 2 hits from Drake, Sussenbach, Wort and Ryssman as they pounded out 14 hits over all to go with their 13 runs.  They used 4 pitchers and are set to take on Beardstown at 6:00 Thursday.  Every game for Beardstown and Brown County are elimination games as they try to fight their way back through the consolation bracket. 
7/3/12 Tonight was round #2 at the 11-12 year old Little League and we had a couple of good games.  In the first one, Jerseyville took the early lead and Rushville came back twice to post the 7-5 win.  Jalin Turner had a nice night with two hits, including a 3 run shot to give his team the late lead. Jerseyville finished with 6 hits, 5 runs and unfortunately committed 5 errors.  Rushville got 2 hits from Jones , 8 hits over all and a solid pitching performance from Ethan Downs to stay in the winners bracket. They committed 5 errors of their own and will have to stay away from that on Thursday when they take on Pike County.

The second game was close for a while, then the hard hitting Pike County team took command and the 12-1 win over Brown County.  Wort had the only hit for the Hornets as they used 4 pitchers in their effort to slow down their opponent.  Pike Co. showed they not only hit the ball well (15 hits) but they play good defense as well.  They have 35 hits and 35 runs in two games and have only allowed 3 runs.  Personett threw a solid game with 11 strike outs and 5 walks.  He was in charge and never in any serious trouble all night long.  Pike County will try to keep the pressure on as they take on Rushville at 8:00 on Thursday.  

7/2/12 The 11-12 year old Little League Baseball tournament opened tonight at Mt. Sterling with a lot of offense.  In the opener, Jerseyville scored 7 times in the first inning and hung on to defeat Macomb 12-6.  Sauerwein, Turner and Wittman all had 3 hits in the 11 hit attack.  Macomb came back to make it a 7-6 game in the 6th and gave up 5 more runs as they fell to the consolation bracket. Wyatt had 2 hits to lead Macomb in the loss. Waterstreet came in in the first to pitch a pretty nice game before giving up a home run to Jackson in the 6th.Johnes did a nice job in relief for Jerseyville as well.

In the second game, it was a partial repeat of the first game as Pike County scored 7 runs in the top of the first and then put on an offensive show with 23 runs over all on 20 hits.  Jon Moore also pitched well as he only allowed Beardstown 3 hits and 2 runs in the win.  Beardstown also made 5 errors in their losing effort and will need to re-group before Wednesday.  Stinebaker had a 4 for 5 night with a homerun, 2 triples and a double.  Personett was also strong with a 3 for 3 game and 4 runs scored.  Tenecyk,   Moore, Shaw and Gresham all had 2 hits in the game also.  Pike County only made 1 error as they set themselves up for tomorrow's game with Brown County at 8:00. 

7/1/12 In a very exciting softball game tonight, Beardstown came back in the bottom of the 6th inning to score 3 runs and defeat the Calhoun team to force another championship game tomorrow night at 7:00.  The winner will move to the Salem sectional next week.  Calhoun led 4-2 going into the bottom of the 6th but couldn't hold on as Mullin, Blake, Hobrock and Sommers all singled with Hobrock scoring the winning run on the 2RBI single for Sommers.  Dour (Beardstown) and Magherio (Calhoun) did a nice job of pitching tonight.  Dour struck out 7 and walked 4 in the win and Magherio struck out 8 and walked 3 in the loss. Both teams made 3 errors.  Beardstown finished with 8 hits and Calhoun had 4.  Monday's game will have an entirely different look to it as the 2 aces will not be able to throw and it will be up to the back up pitchers to see who can prevail.  These are very good teams and we will have a nice representative for District 17 at the sectional round. 
6/30/12 Beardstown and Rushville are only about 12 miles apart and play each other in all sports annually.  Rushville had the lead in this game most of the way and with a 7-4 lead heading into the final inning, it looked like they may get a championship shot this year. They gave up 3 runs in the 6th and 1 in the 7th to lose the game 7-6 but it was a very nice effort for the Rockets and gives them something to build on in the near future.  Mullin won the game in relief and Belville went the distance for Rushville. Rushville had 3 hits, 7 runs and 4 errors while Beardstown had 7 hits, 5 errors and 8 runs.  They will have to stay away from the errors on Sunday if they want to beat Calhoun.  Hobrock had 3 of the 7 hits as she continues to play good ball.  Sunday nights game will be at 7:00 instead of the scheduled 6:00 start.  This is really a game that is up for grabs and may be decided by one big play or hit. Both teams need to play error free ball and stop walking each other.  No matter who wins this 11-12 year old championship, District 17 will send a good team to Salem for the sectional round.  
6/29/12 Jerseyville and Rushville matched up in the quarterfinals of the 11-12 year old softball tournament and Rushville ended up winning by forfeit.  Jerseyville only had 9 players to start the game and when a player got injured they could only put 8 on the field and that is not allowed.  They had just re-taken the lead 7-5 but the ruling was a reversal back to the previous inning and they lost 5-4.  Etter took the win and Stocks, who had pitched a very nice game, suffered the loss.  Jerseyville ended up with 5 hits and 4 runs and Rushville 4 hits and 5 runs.  Rushville will play the loser of the Beardstown/Calhoun game  in the semi-final round.

Beardstown and Calhoun are two of the stronger teams in the tournament and took undefeated records into today's game. The winner would get the chance to play for the title on Sunday with an advantage.  It was a game dominated early by Calhoun due to the errors for Beardstown (4).  Beardstown fought back however and scored 3 runs in the 6th inning as they lost the 8-7 game.  Calhoun only had 3 hits in the game but their aggressive base running and the Tiger errors allowed them to score 8 times and they had an 8-2 lead at one time.  Beardstown had 10 hits in the loss as Hobrock, Sommers, McWilliams and Mullin all had two. Emily Baalman led the Calhoun squad with 2 hits and Margherio recorded the win.  She, uncharacteristically, walked 7 batters as she had to hold on in the end.  Dour walked 5 and hit 1 while throwing 3 wild pitches in the loss.  These are two good pitchers and they will face off again on Sunday night for the championship.  If Beardstown prevails, they will play again on Monday night.    

6/27/12 Calhoun started out a little slow then picked up speed, starting with their aggressive base running and defeated Jerseyville 16-4 to move into the semi-final round of the 11-12 year old softball  bracket for Little League softball.  They had 13 hits and 16 runs with 1 error.  Ohlendorf, Emily Baalman, Margherio and Kress all had 2 hits in the win.  Margherio has faced 6 batters in two games and struck them all out but, her biggest test waits on her, Friday night when she faces the hard hitting team from Beardstown.  It should be a battle.  Jerseyville is light hitting and young and just couldn't stand up to the intensive pressure the Calhoun base runners bring to the game.  Calhoun is one of those teams who will fight you for 6 innings and more if necessary and take advantage of all of your mistakes.  They are good and well coached with state tournament experience and their game with Beardstown should be exciting for everyone. The Tigers are a very similar team to the Warriors and maybe a little deeper in their hitting so the signs are for a great little league match up.

Rushville and Pike Co. had their backs against the wall tonight as it was an elimination game.  Belville (Rushville) and Woodward (Pike Co.) went toe to toe for 6 innings before Rushville won the hard-fought 2-1 game. Utterback had the only hit for Pike Co. and the run was unearned however, this was a team who was going to go down fighting.  They missed scoring on a couple of earlier opportunities but tied it in the 5th and lost it in the bottom of the 6th.  Rushville only had 4 hits themselves but they were timely as Ingles drove in Chockley 2nd and again in the 6th for the 2 runs.  Belville picked up the win and went 2 for 3 in the game.  It was a nail-biter but Rushville survived to play another day.  They will face a similar Jerseyville team on Friday in a game they can win and would get a shot at either Beardstown or Calhoun in the semi-final round on Saturday. 

6/26/12 The 2012 Little League Tournament kicked off tonight from Beardstown for softball.  In the 11-12 year old bracket, the team from Calhoun started off in the same fashion they finished last season with an 11-0 win over Pike County.  Macy Margherio threw 1 inning with 3 strike outs and took the win.  Calhoun used 4 pitchers and they only allowed 2 hits and no runs in the win.  Davis went for Pike County and gave up 5 runs in two innings of work.  Calhoun only had 5 hits in the win but they drew a lot of walks and were aggressive on the bases.  They will take on the Jerseyville team tomorrow in what might be a good match up.

In the second game of the night, Beardstown was dominant and won the 23-5 decision over Rushville.  They scored 14 runs isn the second inning and were never challenged in the game. Dour took the win and Belville the loss.  Rushville had 3 hits and 5 runs as they scored late in the game.  They will take on Pike County tomorrow at 8:00 in an elimination game.  Beardstown had 16 hits as they played well offensively and never committed any errors in the game. Hobrock had 4 hits while Sommers, Dour and McWilliams had 3 hits each.  They have Wednesday off and will face Jerseyville or Calhoun on Thursday.  Even though it is only the first round, Beardstown looked to be the deepest team in the early round.  We have not seen Jerseyville however and will know more after tomorrow night.  It might not happen but, a game between Beardstown and Calhoun is intriguing. 

 5/28/12 Pawnee High School baseball finished their season against some strong competition and came up 1 game short of making an appearance at O'Brien Field in Peoria at the state finals.  They lost a tight, 5-4 decision to Alton Marquette today in the bottom of the 7th.  The Indians trailed the entire ball game but came back to tie it in the top of the 6th and were hoping to pull out the win in the 7th.  Pawnee had 11 hits in the game, 0 errors and they left 9 runners on base so, they had their chances.  Alton Marquette had 9 hits, 5 runs, 1 error and left 10 runners on base. Both pitchers were quality but Doerfler had 6 walks with 3 intentional and 2 scoring.  Fischer walked 3 and hit 1 in the win. Fishcher struck out 8 batters and Doerfler struck out 5. Ferguson and Starrett had 2 hits each for the Exploerrs while Howell (2), Doerfler (2) and Bourne (3) led the Indian attack.  Pawnee ended their season with 31 wins and 6 losses while Alton Marquette will head to state with a 27-8 record.  It was a great season of broadcasting and our next coverage will be Little League as we start the last week of June or the 1st of July. 
5/26/12 Today's sectional baseball championship game between Pawnee and Griggsville-Perry was very exciting with suspense right to the end.  The Indians scored in the bottom of the 7th inning for the 1-0 win and a shot at the super-sectional round at LLCC on Monday where they will face Alton-Marquette.  Brock Rumple pitched a solid game for the Tornadoes as he only allowed 4 hits, 1 (unearned) run with 3 walks and 2 strike outs.  Whitaker led the G.P. team with 2 hits and some solid defense.  Smith, Tedrow and Bradshaw had the other 3 hits as the Tornadoes ended their season with 20 wins and 15 losses.  While Pawnee won the game, they didn't hit the ball especially well.  Henneman, Howell, Shepherd and Allen had the 4 hits in the game.  Allen delivered the game winner after Matheis got on by way of an error and went to second on a passed ball. Pawnee had the defensive play of the game when Crain cut down Craven who was trying to score from 3rd on one of Whitaker's singles.  Bailey picked up his 10th win of the year with 1 walk and 8 strike outs.  He got some defensive help as he escaped 3 scoring threats in the win. This was a very good sectional with 4 evenly balanced teams and some excellent pitching.  Pawnee will take a 31-6 record into their game Monday. The winner of that game will play in the final four in Peoria next week end.     
5/24/12 Triopia has had a great season of softball and they took a big step toward a sectional championship with their 2-0 win over Springfield Calvary.  Elizabeth Werries picked up her 17th win of the year with a 4 hit shut out.  She struck out 8 and walked no one as she out-dueled Kristina Stroble who finished her year with 19 wins and 6 losses.  Cristen Seiders led the Saints with 2 hits but it wasn't enough and Calvary will end their season with a 26 8 record.  Shoemaker and Carlin had 2 hits each.  Smith and Shoemaker scored the 2 runs and both RBI's were recorded by Shoemaker who had a solo shot home run in the 3rd.  Triopia made 2 errors in the game but neither of them caused any runs to score.  Triopia finished with 7 hits, 2 runs, 2 errors and they left 9 runners on base but they got what them were going after - a shot at the Hardin Sectional Title on Saturday when they face the host Lady Warriors.  Werries did not take any batter to a 3 ball count until the final two batters in the game as her control was very good. Carls, Smith and Sides had solid defensive plays to help preserve the win.  While it will be a challenge for Triopia on Saturday when they face one of the best pitchers in the area; this is a good hitting Trojan team and if their defense holds up, they will have a legitimate shot at the win.  
5/23/12 Going into the Lewistown Sectional for 1A baseball action, it was clear there were 4 evenly balanced and talented teams who were going to fight for the right to advance to the super-sectional round at Lincoln Land Community College on Memorial Day.  

In the opener the 23-7 Rockets of Routt Catholic and the 29-6 Pawnee Indians opposed each other.  They had played on 3/21 and Routt won the tight 4-3 game.  There was a lot on the line today and both teams put the #1 pitcher on the mound.  Nick Lonergan was 7-0 with an 1.53 ERA.  Dalton Doerfler of Pawnee had a 7-1 mark with an ERA of 1.70.  Both teams had solid hitting up and down the line up and it was a toss up game.  Pawnee had 8 hits, 3 runs, 0 errors and they left 6 runners on base as they defeated Routt 3-1.  The Indians scored all of their runs in the 3rd inning with 4 hits.  Routt scored their solo run in the 6th and left 9 runners on base in the loss.  They had runners at 2nd and 3rd in the 1st and again in the 3rd and never got them home. Lonergan walked 1 and struck out 6 in the loss and Doerfler walked 6 and struck out 10 for the win.  Young had 2 of the Rockets 6 hits in the game and Birdsell, running for Bickhaus scored the only run for Routt.  Bailey, Doerfler and Henneman had the RBI's for Pawnee as Henneman, Howell and Shepherd crossed the plate.  While Routt is out of the play offs, they had a year to be proud of and they are young so expect them to play well again next season.  As for the Indians, they will face the Griggsville-Perry Tornadoes at noon on Saturday for the title.

Game #2 was as exciting as the opener as Griggsville-Perry scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th to defeat the Panthers of Delavan 3-2.  Dillon Hodges pitched for Delavan and pretty much had things the way he wanted for biggest part of the game. The Panthers had 4 errors in the game and gave up 2 unearned runs as they ended their season with 21 wins and 10 losses.  The Panthers scored both of their runs in the 3rd and were hoping to hold on but the Tornadoes were opportunistic and took advantage of some mistakes to steal the win at the end. Mason Coggins led the Panthers with a couple of hits and a run scored as Delavan finished with 6 hits, 2 runs, 4 errors and they left 2 runners on base.  Hodges walked 1 and struck out 8 in the loss. Craven threw 112 pitches in the win and doggedly went about his business, walking 1 and striking out 8 also.  He got some great defensive support, especially from Isaac Whitaker at shortstop.  Whitaker and Rumple had the only 2 hits for Griggsville-Perry as they manufactured some runs off of the Delavan mistakes and Bradshaw, who got on vis a throwing error scored the winning run as Tedrow picked up the game winning sacrifice fly ball to center field.  Griggsville-Perry has been like a roller coaster this year but when they are up they are very good and worked hard for their win today.  They will have to play another good game on Saturday as they take on the fundamentally strong Indians of Pawnee.  I think it will be a championship quality game so be sure you head for Lewistown to catch all of the action.       

5/19/12 Routt Catholic won their 1A baseball regional today, at Alumni Field, in Jacksonville as they defeated Lewistown 7-1.  Lonergan went the distance as he gave up 6 hits and the 1 run with 3 walks and 10 strikeouts.  He also had a 2 run home run in the first inning.  Lindsey led the Rockets with 2 hits and Sheehan drove in 2 runs in the 5th to help secure the lead and the win.  Whalen, Johnson and Lindsey all had an RBI.  Hardesty and Shubert each had 2 hits for the Indians who finished their year with 16 wins and 15 losses.  They played well today as they also had 6 hits and they left 7 runners on base, so they had their chances. Beekman pitched a nice game and was only trailing 2-0 as they headed into the bottom of the 5th.  Routt will take a 23-7 record to Lewistown for the sectional and will either face Pawnee or Argenta-Oreana on Wednesday.  Delavan and Griggsville-Perry are the other two teams in the tournament.  
5/17/12 In the second semi-final game of the Routt 1A baseball regional, it was West Central against the 15-14 Lewistown Indians.  The winner would get the #1 seed, Routt Rockets, on Saturday at 11:00 in the championship game.  Neither of these teams have a solid run scoring team so it was going to come down to pitching and errors.  Simpson is the #1 for the Indians and came into the game with 9 wins and 3 losses and a 1.17 era.  He did a great job as he threw a round about no hit game.  His teammates made 4 errors and had 4 pass balls but still hung on for the 4-2 win.  Simpson walked 3 and struck out 12 in the win.  Jordan Boehs went 3 innings and took the loss for the Cougars.  Nash pitched 3 innings also and Mathews came in for the final inning. Lewistown had 8 hits, 4 runs, 4 errors and they left 8 runners on base but they won and deserve the title shot.  Shubert and Robins had 2 hits each while Welker had 2 RBI's and Kreps 1 RBI.  The 4th run came in on a balk.  While the Indians are capable of beating Routt on Saturday, they cannot commit 4 errors and have 4 pass balls and expect to win.  They will face the Rockets #1 pitcher and a hard hitting line up so, to win, the Indians are going to have to elevate their game considerably.  It will be fun to see how it all turns out.     
5/16/12 Coach Lonergan used his 4-0, sophomore, Justin Ketcham in the Routt semi-final round regional game today and it worked out well for him.  Ketcham threw a 2 hitter to win the 10-0 decision against the Rocket rival Triopia Trojans. Ketcham had 3 walks and 4 strikeouts in the win as he only allowed 2 singles.  Wayland and Love had the 2 hits for the Trojans who finished their season with 17 wins and 15 losses.  Seven of the 9 Routt starters had at least 1 hit and 8 of the 9 starters scored at least 1 run in the shut out win and they only committed 1 error in their 22nd win of the year.  Elliott, Jones and Johnson each had 2 hits in the game and Sheehan had a bases clearing double in the 3rd inning as he drove in 3 runs.  10 hits, 10 runs, 1 error and only 3 runners left on base are good numbers for the Rockets.  They will take on West Central or Lewistown at 11:00 Saturday for the championship and a chance at the sectional round at Lewistown.  Wayland, Winkleman and Millard threw for the Trojans today with Wayland suffering the loss. Six hits and 9 runs in the 3rd inning was a little too much for Triopia to over come today.  On the down side of the game, Triopia committed 3 errors in the same inning and that was too hard to recover and get back into the game.  The Rockets are the #1 seed and played like it today.   
5/15/12 The Lady Trojans of Triopia are the #1 seed in their own softball regional this year and played like it tonight as they knocked off West Central 10-0 in a 5 inning game.  Morgan Smith did an outstanding job from the pitching rubber as she allowed only two base runners in the win.  One was a base on balls and the other got by way of an error.  She threw the "no hit" shut out and propelled the Trojans into the championship game on Saturday where they will take on Griggsville-Perry or Barry Western.  Clayton and Carlin had 3 hits each while Smith and Sides had 2 hits each in the 12 hit attack.  Smith walked 1 and struck out 5 in the impressive outing. Haley Brown went the distance for the Cougars as she tried to fill in for the injured Gina Nash.  It has been a frustrating season for the Cougars and the finished the year with 8 wins and 20 losses.  As for the Trojans, they will take a 20-7 into the title game on Saturday.
5/9/12 The Rockets of Rushville-Industry and of Routt Catholic played baseball tonight at Alumni Field in Jacksonville.  The final score was 9-2 Routt as they improved to 21-6 on the season and R. I. fell to 15-17.  R. I. scored in the first and Routt came back with 6 runs in the bottom of the inning and were not threatened for the balance of the game.  Rushville finished with 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 errors and 5 runners left on base.  Routt had 6 hits, 9 runs, 0 errors and 7 runners left on.  Ketcham was the winning pitching (5-0) and Ingles took the loss.  Ketcham only walked 1 in the win and R. I.'s pitchers walked 8 in the loss. Feigle, Canter and Wilcoxen all had 2 hits in the game.  
5/2/12 After several postponed games, we finally got a softball game in the books tonight between two pretty good clubs.  The Rebels of South Fulton were supposed to host the Triopia Trojans but their field was too wet so the game was played at Concord.  South Fulton got off to a 5-0 lead and hung on to win the 9-8 decision. They came into the game with a little better than .500 season and the Trojans were 15-6.  This was a big game as the two teams could meet in post season play.  Triopia had 7 hits and 8 runs when the day ended and committed no errors.  Their bad number was the 9 runners they left on base.  Floyd led the hitting with a 2 for 3 day and 5 other Trojans had at least 1 hit in the loss. Werries went 4 innings and allowed 8 of the 9 runs with 4 walks, 8 strike outs, 2 wild pitches and 2 hit batsmen.  Musson recorded the win as she went the distance while walking 5, hitting 4, striking out 9 and throwing 3 wild pitches.  This was a game of survival and with a sterling final defensive play the the Rebels sealed the deal.  Smith singled to right field which scored Sides with the 8th run and the Trojans tried to score Carls from first.  It would take a solid throw from right (Marshall) to the cutoff (Beebe) and a good throw home for the catchers (Hickle) tag and it worked to perfection for the winning Rebels.  It was a good play by the Trojans and a better play by South Fulton who won 9-8.   
4/27/12 Pleasant Plains (15-7) hosted the Triopia Trojans (11-10) today at Reiser Field in Plains and threw, their #1, Kyle Weller who was superb.  He threw a 1 hit shut out as he walked 3 and struck out 12 in a 5 inning game.  In the meantime, the Cardinals pushed across 11 runs in the wind in the middle of 30 mph gusts.  Gebhards had 3 of the 8 Plains hits as they scored 4 in the first, 4 in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th in impressive style.  Delivyn Cox took the loss after 3 innings of work.  Triopia committed 4 errors in the loss and the Cardinals played error free ball in the win. This is a pretty good Pleasant Plains team and they may make a nice run in post season this year.  They will start at the Athens Regional and see what happens as they do not have an easy road.  Triopia will go to the Routt Regional with West Central, Lewistown, South Fulton, Illini Central and the host school.    
4/24/12 The Athens Warriors looked like a pretty good team when we saw them at the Plains Tournament in Springfield this weekend and they played good ball tonight as they lost a 4-2 decision to Routt Catholic.  Dean Mick threw a nice game with 6 innings of work and only 4 earned runs with 9 hits as he walked 1 and struck out 2 with 2 wild pitches.  Five different Warriors had one hit with Perkins and Taylor scoring a run each and Epperson getting an RBI.  The 2nd run was unearned on a Nick Lonergan error.  Athens manufactured the run with 4 infield hits (3 of them bunts).  Nick Lonergan pitched another good game and is 7-0 after the complete game win.  He struck out 13 and walked 3 while giving up the 5 hits.  He also had 2 doubles and 2 runs scored in the outing. Routt had 9 hits as Lonergan, Young and Jones all had 2 hits each.  Whalen picked up 2 RBI's with a base loaded single.  With the win, the Rockets are 20-5 and have the rest of the week off.  They play Carrollton next Tuesday in a home game.  
4/23/12 Routt Catholic and the Pittsfield Saukees normally play a close game of baseball and tonight was no different.  The final score was a 6-2 Rocket win but, as usual, the Saukees came back late to make it interesting.  Routt was up 5-0 until the top of the 6th and the Saukees pushed across a couple of runs to make it interesting.  Pittsfield had 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 errors and they left 6 runners on base. Borrowman and Church had 2 hits each in the loss.  Routt had 13 hits with 6 runs and they made 1 error and uncharacteristically left 9 runners on base.  Lonergan had 3 hits while Lindsey, Sheehan, Bickhaus and Young all had 2. Mason Damon took the loss and fell to 1-4 on the season and Ketcham took the win to improve to 3-0.  Ketcham had a nice outing as he stayed away from the base on balls again and hit 1 batter while striking out 3.  He only threw 79 pitches in the game.  Routt will take on a good Athens team tomorrow in a home game and have no other scheduled games for the balance of the week.
4/21/12 Routt Catholic baseball is 18-5 after going  2-1 at the Plains Tournament this week end.  They ended their tournament play with 8-4 win over Springfield Lanphier behind a bevy of pitchers. Martin started and went 4 innings and recorded the win as he left with a 5-4 lead.  Overton came in for an inning, Ketcham for an inning and Lonergan finished the ball game with 1 inning of work. The Lions had 10 hits, 4 runs, 3 errors and they left 8 runners on base.  Andrew Hunter took the loss as he went 4 innings and Richards finished the game.  Routt had only 4 hits in their win as they scored 8 runs with 5 errors and they left 6 on base.  It wasn't a good game but, it was a winner. Richards had 4 hits and Palmer 2 for Lanphier while 4 different batters had hits for the Rockets.  Routt will play Pittsfield and Athens Monday and Tuesday of next week.

In game 3 today, at the Plains tournament, the Triopia Trojans were shut out 9-0 by the Athens Warriors.  They had defeated the Warriors 2-1 in their earlier meeting.  Perkins, Weatherby and Boston all had 2 hits in the win and Weatherby threw 7 innings for the win as he improved to 5-0 on the season.  He walked 3 and struck out 6.  Athens had 9 runs with 9 hits, 3 errors and 5 runners left on base.  For the Trojans, they fell to 9-9 on the year and could only muster 4 hits in the loss. Adam Hageman had a good game with 2 hits and he also threw 2 2/3 innings while taking the loss. 

In the second game of the day, Routt knocked off Springfield Southeast 7-4.  The Spartans had 4 runs on 7 hits and commited 6 errors while leaving 9 runners on base. Williams and Erret had 2 hits each and Harris suffered the loss after 4 1/3 innings of work.  Routt won, behind Dylan Jones as they had 7 hits in the game with Lonergan leading the way with 2 hits, 2 runs scored and 1 RBI.  He also pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for the save. Routt made 3 errors in the win and left 5 runners on base. They did not play great ball but, they did play well enough to post the win.  With the win, Routt improved to 17-5 in the win. 

In the opening game of a 4 game set at the Plains Tournament, the Williamsville Bullets improved to 17-3 on the season. Meyer had 3 hits and Jeffers 2 to lead the Bullets. Eight of the hitters had at least 1 hit in the win and 8 different players scored at least 1 run. Williamsville had 11 hits, 13 runs, 3 errors and they left 7 runners on base.  Kyle Jones was the winning pitcher and Leo Herzberger recorded the loss.  John Love scored the only run for the Trojans as they fell to 9-8 on the year.  Triopia had 3 hits, 1 run and committed 5 errors.  They left the bases loaded twice and were unable to score.   

4/19/12 Routt Catholic had locked up the WIVC north but they wanted to defeat the West Central Cougars again today to set the tone for the upcoming regionals in which these two good teams will be involved.  The Rockets had a solid offensive night with 10 runs on 8 hits, 0 errors and 4 runners left on base.  Sheehan and Jones had a home run each and Sheehan had 5 RBI's in the win.  Nash took the loss and Justin Ketcham almost threw a perfect game. He had retired 13 batters in a row, then walked 3 in a row and got a double play from his teammates and he finished the shut out.  He walked 3 and struck out 2 with 1 wild pitch.  Routt, West Central, Triopia and Lewistown will all be in the same regional and that is going to make it difficult to move on to the sectional round.   
4/17/12 Kyle Mathews (West Central) and Nick Lonergan (Routt Catholic) are two of the better pitchers in the area and they squared off today in Winchester.  Mathews came in 4-0 with 1 "no decision" and Lonergan was 5-0.  A Routt win would give them the WIVC north title and a Cougar win would force a play off on Thursday in Jacksonville.  Routt came out with a 6-3 win with 9 hits, 1 error and 5 runners left on base.  West Central had 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 errors and 3 runners left on base.  Jordan Boehs (2 hits) led the way for the Cougars and Mathews added a 2 run home run.  Elliott, Lonergan and Jones all had 2 hits for the Rockets in the win.  
4/16/12 Porta/AC came to Jacksonville to take on a pretty good Routt Catholic team who was 13-4.  They were hoping to improve on their 8-7 record but just couldn't get any sustained offense and lost to the Rockets 5-1. Schappach took the loss and is 0-5 on the season as he only gave up 6 hits in the game.  Sinclair had the lone RBI and Burnett scored the only run.  Lindsey had 2 hits to the lead the Rockets and Whalen had 2 RBI's with a hit in the 6th.  Lindsey, Elliott and Young had the RBI's as Routt came up with some key hits in the win.  The Rockets made a couple of errors but they didn't hurt in tonight's game.  Jones went 6 1/3 innings for the win and did a pretty good job as he picked up the win and is now 4-1.  Routt has a tough week ahead with games on Tuesday and Thursday against West Central.  They are also going to play at the Pleasant Plains tournament on Friday and Saturday.
4/13/12 Routt Catholic did something they haven't done many times and that is defeat Pleasant Plains in baseball tonight.  It was a hard earned 7-1 win for the Rockets as they improved to 13-4 on the season.  They will take on QND tomorrow if weather permits. As far as the Cardinals were concerned, they obviously did not play one of their better games as they had 8 hits, 1 run 2 errors and they left 7 runners on base.  They did not get any key hits today and a lot of that may have been due to the pitching of Justin Ketchum for the Rockets.  He went 7 innings and did not walk anyone while striking out 7.  His problem in earlier games has been his control as he dug himself a hole but, today was a much better effort and he deserved the win.  Szerletich had 2 hits and so did Sprague for the Cardinals  and Gebhards had the RBI but their were not a lot of offensive highlights for Plains.  Lonergan and Sheehan had 3 hits each in the win while Elliott added 2. Six of the nine starters had at least one hit in the win.  Johnson did not have a hit but was responsible for 1 run and played a very solid defensive game at shortstop for Routt as the senior took charge on a number of plays in the infield.  Routt had 11 hits, 7 runs, 0 errors and left 5 runners on base.  Staff took the loss and fell to 1-2 while Ketchum is 1-0 and if he pitches like he did today, in his next few starts, he will pick up more wins.  It was a great turn-a-round for him.  Plains is 8-5 after today's loss.  
4/12/12 Two days ago, the Triopia Lady Trojans knocked off West Central 8-0 and the Cougars were hoping for some revenge today.  In the first, Dunlap and Shanks struck out and Nash was robbed of a base hit by Smith and that set the tone for the game.  Triopia scored 3 runs in the first, 3 unearned runs in the 2nd, 3 unearned runs in the 3rd and an unearned run in the 4th and won the game 11-0.  They hit the ball hard against Nash who is playing with a tender shoulder and not able to pitch at full strength.  Clayton had 3 hits to lead the way while Smith had two and 5 other Trojans added to the total count of 10 hits, 11 runs, 0 errors and 6 runners left on base.  Werries went 5 innings and only allowed 2 hits, 1 walk and recorded 7 strike outs for the win.  The Cougars had 3 base runners and no one got past second base in the loss.  West Central is 6 and 10 while the Trojans improved to 8 and 5 on the year and 4-0 in conference play.  This is a good hitting Triopia team and it will be interesting to see how they do for the balance of the season.  
4/11/12 If you were at the Routt Catholic baseball game with Illini Central tonight you would have watched a game that was hard to watch. The Rockets dominated from the first inning and won a 22-0 decision.  Lonergan struck out 14 of the 15 outs and the final out was a pop up to Long, behind the plate.  The only two runners to reach base for the Cougars were by an error and a hit batsman. In the meantime, Routt Catholic had 16 hits, 22 runs, 1 error and scored up and down the line up.  Lonergan not only pitched an excellent game, he had a triple and 2 home runs with 3 runs scored and 6 RBI's.  Sheehan also had 3 hits while Bickhaus, Young and Jones all had 2 hits each.  All of the nine starters scored in the game and it was a dominating performance.  Routt will take on Pleasant Plains on Friday and QND on Saturday and it will be fun to see how they play against these two power houses. The Rockets are 12 and 4 after tonight's win.  The Cougars fell to 3-11.   
4/9/12 Routt got beat 11-2 by the Auburn Trojans in baseball this evening and dropped to 11-4 on the year.  They have Illini Central, Pleasant Plains and Quincy Notre Dame in their next 3 games and need to continue to improve and work on their consistency. They only had 4 hits tonight and 2 unearned runs as they left 7 runners on base.  They simply did not get the key hits to drive in the runs. In all fairness, they played without their #1 hitter and pitcher who was slated to go tonight against the Trojans but, someone else is going to have to step up. Lonergan was ill but hopes to be back for the balance of the week. Jones did a nice job for 3 innings as he faced a tough hitting Auburn team but, the 4th was his undoing as he gave up 7 hits and with the help of a couple of errors - 7 runs to get behind 8-2 and was the eventual losing pitcher.  He did get one of the 4 hits and also did a good job defensively at third base.  The Trojans had all 9 of their starters score at leas 1 run while Muensh and Cumming scored 2 each.  They had 15 hits, 11 runs, 2 errors and left 9 runners on base as they improved to 10-3 on the year.  Butler improved to 5-1 as a pitcher.  Muensh, Cumming, Patton and Butler all had 2 hits in the game while Adams-McQuality went 4for 4 to lead the way.  Muensh had a big 3 run home run in the 4th to break the game wide open.  Quburn is a good baseball team but the Rockets were hoping to keep it a little closer and need to get back on track on Wednesday after their 2nd loss in a row.      
4/7/12  The Liberty Eagles baseball team defeated Routt Catholic at Alumni field today 10-7.  It was one of those games where the Rockets made too many mental and physical mistakes and the end result was inevitable.  Too many walks and hit batsmen(7), too many physical errors (5) and mental errors (2), too many infield pop ups (5) and routine fly balls (4) as the Rockets just didn't look like they came to play. Koby Brown threw 7 innings against them and they helped him all they could as he is not the #1 for the Eagles and he looked like a world beater today.  The Eagles had 8 hit and 10 runs (4 earned) in the game and improved to 6-1 on the season with the win.  They made 2 errors and left 7 runners on base.  Ketchum started for the Rockets and threw 4 innings as he gave up 5 runs.  He started the game with a walk and a hit batsman and that pretty much set the tone for the balance of the game.  He threw 75 pitches in 4 innings and did not figure in the win or loss on the day.  That belongs to Ryan Lindsey who pitched 3 innings and got very little defensive help as he gave up 5 unearned runs.  It generally was not a good day for Routt baseball and they will need to re-group before Monday as they hit the road for a game with the Auburn Trojans.  This is an 11-3 Rocket team that is capable of playing much better ball than the fans saw today.       
4/5/12 Routt shut out Triopia 9-0 on Tuesday behind Nick Lonergan. As they got ready to play in Jacksonville today, you had to wonder if the Trojans could pick up the offense and stay in the game. It was a 5 run 3rd inning for Triopia as they took the 5-1 lead but, they could not hang on and got beat 6-5 as Routt Catholic improved to 11-2 on the year and the Trojans fell to 5-5.  In the 3rd Love had 2 RBI's while Millard, Hageman and Winkleman each had one.  Triopia finished with 8 hits, 0 errors and they left 8 runners on base.  Routt got a run in the lst, the 3rd and 4 in the 5th as the big blow as a 3 run home run for Nick Lonergan. The Rockets had 10 hits, 6 runs, 1 error and they left 5 runners on base.  Jones pitched 5 2/3 innings for the win and Love threw 5 innings and took the loss.  We will cover Routt on Saturday as they host the Liberty Eagles.  
3/31/12 When Lewistown and Rushville-Industry played a single non-conference baseball game back on 3/20/12, it was a 14-4 Rocket win and it made you wonder about the double-header conference game they had scheduled for today.  Neither the #1 or #2 pitcher worked the earlier game and it made a whale of a difference today.  In the first game, Simpson pitched a very nice game and won 3-1 as he threw a 4 hitter  with 0 walks and 15 strikeouts.  He faced 25 batters and was sharp all day long. Two of the four hits he gave up were the infield variety off of the bat of Feigl.  Taylor pitched a pretty good game himself but, he walked 7 and only struck out 8 in the loss.  He also gave up a limited number of hits (5) and 2 earned runs.  Welker had a productive day with 3 hits of the 5, while Beekman and Hummel got the other two.  The Indians improved to 6-3 with the win and were hoping to sweep the twin-bill.  

In the second game, the Rockets got out to a 4-1 lead through 4 innings, then walked 2 in the 6th, made an error in the 7th and lost their lead so extra innings were necessary.  Rushville Industry loaded the bases with no outs in the 7th and were not able to score.  They loaded them again in the 9th and Thurman had the game winning hit as they knocked off Lewistown 5-4 to earn the split.  The Indians had 6 hits, 4 runs, 1 error and they left 10 runners on base.  R-I had 11 hits, 5 runs, 3 errors and they left 8 on base.  Ingle started for the Rockets and Canter came in to post the win.  Beekman went 6 innings for the Indians and Shubert suffered the loss after 2 innings of work.  It was a fun couple of games to call and very competitive.  The Indians ended the day 6-4 and the Rockets 4-4.     

3/28/12 Rushville-Industry baseball got a 5 hit shut out from Jack Canter tonight as the Rockets won 3-0.  Griggsville-Perry had 5 hits in the game and only 1 serious scoring threat as Rushville-Industry got great pitching and a solid defensive effort (1 error) in their win tonight. Main threw a pretty nice game himself and took the loss as the Rockets got the key hits.  Rushville-Industry got a hit from 6 different players in this team win.  Ison Smith played an excellent outfield for the Tornadoes and had 2 hits and walk on the offensive side.  G-P fell to 2-6 with the loss and R-I improved to 3-2 with the win.  We will see the Rockets on Saturday as they host Lewistown in a double header starting at 10:00.
3/26/12 Routt came into tonight's baseball game with New Berlin as the favorite with a 5-1 mark as compared to the 1-3 record for the Pretzels.  The first 3 innings, New Berlin played well defensively and held a 1-0 lead.  The wheels came off in the 4th however and the Rockets pushed across 9 runs to take the 9-1 lead. They sent 13 batters to the plate and had 7 hits to go along with a couple of Pretzel errors and Routt pretty much had the game in hand.  Routt walked 3 in the 1st inning and hit one to allow one run.  In the the 4th they walked 5 and gave up 2 more runs, so Ketcham was pulled and Lonergan finished off the inning. Then Dylan Jones came in to throw 1 inning and close out the game.  The final was a 14-23 win for Routt as Ketcham recorded the win and Phillips took the loss.  New Berlin had 2 hits and 3 runs with 3 wrrors.  The Rockets had 10 hits and 14 runs with 1 error on a pick off throw at first.  Except for the 8 walks in the game, it was a very nice outing for Routt and they will take on Brown County on Tuesday and Thursday of this week in a couple of conference games. Lonergan, Lindsey and Johnson each had 32 hits in the game.   
3/23/12 In a lightening shortened baseball game, West Central knocked off Rushville-Industry 5-1.  It's unfortunate the game could not be played to the end as it was a nice match up.  The Rockets started the scoring with a solo homerun for Wilcoxen in the 2nd inning.  The Cougars answered in the bottom of the second as Coreny Barnett hit a solo shot of his own.  That was the highlight of the Rockets offense as they did not score again.  They finished with just 2 hits and 1 runner left on base.  Ingles took the loss and Luek Nash pitched a very nice game for West Central as he struck out 5 and walked no one.  Barnett had 2 hits in the win with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI's. Austin Boehs, Berry, Buhlig and DeJaynes all had a hit.  With the win, the Cougars improved to 6-1 and Rushville-Industry fell to 1-2.  West Central had 1 error and R-I committed 3 errors in the loss. 
3/20/12 Routt Catholic and Pawnee have played close baseball games over the past 2 years and tonight was no different.  The Rockets gradually built a 4 run lead with a run in the 4th, the 5th and then 2 in the 7th which to be the game winner.  Pawnee, shut out through 6, came back like you thought they would and got it to a 4-3 game with runners at first and second with only 1 out.  After a ground out to 3rd and a strike out, the game came to a close but it was an entertaining high school game and these two may meet again later on down the road.  Lonergan threw 105 pitches and a complete game for the win.  Crain went 4 2/3 innings and suffered the loss while Allen and Thornton came in relief.  The Indians had 9 hits, 3 runs, 2 errors and they left 5 runners on base as they fell to 1-2 on the season. Matheis led the way with 2 hits.  Cale Henneman had 2 RBI's and Matheis 1 in the loss. Routt got 3 hits from Young and 2 from Johnson as they accumulated 4 runs on 7 hits, 1 error and 7 left on.  Martin, Elliott and Whalen had the RBI's tonight. Routt will host Pleasant Hill tomorrow as they left Pawnee with 5 wins and 1 loss.
3/16/12 Triopia is off to a slow start this season but not in wins and losses for their baseball season.  Their first game was postponed due to Carrollton not having time to practice after their long state run for basketball.  Then the Trojans had a 4-0 lead on Greenfield and the game was postponed due to weather.  Tonight they finally got a game in the books with an 11-4 win over the Tornadoes of Griggsville-Perry.  Leading 5-0 in the 4th inning, Triopia gave up 4 runs in the bottom of the 4th (3 unearned) and had to come back to sew it up with 5 runs in the 6th and 1 in the 7th.  Dirk Winkleman threw 4 innings for the win and Millard threw 3 strong innings to finish the game.  Joehl and Burrus had 2 hits each and accounted for 4 RBI's between them.  Triopia had 1 error and left 10 runners on base in the win.  The Tornadoes had 5 hits, 4 runs, 4 errors and they left 5 on base and they fell to 1-2 on the year with 3 games in 4 days.  Main took the loss as Griggsville-Perry used 4 pitchers in the game.  Rumple had one RBI and King 3 in the loss.  The Lady Trojans won a 5-2 game at Griggsville tonight also and are 1-1 on the year.  They had a 4-0 lead over the Lady Tigers in Greenfield last night that got postponed also.  
3/15/12 It was 83 degrees and a little breezy and we had two teams with 0-1 records so it was hard to figure what would happen. It was one big inning for the Brown County Hornets and they got some separation in a 2-2 game and won it 12-2 over WHNG.  The Spartans just couldn't get their offense in gear.  Brown County took the early lead with 2 unearned runs and after getting tied in the third inning, they immediately came back with 8 runs in the bottom of the third and added the winning runs in the 5th and 6th to put the win on the board.  Eight of their nine players had at lead 1 hit and Shepperd led the way with 3 hits including a solo shot over the left field fence. Clayton Taylor threw 4 innings for the win as Brady Long came in to pitch the 5th and 6th in which he struck out 5 hitters.  Randall led the Spartans with 2 hits and Adam Knox suffered the loss after going 2 1/3 innings.  WHNG finished with 6 hits, 2 runs, 4 errors and 9 runners left on base as they fell to 0-2.  The Hornets had 12 runs on 10 hits and they committed 3 errors with 6 runners left on base.  The Lady Hornets also won as they knocked off the Lady Spartans 4-1. 
3/14/12 It is early in the season but you felt tonight's match up betwwen the 1-0 Tornadoes of Griggsville-Perry and the 1-0 Routt Catholic Rockets had some meaning.  They play each other tough each game and tonight was no different.  The Rockets built a 5-0 lead and you knew G-P would make a run, which they did in the 6th inning.  They put 3 on the board and the Rockets answered in the 7th with 2 more runs to lock down the 7-3 win.  Cravin went 6 innings and took the loss while Lonergan threw a complete game for the win.  He gave up 4 hits, 2 earned and 1 unearned run and struck out 8 while walking 3. Smith, Craven, Rumple and Kennedy had 1 hit each in the loss as the Tornadoes made 2 errors and left 5 on base.  Routt had 7 hits in the win as Lonergan and Sheehan each had 2.  Lonergan also had a 2 run home run while scoring 4 runs.  Sheehan had 3 RBI's which gives him 9 in two games.  Elliott picked up an RBI also and the Rockets had 2 double plays in the win.  The down side of the win, if there is one, was the 5 errors for Routt.  They only left 4 on base as they have an early season habit of getting their runners in. In their 2 wins, the Rockets have gotten a solid start from Long and Lonergan.  
3/13/12 The 2012 broadcast season opened tonight for high school baseball as Routt Catholic hosted the Tigers of Greenfield.  Routt had too much offense for the Tigers and won the game 17-2 behind the 3 hit game for Brent Long.  Ketcham came in to close out the game with 3 strike outs in the last inning.  McEvers had 2 of the 3 Tiger hits with a triple and a solo home run. Mark Jennings had the other hit as Greenfield-Northwestern had 3 hits, 2 runs, 4 errors and 0 runners left on base.  Noah Jennings took the loss with 2 innings of work.  Brendan Stults and Matt Motley also threw in the loss.  Long went 4 innings for Routt with 3 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks and 8 strike outs.  Routt's offense was solid with 17 runs, 18 hits, 0 errors and 7 runners left on base. They had 8 batters with hits and 7 of those had multiple hits.  Elliott, Sheehan and Johnson all had 3 hits while Lonergan, Young, Whalen and Martin each had 2.  Sheehan had a 3 run home run as the big blow of the game.  He also had 6 RBI's and threw out a runner attempting to steal.  The Rockets will take a 1-0 record to Griggsville-Perry tomorrow to face the Tornadoes who are 1-0 on the year.  This is a short fence and always dangerous for pitchers as it turns most of the medium hitters into home run hitters, so anything can happen.     
2/25/12 After the Illini Bluffs girls' basketball game with Leroy, the Lady Tigers had two players on crutches and one appearing slightly dazed.  They are the owners of a well-deserved third place trophy and the appreciation of a large fan base who knows how hard they worked for the honor of crossing the winners' platform at Redbird Arena.  They only have two seniors (the Wall twins) and, while their shoes will be hard to fill, you can't replace or replicate the experience this entire team got with the state run. It will make them hungry to return and be an inspiration for next season.  Leroy finished their season with 27 wins and 5 losses  and were led by Molly Marcum who hit her season average of 18 points.  Ashley Walker also had her average of 17 points in the game but it wasn't quite enough today.  Tied at 16 in the first quarter and 30 at half time, these two evenly matched teams battled it out to the end with the Tigers prevailing with their 58-50 victory.  Eight points was the Tigers biggest lead of the game. The Panthers finished with 31% from the field, 7% from long range and 71% from the free throw line with 38 rebounds and 16 turnovers.  To show you how even the game was, Illini Bluffs shot 35% from the field, 55% from beyond the arc and 64% from the charity stripe with 40 rebounds and 20 turnovers.  McClintock led the Tigers with 22 hard earned points.  Unlike the semi-final game, she got a lot of help on the offensive end of the floor as Kinzie Wall scored 15, Jayce Johnson 12 (off of the bench), Ari Young 5, Hannah Wall 2 and Russell 2.  This was a nice win and fun to watch.  Hannah Wall played a hustling defense with 9 rebounds and 4 steals.  Kenzie Wall had 12 boards and played all 32 minutes of the game according to the official stats.  Young made 5 of 11 free throws and also had 4 steals.  This was a total team effort and was necessary due to the injuries.  Hannah Wall left the arena on crutches due to a right knee injury.  Johnson twisted her ankle and left with ice and crutches.  McClintock had a hard hit to the head and it was questionable whether she would finish the game on the bench or on the hardwood. As you might guess, she made the decision to play on and was instrumental in the final decision.  They will all three end up visiting the medical facility and then hopefully share the victory with their teammates and friends.  It was a solid season for the Illini Bluffs Tigers and one we were proud and happy to share with them.  
2/24/12 Illini Bluffs got a chance that only 4 teams for class 1A girls' basketball, for the state of Illinois, gets annually.  They were playing at Redbird Arena at Illinois State for a chance to win the state title.  They came up a little short today as they were defeated by Cowden-Herrick 63-54.  It wasn't for the lack of trying but, they had too many turnovers (26) to win against a good team like the Hornets.  They did force a lot of second half turnovers once they put on the full court press however, when you are only about 6 or 7 deep it is hard to keep up the energy necessary to run the press for an extended period of time. As for the offense, they had a wonderful day (38 points) out of their junior Taylor McClintock. Hannah Wall had a nice game with 8 points and Kenzie Wall had a tough day going up against the All-State play of Micah Jones.  Jones had 11 points, 8 assists and 16 rebounds with 5 blocks and that is hard to overcome. Faith Wendte also had a good game with 20 points and Doty added 18.  A 3-point shot in the third quarter from Klee and Paruleski, off of the bench, also aided in the Hornet win.  Cowden-Herrick led from the beginning of the game and, in trying to catch up, the Tigers simply wore themselves out.  As far as free throw shooting, it was one-sided as the Hornets hit 14 of 23 and Illini Bluffs 6-6. While it was disappointing for the Lady Tigers to lose the game, they have an opportunity to play for third place tomorrow when they take on Leroy at noon. It will be a history making day whether they win or lose as this is the deepest any Tiger team has gone and they would love to end it on a winning note.       
2/20/12 The 2012 Illinois College Super Sectional for girl's basketball is history and the winner is Illini Bluffs, who defeated a very good Hardin-Calhoun team 57-48.  The Warriors ended their season with 29 wins and only 5 losses and enjoyed a 25-20 half time lead.  Jocie Klocke who was named to the all-state 1st team led the Warriors with 27 points as Maddie Baalman added 8 and Squier 6.  Shooting 38% from the field, 18% from long range and 75% from the free throw line wasn't quite good enough as they faced a strong Illini Bluffs team who finished well.  The Tigers only had 3 players score in the game as McClintock hit 31, Hannah Wall and her twin sister, Kinze each scored 13 points. They shot 50% from the field, 25% from beyond the arc and only 56% (18-32) from the charity stripe.  Illini Bluffs took care of the ball with only 9 turnovers and their second half, full court press, made all the difference in the win.  This is the farthest any team from Illini Bluffs has gone in school history and they will take on Cowden Herrick at 2:00 on Friday at Redbird Arena in Normal on the campus of Illinois State.  The other two teams making up the final four are Leroy, who upset Annawan, and Freeport Aquin at 12:15.  We will be there on 101.3 WVIL with all the coverage.  
2/16/12 Illini Bluffs brought a 26-5 record to the sectional championship game with the South Fulton Rebels who were 27-4.  On paper they were evenly matched and the Rebels had beaten the Tigers by 6 points, in Glasford, back in December. From the very beginning your could see it was going to be a real defensive battle but, Illini Bluffs had a rebounding advantage.  In the end, it was the inside game of the Tigers that helped them win the 66-51 final.  Ari Young did a nice job defensively on Carly Beebe and held her to 14 points in the loss.  Molly Lascelles played a nice game with 15 points and Bollinger hit double digits with 10 but it wasn't enough.  South Fulton put up 57 shots to 41 by the Tigers but, could only hit 31% of them.  They were 9 of 14 from the free throw line and only had 12 turnovers but they just didn't shoot well and couldn't control the boards.  McClintock led the Tigers with 26 points but, Kinzie Wall knocked down 20 points as she hit 9 buckets in a row.  Hannah Wall added 8 and Johnson 5 in the win and when you couple that with the defense of Ari Young it was enough to pick up an impressive win.  Illini Bluffs shot 56% from the field and 17 of 26 from the charity stripe.  They also had too many turnovers with a total of 23 but, in the end, the earned only the second super sectional game in the schools history.  Their last one was in 1981 for the boy's team.  Hardin Calhoun hung on to defeat Alton Marquette 42-41 and will meet Illini Bluffs at Illinois College in Jacksonville Monday night. The winner will play in the final four at Redbird Arena on Friday. 
 2/13/12 Hardin-Calhoun is in the title game for their Sectional on Thursday night after beating Routt Catholic in girl's basketball tonight 68-63.  Jocie Klocke showed her all-state talents tonight as she scored 32 points and hit 12 of 12 free throws in the 4th quarter to seal the win.  She was 10 for 14 from the field including 2 treys as she led her Warriors in an impressive outing. Hayn played well with 10 points as Maddie Baalman scored 11 points and Stein tossed in 9.  The Warriors hit 24 of 42 from the field and 15 of 20 from the line.  Their only down side was the 30 turnovers.  Bystrey led the Rockets with 17 while Gross and Tonry added 12 each.  Garde had7, Halpin 6, Arendt 5 and Kuhn 4 to round out the Rockets effort.  Routt hit 19 of 48 shots with 18 of 26 from the charity stripe and 19 turnovers.  Bystrey and Arendt both fouled out in their last game for the Rockets.  It was a solid season for the Rockets and as they only lose 3 players to graduation, they will be very good again next year. As for Klocke and company, they will get a chance to play either Okawville or Alton-Marquette next. If they can win, they will go to Illinois College for the Super-Section against Illini Bluffs, South Fulton or Illini Central.   
2/11/12 As 7th graders, the Winchester Wolverines finished 3rd in the state as they won by way of a forfeit when their opponent did not show up on time.  This year, as 8th graders, the Wolverines returned to state and opened their play with the Elmwood Trojans.  Winchester entered the game with a 25-0 record and the Trojans came in with 20 wins and 5 losses.  In a pre-game look at the Trojans the key to their game was going to be the play of Isaiah Groeper and Austin Sims.  In reality, that is the way the game went as the 6' 0" 7th grader (Groeper) scored 19 points and a played an all around solid game.  Sims hit 5 treys out of 11 attempts and added a couple of free throws on his way to 17 points.  Hall and Roberts added 7 points each and Keefer 6 in the 58-45 Elmwood win.  Trailing 23-22 at half time, with 11 turnovers, the Trojans made some nice adjustments and outscored the Wolverines 36-22 in the second half for the win. Winchester came into the game with 2 of their top 7 players injured and were thin off of the bench.  Foul trouble was one of their main concerns so, when Slagle and Weder fouled out, the end was pretty much in sight.  Strohecker led the Wolverines with 22 points (14 in the 4th quarter), while Hoover added 11, Weder 8 and Slagle 4.  Winchester hit 2 of 5 free throws in the first half and 10 of 11 in the second half but they just couldn't match the offense of the winning Trojans.  While it was a disappointing loss for Winchester, they had an outstanding season and will hopefully remember that a lot longer than the loss itself.   
2/8/12 Routt Catholic got off to a slow start tonight and Barry Western kept pace with them as the first quarter ended in an 18-18 tie.  As the Rockets settled down, they built a 40-27 half time lead and extended it out to win the semi-final, regional, match up 72-47.  They will play in the Griggsville-Perry title game tomorrow when the face West Central for the third time this year. Motley had a great game for the Wildcats (23 points) in the loss and Melton, a freshman, added 12 points. The 25 turnovers for Barry Western hurt them in the loss.  The Rockets Spread the ball around well tonight as 9 players scored in the win.  Halpin led the way with 13; Bystrey scored 12 and Gross 11.  Garde finished with 9, Tonry 8 and Kuhn 7 as the Rockets improved to 22-6 on the year.  They shot 52% from the field and only had 12 turnovers.

The last time White Hall North Greene and West Central played, it was a one point win for the Cougars.  Tonight it looked like it was going to come down to the wire again.  The Cougars finally got a big trey from Bettis in the 4th to get a little breathing room as they went on to win 42-34.  The Spartans had their chances late in the game and could not make a crucial shot.  Halie Kraushaar had 12 points to lead WHNG while Elliott scored 10 and Hull 8.  The Spartans proved once again you cannot have 20 turnovers and win many games.  West Central only had 8 turnovers as they won their 18th game of the season.  West Central only hit 24% of their shots  and 14 of 27 from the free throw line as they played just well enough to win the game and get a shot at the championship game tomorrow night against their arch rival, the Routt Catholic Rockets. Lietz led the Cougars with 14 points and some big late game free throws.  Carmody had 3 treys in the game and 4 fourth quarter free throws to help preserve the win.  

2/7/12 Tonight's Regional semi-final games @ Illini Bluffs saw the #1 and#2 seeds try to move on to the championship game on Thursday night.  In game #1 it was Illini Bluffs taking on Roanoke-Benson who earned their way into the game by defeating Peoria Heights on Monday.  The Tigers got off to a great start and a 13-2 lead.  The Rockets wouldn't go away and got it back to a 4 point game before Illini Bluffs made a solid run and went on to win 45-24. Roanoke-Benson had 6 players in the scoring column but their top scorer only had 6 points.  They shot 19% from the field and 50% from the free throw line with 19 turnovers.  The Rockets finished their season with 14 wins and 14 losses.  Illini Bluffs improved to 25-5 on the year as McClintock scored 19 and Kenzie 13 to lead the attack. The Tigers shot 50 from the free throw line and 37% from the field with 8 players in the scoring totals.  The 17 turnovers were a little misleading as 6 of them came with the substitutes in the game. Illini Bluffs will have to play a much better game on Thursday if they hope to take down Princeville.

Princeville shot 18 three point shots and made 11 (61%) of them in route to their 56-25 win over Elmwood.  Princeville only had 7 players on their roster and 2 of them were injured.  They added 2 freshman to their roster and played them late in the game. One of their challenges tonight was to stay out of foul trouble and they did a great job as none of their starters had more than one foul.  Potter (19), Dorrington (18) and Streitmatter (10) all had double digit scoring while Kieseer added 6 and Bridson 2 in the win.  The hit 54% of their shots and were 0 for 2 from the free throw line as they didn't penetrate much to get fouled.  The Princes only had 10 turnovers in the game also as they played an all around solid game.  If they can play this type of ball on Thursday, they will have a decent shot at upsetting Illini Bluffs. Of course the defensive pressure the Tigers will bring will be a lot harder to dominate.  Seven of the Lady Trojans scored in the game but their scoring leader only had 6 points (McCoy and Frietsch) and they just couldn't sustain any serious offense with their 9 of 41 performance.  They knocked down 4 of 6 free throws and had 12 turnovers in the loss. Princeville will bring a 19 and 9 record into the title game on Thursday.  When these teams played each other earlier in the year, it was a 5 point Tiger win.    

2/6/12 Girls' High School Basketball Regional action began tonight and Triopia was favored to knock off the Cyclones of Sciota West Prairie.  While it wasn't as easy as it looked on paper the Trojans were able to put the 37-24 win in the record books.  The Cyclones ended their season with 1 win and 28 losses but, they played pretty well through 3 quarters.  Harper had 3 treys and 13 points to lead the Cyclones in the game.  75% free throw shooting was good and only 11 turnovers was good but the 8 for 48 in field goal attempts wasn't so good. Triopia only shot 25% from the field but, they did a very good job with the rebounding tonight and hit 9 of 12 in free throws.  They only had 10 turnovers in the game and improved to 12-16 with the win. Emily Carls had 13 points while Washington scored 9.  Clayton had an off shooting night but did put down 7 points in the 4th quarter including 5 of 6 from the charity stripe.  Triopia will take on the #1 seed tomorrow night in the semi-final round of the Astoria Regional.  This is another game that already had a winner - on paper - and we will see if the Trojans can pull an upset.  It will be a tough game for them but, they have had a good season and this would be a great finish.   
2/3/12 When you have a 22-2 (West Central Cougars) team visit a 19-3 (Carrollton Hawk) team to play a boys basketball game in front of a full house - you are in for a treat.  Two veteran coaches and two very talented teams and the results were unpredictable. The final outcome was a Cougar victory 43-36.  Watson led the Hawks with 13 points while Coonrod and Kraut added 7 each while Harr and Fraley contributed 6.  Carrollton hit 14 of 37 shots from the field and 3 of 4 from the line with 12 turnovers.  The Cougars were led by 19 points from Day and 15 from Jordan Boehs.  They knocked down 14 of 55 shots and only 10 of 22 free throws but, they only had 6 turnovers all night long.  West Central only made 1 of 4 shots in the 3rd quarter and 1 of 11 in the 3rd quarter plus 0-3 to start the 4th.  How did they win?  By hitting the next 5 shots in a row including 3 treys and 2 free throws as they made a strong run while out scoring the Hawks 19 to 6 in the final quarter of play.  Carrollton is now 19 & 4 with a 3-2 conference mark.  The Cougars are 23-2 with a 9-0 mark in the conference which is good enough to take the title.  Kt was a fun game to watch and the only place to be this week for WIVC basketball.
1/31/12 Routt Catholic girl's basketball played a tough game on Saturday when they played Pana.  Then they had another hard game on Monday night when they held off Hardin-Calhoun and tonight they hit the road to take on Athens.  You had to be concerned with how much energy and strength they had left.  The Rockets gave the crowd and coaching staff a quick answer as they jumped out to a 14-7 first quarter lead and went on to post the 55-34 win over the Warriors. In the end they turned Athens over 28 times and maintained control of the game.  Kern did have 18 points for the Warriors and no one else had more than 4 points in the game. Athens hit 27% from the field and 71% from the line. As for the Rockets they hit 39% of their shots and also  made 21 of 34 free throws.  The Rockets turned the ball over 7 times in the first half and then showed a little weariness with 8 turnovers late in the game. Gross led the way with 14 points and Halpin did a very nice job with 10 points off of the bench.  Tonry (7), Bystry (6), Arendt (6), Garde (6) and Kuhn (4) all contributed to the win. It was a good dose of Rocket defense that helped Routt pick up their 19th win of the year.  They play ISD Thursday and finish their regular season against Mendon Unity at the QND Shoot Out on Saturday. 
1/30/12 Hardin-Calhoun and Routt Catholic were undefeated in regular season play as they squared off in Jacksonville tonight.  The WIVC title was basically on the line, especially if Routt were to win.  The Rockets had to come from behind to pick up the 70-61 win.  If and when they beat ISD on Thursday, they will become the champion, no matter what happens between Calhoun and West Central on Thursday.  The Warriors got off to a solid start tonight, then they faltered at the end, and Routt did the right thing at the end by knocking down 12 of 16 free throws in the 4th.  Hardin-Calhoun looked like they slowed down by about a step and starting reaching defensively.  They were the taller team and basically owned the inside game but just couldn't hold on for the win.  Kocke was impressive with her 25 points.  Stein added 15 and Maddie Baalman 11 as the Warriors fell to 23-4. These two teams could possibly meet again in the sectional on the home court of the Warriors.  Calhoun hurt themselves with their 3 of 9 free throws in the 4th quarter because they hit 51% of their field goals and only had 3 more turnovers than the Rockets.  Routt had 4 players (Gross 21, Bystry 19, Garde 10 and Tonry 10) in double digits and hit 17 of 25 free throws to salt away the win.  They fought the rebound battle all night long but made up for it with a strong man to man defense.  Routt is now 18-6 on the season and will take on a good Athens team tomorrow night.  They and West Central will both play in the Griggsville-Perry regional and are 1-1 against each other this season.    
1/28/12 West Central drew QND in the first round of the Lady Hawk Tournament and had very little chance of winning.  They lost. So, they set a goal of winning the consolation championship and got it done tonight as they knocked off Alton Marquette 45-33.  Wilson led the Explorers with 14 points and Evans added 9.  West Central got 13 points from Lietz and 12 from Bettis while Lashmett had a very solid game with 8 points.  The Cougars improved to 16-8 on the year and will try to defeat Carrollton and Hardin-Calhoun next week in the WIVC.

Granite City and Carrollton played for 3rd place and the Warriors hit 12 of 16 treys in the 55-45 win.  Luehmann hit 7 3's, a deuce and 2 free throws in the win.  Schaus recorded 4 treys also and 14 total points.  Wartenbe had one 3 along with one 2 and 2 free throws for 7 points and O'Keefe added 7.  The Hawks didn't play as bad as the score indicated but when you play someone as hot as Granite City, it is hard to win.  Coonrod and Williams each scored 13 and Cook in the loss.  Carrollton's next game will be pressure packed also as they face West Central in Winchester and will need to get ready for the Calhoun Regional where they are the #2 seed behind Calhoun.

Routt Catholic was fresh off of losing to the #1 seed QND Raiders and had to face the #2 seed Pana Panthers. They had a roller coaster type of game and eventually lost 60-48 to a pretty good team. Gross and Garde had 17 points each and the 10 for 19 performance from the free throw line didn't help matters. Even with the loss, the Rockets are hoping to lock up the WIVC conference regular season next week but, they have to knock off the Calhoun Warriors on Monday at the Routt Dome.  Pana is without their top scorer but are a good team and got a great game from Waddington off of the bench.  She scored 22 and Charley Lett added 12 while Vaughn scored 9.  

QND came into the 38th annual Lady Hawk and left as the champion.  They defeated Calhoun 72-24 in a convincing win as they improved to 24-1 on the season.  They are the #1 seed in the 2A state tournament and I have not personally seen any team that looks like they can beat them.  Frericks scored 19, Kassidy Gengenbacher scored 13, Kuhn 12, Martin 12 and Kristen Gengenbacher 10 as the well balanced Raiders jumped out to a quick lead and were never challenged in the game.  They will play in the Beardstown regional in post season play.  The Calhoun Warriors never got their offense in gear and were no match for QND as they lost their 3rd game of the season. They can concentrate on Routt on Monday and try to win the WIVC conference outright.  They will also host their own regional and sectional this season as they hope to make a strong run in post season play.  Everything starts with the Rockets on Monday. 

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM:  Emily Bystry and Joanna Gross (Routt), Jordan Wilson (A. Marquette), Kassidy Gengenbach, Tori Kuhn, Jordan Frericks (QND), Patsy Coonrod (Carrollton), Emalie Thornton (Jerseyville), Maddie Baalman, Jocie Klocke (Calhoun), Andrea Lietz (West Central), Paige Luehmann (Granite City) and Charlie Lett (Pana).

1/27/12 After tonight's action at the Beardstown Boy's Tournament, the championship day is set.  7th and 8th place will be between Rushville-Industry and South Fulton.  5th and 6th place will be Beardstown and Havana.  Fighting for 3rd and 4th, it will be the Triopia Trojans and WHNG.  The Title game will feature  Midwest Central and the Carrollton Hawks.

Carrollton got all over the South Fulton Rebels and defeated them 80-28 in tonight's action. Casey Jones had 14 points for the Rebels and no one else had more than 4 points.  The 16% from the field and 50% free throw shooting, along with the 20 turnovers was way out of line for the Rebels to win.  Carrollton had 4 players, Fraley (25), Coonrod (16), Watson (13) and Kraut (13) to run all over South Fulton. The Hawks hit 16 of 24 from the free throw lines and 27 for 62 from the field with 16 turnovers.

Triopia got off to a good start tonight with a 23-6 lead over Havana and hung on for the 52-38 lead.  Atwater and Stinauer had 10 points each in the loss and the game put them into the 5th and 6th game with Beardstown.  The Trojans had 8 players in the scoring column as Love and Herzberger each recorded 10. Bangert and Huddleston had 8 points each as Triopia hit 49% of their shots and only had 9 turnovers in the win.  The Trojan game with WHNG will be a hard hitting ball game between a couple of WIVC opponents.

Beardstown and Rushville is a good rivalry and tonight was no different.  The Tigers won the 46-32 game after Rushville lead the entire first half. Austin Jones led the Rockets with 14 points but the 15 turnovers hurt the chances for Rushville to win the game. The Rockets also had early foul trouble which kept them from substituting the way they wanted.  Patterson had the best game I have seen him play this season with 16 points and Watson added 11 in the Tiger win. Gus Vermillion also played well with 8 points and a hard nosed effort in the paint.  Beardstown did a good job taking care of the ball with only 9 turnovers and were the better team tonight.    

1/26/12 In day three of the Beardstown boy's tournament, the Carrollton Hawks set the tone early in their game with Havana and jumped out to a 22-6 lead and never looked back.  They led at every quarter and won the game 64-25 and will play in the title game on Saturday against Midwest Central.  Coonrod (13), Kraut (12) and Harr (11) all hit double figures for the Hawks and they played a very nice game tonight.  Havana just never got on a sustained roll.  They were led in scoring by Atwater with 7 points.  They had early foul trouble and turned the ball over 23 times in their loss.  With their 1-1 record, they will take on Triopia Friday night at 6:30 and one of those teams will earn the right to play WHNG on Saturday as a 2nd place finisher. 

Midwest Central and WHNG were both 2-0 coming into tonight's second game.  The Raiders had beaten the Spartans pretty handily at the IC shoot out earlier in the season.  Tonight the Raiders won again but this time it wasn't so easy.  WHNG led most of the game and set the pace however, Midwest Central came back late and held on for the win. Berg is a hand full and led the Raiders with 24 points while Sarff was hot from long range and finished with 12. Meyer also had a couple of treys for 8 points total.  Hitting 12 of 15 free throws helped the Raider's cause also.  Tucker and Wear each had 12 points for the Spartans while Davis scored 9 and Roesch 7 in the loss.  WHNG showed their ability to shoot from the free throw line as well as they knocked down 14 of 16 shots which allowed them to stay close at the end.  They had 4 attempts at a 3-point bucket to tie the game but none of them fell. It was an exciting game full of suspense and came right down to the wire.

In the final game of the evening the Triopia Trojans shot 25 three points shots and hit 11 of them to defeat South Fulton 58-28. They hit 39% from the field and only 30% from the free throw line but, they also only had 7 turnovers on the night.  They are now 1-1 in the tournament and will have to place good game on Friday when they face the Havana Ducks.  Breedlove had a very nice game with 11 points to lead the Rebels tonight.  Jones hit 3 treys for 9 points as well as South Fulton hit 43% of their shots from the field.  Their 15 turnovers didn't help their cause tonight and the Trojans out rebounded them in the game as well.  The Rebels will have to play extremely well on Friday if they hope to defeat the Carrollton Hawks.      

1/25/12 Once West Central lost their opening game in the Lady Hawk, they set a goal on winning the consolation championship.  They are one game away from accomplishing their task.  They will take on either Marquette or Metro East at 2:00 on Saturday. In their game tonight, they pretty much dominated Greenfield to win a 53-25 decision.  Abbey Lashmett was strong with 19 points and Bettis hit 10 to help lead the Cougars to the victory. Only nine turnovers in the game was very helpful also.  Six of the Tigers scored but no one had more than 6 points and that is not enough points to win against good competition.  

Quincy Notre Dame jumped out to a 16-2 lead over the Warriors of Granite City and it was never close as they ran away to a 51-27 win.  Kristen Gengenbacher hit 13 and Martin 10 was 9 Raiders scored in the convincing win.  They will take on Routt Catholic tomorrow in the semi-final round.  QND only turned the ball over 8 times and forced 19 turnovers on the Warriors. Luehman had a good game with 14 points and Wartenbe hit 7 to lead Granite City in the loss.  In the Raiders early game this season with Routt Catholic, they won by 51 points and the Rockets will have to have the best game they have maybe ever played to put the heat on this strong opponent.

Routt Catholic came in as the #4 seed in the Tournament and the Panthers of Jerseyville were #5.  That was the way the game was played and turned out tonight as Routt defeated Jerseyville 55-51 with some late ball control and free throws.  Thornton was very good inside and knocked down 17 points.  Steckel hit 15 in the game also and it was almost enough to pull out the win. Their 20 turnovers was a big factor in their loss.  Gross scored 20 and Bystrey 10 to lead the Rockets. Tonry hit a couple of big 3's to help with the offense.  Routt hit 77% of their free throws with 7 of 8 in the 4th quarter to lock down the win. This was a pressure packed game and gave Routt the opportunity to face the #1 seed tomorrow.   

1/24/12 Day two of the Beardstown Boys Tournament was exciting and we are beginning to see where the championship match ups may be heading.  North Greene and Midwest Central are 2-0 while Rushville and Beardstown are 0-2.  Thursday's games will be critical for those teams involved.

North Green opened the night with a 53-38 win over Rushville Industry.  Wear was hot with 16 points and Davis put up his usual double-digit (15) numbers in the win. The Spartans hit 40% of their shots as compared to 28% shooting by the Rockets also.  The Rockets did well from the line with a 4 for 4 effort but, once again, the attacking nature of the Spartans put them on the line 13 times.  They only hit 46% of those shots, which is a little low, so their field goals made the difference.  North Greene is averaging only 11 turnovers a game through the tournament to this point and that is a good number.  The Spartans hit 2 of 9 from beyond the arc and the Rockets attempted 18 treys with 4 gong through the basket. Unfortunately that is how you end up with only 4 free throw attempts in a game.  The Spartans will take on Midwest Central on Thursday to see who plays in the title game on Saturday.

Carrollton and Triopia made their first appearance of the tournament and it was a fun game.  Coonrod was looking for 7 points which would put him over 1,000 for his high school career.  He scored 10 in the end. Watson was strong with 18 points as Triopia let him shoot too many uncontested 3's. He made 4 of 9 attempts and added a couple of deuces and 2 free throws.  Palan scored 8 points off of the bench as the Hawks shot 41% from the field and 80% from the free throw line with 9 turnovers.  Those are solid numbers that will win you a lot of games.  Love had a good night offensively for the Trojans with 16 points as he hit 6 of 8 from the field and 3 of 4 from the line. Triopia decided to play the game from the outside and shot 21 treys (6 made) which only put them at the line 4 times in the game.  The Trojans and Hawks still have to face South Fulton and Havana in their division.

In the night cap, Midwest Central and Beardstown had 35 fouls called as they went toe to toe in the Raider's 55-44 win. The Tigers made 5 of 10 free throws in the loss while Midwest Central knocked down 23 of 32.  They shot relatively equal from the field as Beardstown hit 14 of 34 and the Raiders were 18 of 47.  They were also equal in turnovers.  If you are going to get out scored by 18 at the free throw line, you have a lot of work to do to make up the difference. Beardstown hit 2 of 12 from long range and Midwest Central was 4 of 11. Good effort by the Tigers but they came up short.  They are 0-2 and will face the 0-2 Rockets of Rushville-Industry at 8:00 on Friday night.  These natural rivals always put on a good show.  It may not be pretty but, it will be entertaining.       

1/23/12 The Beardstown Boys Basketball Tournament is always fun as they bring together teams with a varied degree of success and style to the Tiger Den. The end result is always entertaining as the teams and coaches match their talent and strategies. This year it is Midwest Central, North Greene, Beardstown and Rushville in the Orange Division.  Carrollton, Havana, Triopia and South Fulton make up the Black Division.  If you like JV ball and a chance to watch the younger players, there are nightly games in the middle school gym.

Game #1 featured Rushville-Industry Rockets against the Raiders of Midwest Central.  A lot of people were surprised when the Rockets played a very tough game and had a legitimate chance to pick up the win.  The final score was 53-51 in favor of Midwest Central but they had to work hard to earn the victory. Berg scored 17 and Meyer 10 to lead the Raiders.  Jones scored 11 in the second half and 13 over to lead R-I and Plater had a good night with 11. The difference in the game came from the free throw line where Midwest Central was 17 of 24 (71%) and the Rockets hit 8 of 18 (44%).

South Fulton got behind early in the game against Havana and just couldn't make any sustained run to get back into it.  They lost 50-31 to Ducks.  Again, 71% free throw shooting for Havana and 50% free throw shooting for the Rebels made a big difference in the game.  Wright and Atwater each scored 10 for Havana while Breedlove led South Fulton with 7 points.  This is a young Rebel team but, they are going to have to get some fire power to keep up with the stronger teams in the area. They hit 28% of their shots while the winning team shot 40% and that is a huge difference if you don't knock down your shots from the charity stripe.

In the final game of night one, the North Greene Spartans showed their "blue collar" style of play and relentlessly attacked the Tigers of Beardstown.  The Spartans won 45-34 and hit 18 of 19 free throws in the process.  Beardstown only made 2 of 5 and the 5 may be the more important of the numbers.  When you attack like the Spartans do, you are gong to the line and that is an important part of the game.  Beardstown put up 45 shots while North Greene only shot 37 and they had equal turnovers so, shot selection and free throws made the difference in this game. The Spartans made 3 of 13 treys and the Tigers made 1 of 12 so the offensive boards and second chances, which caused Tiger fouls, made North Greene the winner.     

1/21/12 Routt (13-5) hosted the (11-7) Brown County Hornets in boys basketball tonight in Jacksonville.  These are two good defensive minded basketball teams and it was a hard fought 46-35 win for the Hornets.  Volk scored 16 and Taylor 13 in the win.  Brown County hit 45% of their shots and 57% from the free throw line with 13 turnovers.  Routt never could get over the hump and come back from an early 8 point run when the Hornets put some distance between them.  It was tied 12-12 and then the 8-0 run basically made the lead insurmountable.  The Rockets shot 36% in the game and 47% from the free throw line with 14 turnovers.  Young had 16 points in the loss and no one else had more than 5 points in the loss.  It was competitive and fun to watch but Routt could not get close late in the contest as Brown County made 4 of 6 shots in the 4th quarter and 8 of 14 free throws to put it away.    
1/21/12 The 38th annual Carrollton Lady Hawk Tournament opened today:  Granite City 62 Madison 28, Civic Memorial 58 Marquette 32, Routt Catholic 71 Brussels 51, Jerseyville 63 Greenfield 36, Pana 60 Metro East 38, Carrollton 80 W. Central JV 23 and no score on the Calhoun-Alton game.

Routt knocked off Brussels 71-51 as they shot 39% from the field and 77% from the free throw line.  They only had 10 turnovers with 5 Rockets in double digits.  Garde led the way with 20, Gross scored 14, Halpin 13, Tonry 12 and Bystrey 10.  Hannah Polhman led the Raiders with 17 points as Kamp (9), Moennig (9), and Renee Tepen (8) all added to the game.  Brussels shot 60% from the field and 50% from the free throw line with 35 turnovers as they had trouble with the Rockets defensive pressure.  Routt will play Jerseyville at 8:00 on Wednesday night.

Jerseyville dominated Greenfield from the beginning and won their match up 63-36.  Kristen Bishop played very well with 19 points for the Tigers but it wasn't enough.  Greenfield turned the ball over 24 times and just didn't have enough offense to win the game.  The Panthers had 4 players in double digits:  Thurston 18, Steckel 17, Wittman 10 and Thornton 10 as they spread the ball around and hit 23 of 60 shots in the win.  They also knocked down 9 of 14 free throws and took care of the ball with only 8 turnovers.  When they play Routt on Wednesday, they will be severely tested with their ball handling and will have to pick up their team speed.  It should be a good game.  Jerseyville is 15 and 6 and the Rockets are 16 and 4 on the year.

In our final broadcast on day one, the #1 seed QND Raiders dispatched the West Central Cougars 56-25.  The Cougars tried to run time off of the clock with each possession and hold the score down a little and it worked but they still lost by 31.  Carmody had a nice game with 10 points and Lietz scored 8 but the Raiders were just too tall, too fast and too strong as they led from wire to wire. Eleven of the Raiders scored in the win as Kuhn led the way with 11 points and only played about half of the game. Martin came in off of the bench with 10 points and Frerick scored 8 as the QND improved to 21 and 1 on the season. QND had 8 turnovers in the game and forced 20 on the Cougars. They are the favored team to win the tournament and while, for a short time, it looked like Pana may challenge them but, with a key injury the Panthers are going to have to work to get to the title game.        

1/20/12 On paper, the West Central Cougars (19-2) and Triopia (7-7) looked like a lop sided game was on the menu.  It never turned out that way as the final score was 46-40 for the Cougars.  West Central lead by 11 on two occasions but the Trojans wouldn't fold and kept it close to the end.  The main difference in the game may have been the 1 for 9 performance from the free throw line for Triopia.  They only had 10 turnovers and the Cougars had 8 so that wasn't the real problem.  The last turnover of the first half resulted in a Jordan Boehs 3 point bucket and the first 3 turnovers of the second half ended up with 3 buckets for West Central so, sometimes it makes a difference when the turnover comes.  Millard had 4 treys and 14 points to lead Triopia tonight as Love and Huddleston scored 7 each while Herzberger and Joehl had 6.  Forty three per cent shooting from the field may have been good enough for Triopia but the missed free throws hurt.  Jordan Boehs finished with 14, Corey Barnett 13 and Day scored 9 to lead the Cougars.  They hit 47 per cent of their shots and 46 per cent of their free throws so, as you can see, it was a close game to the end.  Triopia won the JV game 41-37.  
1/19/12 When Routt Catholic and Carrollton girls basketball met on Jan. 14th at the Lady Spartan, it was a 19 point win for the Rockets. It was a pretty much of a one-sided game as the Hawks fouled way too much and had too many turnovers.  Tonight they kept the Rockets off of the free throw line in the first half, which was better than the 23 free throws they allowed in the first half of the last game.  Carrollton held a 24-22 point lead at half time and looked like they may give Routt their first loss of the conference this season.  The Rockets turned up the heat on the defensive end of the floor and had an 11-0 run in the third, took the lead 38-31 at the end of the quarter and won the game 52-38.  With the win, the Rockets improved to 15-4 (6-1).  Their big game in the conference will be the 30th when they face the undefeated Warriors of Calhoun.  Carrollton hit 17 of 42 shots from the field as Palan and Coonrod each scored 11 and the Hawks finished the game with 24 turnovers.  Routt only had 13 turnovers in the win and shot 37.5% from the field and an impressive 15 of 18 from the free throw line.  They made 12 of 14 in the 4th quarter when the game was on the line.  Tonry scored 14 while Bystry tallied 12.  Gross(7), Garde (7), Halpin (5) and Arendt (5) as Routt spread the ball around. 
1/17/12 from Ryon McNeff Brown County traveled to Triopia last night for a WIVC battle between two rivals who know each other very well. This game would not disappoint anyone who loves defense as Triopia played solid defense for 3 quarters here tonight. But then finally in the 4th quarter Brown County found a way to pick up the offensive momentum which in turn, forced Triopa to start fouling. Unfortunately for Triopia, Brown County went 10 for 11 from the free throw line in the game and pulled away for the 45-38 victory. Triopia was led in scoring by John Love with 16 while Justin Volk had 14 for Brown County. The Hornets shot 53% from the field in the contest while Triopia could only attain 37%. Triopia did everything they could to keep themselves in this one but they got in a bit of a panic early in the 4th quarter while Brown County only missed one shot in the quarter, a free throw.
1/14/12 Today's action at the 8th annual Lady Spartan was as good as we thought it would be.  In the first game the Scotties got up big then had to hold on to defeat Pittsfield 57-53 for the 5th place trophy.  O'Brien scored 36 points for the Saukees as their come back came up a little short.  Kloppe scored 16, Loos 13, Fore 13 as WFNB spread the ball around.  They hit 25 of 37 from the field and 12 of 21 free throws in the win. The Saukees hit 22 of 55 in field goals and 8 of 15 from the charity stripe.  The Scotties improved to 18-4 and Pittsfield fell to 11-11.

For the consolation title, it was Triopia finishing strongly to knock off Greenfield 36-24.  Clayton had 18 points in the win and Liz Bishop led the Tigers with 9 points in the loss.  The Trojans lost in the first round and came all the way back for the title and a record of 8 and 11 on the season.

Routt suffered a disappointing loss to West Central on Thursday night and it was important they played well today as they took on one of their WIVC rivals Carrollton.  The prize was 3rd place in the tournament and the Rockets were up to the task.  They won by 19 (64-45) to improve to 13-4 on the year.  Garde scored 16, Gross 15 and Halpan 10, Langdon 8 and Bystry 8 in the Rocket's well balanced offensive attack. They hit 55% of their shots and 58% from the free throw line.  Coonrod scored 15 for the Hawks who hit 16 of 34 from the field and 10 for 19 from the line. These two teams still have a regular season conference game to play before the end of the season.

West Central came into the championship game as the #6 seed in the tournament and an underdog to the #1 seed Panthers of Litchfield.  They led for the first 3 quarters and had a 29-22 lead heading into the 4th.  The height and strength of the Panthers prevailed as they posted the come from behind 42-35 victory and the title.  Lietz scored 13, Bettis 9 and Carmody 9 to lead the Cougars who will leave the tournament with a 2nd place trophy and a record of 11-7.  Litchfield has been trying for 8 years to win the Lady Spartan and got it done today.  Going scored 16 to lead 9 Panthers in the scoring column.  Litchfield had too many turnovers to be comfortable as they had 18 in the first half and 7 in the second.  They did the right thing at the right time and they have a very young team to build on for the next few years. They will lose some good seniors but that freshman class is very promising.

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM:  Lietz from W. Central, Williams and Coonrod from Carrollton, Clayton-Triopia, O'Brien-Pittsfield, Fore of WFNB, Bystry-Routt, Going and Smith from Litchfield and Harris of Beardstown.      

1/12/12 The semi-final round of the 8th annual Lady Spartan Tournament is history and Litchfield and West Central will play for the title on Saturday.  In the opening game, the Carrollton Hawks led the first half of the game and then fell apart in the 3rd quarter as they scored 7 and gave up 17 points.  The Hawks could not recover and lost the game 43-32.  Coonrod (13) and Willaims (10) led the Hawks attack but no one else had more than 5 points in the loss.  The 33 turnovers were the final straw in the final outcome of the game and Carrollton will have to cure that before the next game. Seven Panthers scored for Litchfield and Shelby Smith was the top scorer with 16 points.  Scharf added  nine while Steffen and Anglin each scored 6.  Even though they won, the Panthers turned the ball over 30 times. This is the deepest Litchfield team we have seen in the 8 years we have covered the tournament and they will be a real strong contender Saturday.

West Central led all the way, the first time they played Routt, and they lost in the end.  Tonight the Cougars led until late in the game and you got the feeling they may lose again.  This time it didn't happen as they held on and Lietz made the winning basket with 17 seconds left on the clock.  Routt had one more try with 6.1 seconds left but got called for traveling and turned the ball over with 1.9 seconds left and that was the game.  In the overall picture, Routt did not play a good game tonight but the final traveling call did not lose the game. They missed 9 free throws and that is deadly in a 1 point game.  They let Cougar players get by for easy lay ups on several occasions and will need to shore up their defense if they want to make a good run in the balance of the season.  West Central is a much better team, in my opinion, than they were early in the season but they still need to find a way to take better care of the ball at crunch time.  It will be fun to see how they play the taller and more veteran Panthers for the championship. Lietz led with 15 points as Carmody scored 10 and Bettis 8.  Kilver chipped in with 7 points and Abby Lashmett added 5 and the well rounded scoring for West Central was helpful in their win.  Both the championship game and the 3rd place game will be hotly contested as this has been a good tournament with parity in the competition.   

 1/10/12 We anticipated a couple of good games in the championship bracket tonight at the Lady Spartan Tournament.  Carrollton played very well as they shut down Pittsfield 43-30 and will move on to take on the #1 seed Litchfield Panthers on Thursday @ 6:00. Williams led the Hawks in scoring with 11 points as 8 players hit the scoring column.  Carrollton hit 14 of 42 from the field and 13 of 17 from the free throw line.  They turned the ball over 13 times while forcing 17 on the Saukees.  Pittsfield scored 4 in the first quarter, 5 in the 2nd, 5 in the third and that won't win you many games.  O'Brien scored 19 points in the loss.  The Saukees will play Beardstown on Thursday in the 5th place semi final game.  

West Central knew they would have some trouble with the height of the WFNB Scotties and they did.  WFNB led most of the game tonight but, the Cougars had a 4th quarter surge with 18 points and won the 55-48 battle.  With the win, the Cougars will face their old nemesis Routt Catholic at 7:30 Thursday.  Fore (17) and Loos (12) led the Scotties attack but Nichols and Peebles are a couple of upcoming freshmen.  64% shooting from the field and 66% free throw shooting wasn't enough to overcome the 25 turnovers. West Central stayed with their game plan and were led in scoring by Lietz with 23 points, Carmody 11 and Abby Lashmett 11 points.  They only hit 36% of the shots but they had a 21 for 27 free throw shooting night and 14 turnovers.  Hitting 12 of 15 4th quarter free throws helped preserve the victory. The Thursday match up with Routt will be played in front of a large crowd and is a game that is up for grabs. Don't miss it.  

1/9/12 In a  quarter-final games at the 8th annual Lady Spartan Tournament, it was the #1 seed all over Beardstown 72-35 as 11 of the Panthers scored in the game.  Shelby Smith led the way with 18 points, while freshman Riley Scharf hit for 17 and Going scored 13.  The Tigers never threatened in the game but Riddle scored 12 while Herter, Rawlins and Harris all scored 6 pints in the loss. Beardstown turned the ball over 29 times in the games however, they did shot 77% from the free throw line.  It will be either Carrollton or Pittsfield next in line for the Panthers. As for Beardstown, they will face the loser of the same game. 

In the second game of the night, the Routt Rockets did not look sharp but did win their game with WHNG 41-25.  Seven of the Rockets scored in the game as they shot 34% from the field and hit 15 of 27 free throws.  Bystrey led the way with 10 points and Langdon had her best game of the year with 9 points.  Halie Kraushaar scored 10 for the Spartans but no one else got more than 5 points in the contest.  Routt will play either WFNB or West Central on Thursday night in the semi-final round.  WHNG will play the loser of the West Central/WFNB game.   

1/7/12 The 8th annual Lady Spartan Tournament tipped off today with Beardstown dropping Brussels and Carrollton defeating the WHNG-JV in the East Gym.  WHNG had a mild upset of Triopia, WFNB beat Western, Pittsfield handled Greenfield and West Central played an all-around good game as they defeated Griggsville-Perry.  These 6 teams stayed in the Championship bracket and joined the #1 seed Litchfield Panthers and the #2 seed Routt Catholic Lady Rockets.  
1/6/12 On paper it looked like a mismatch and in reality it turned out to be just that as the Brown County Hornets (7-9) came to town to take on the (10-3) Routt Catholic Lady Rockets.  The Rockets only losses came to 2A schools and they are a solid defensive minded team.  Brown County turns the ball quite a bit and are not able to stop fast team.  That was the formula that ended up with Routt Catholic winning the game 65-38.  It wasn't much of a serious game after the first 4 minutes of the game.  Markert had a very good game with 20 points for the Hornets but no one else scored more than 6 points in the loss.  They shot 45% from the field and 44% from the free throw line with an unacceptable 27 turnovers.  Routt had three players;  Tonry (14), Bystry (13), Garde (13) with double digits and Gross hit 9 points with Kuhn scoring 8 in a well balanced attack.  Routt shot 39% from the field and 15 for 19 from the free throw line while only turning the ball over 9 times with their starters and 13 total with the reserves in the game.  It was a nice effort and the Rockets will head to the Lady Spartan Tournament in White Hall as the #2 seed and the 11-3 record.  Their first game is Monday at 7:30 when they will face the winner of the Triopia/WHNG game.   
1/5/12 Triopia and Rushville-Industry girl's basketball are very familiar with each other and have similar records.  They played each other tonight at Rushville and the Rockets came away with a 57 to 39 point win.  It was a much closer game than the final score indicates but Rushville closed strongly with a 19 to 7 fourth quarter.  The hit 6 of 12 shots and the Trojans were 1 of 10. Over all Rushville-Industry hit 22 of 47 from the field and 7 of 10 from the free throw line.  Triopia was respectable with 39% from the field and 69% from the line.  The biggest difference in the game was the 14 first half turnovers and the 12 second half turnovers for Triopia as they had a difficult time taking care of the ball.  Clayton led the Trojans again with 18 points as she hit 6 of 16 from the field and 6 of 8 free throws.  Rushville had 3 players, Wise (16), Crow (16), Thomas (13), in double figures as they spread the ball around.  They weren't great in turnovers with 8 in the first half and 11 in the second half.  It wasn't bad as they will have to finish the season without their leading scorer and one of their team leaders.  To put things in the proper perspective;  if Triopia lost Clayton for the balance of the year, it is difficult to see who would pick up the slack.  Team ball is the best ball and what coaches work on constantly.  It will be interesting to see how the Trojans do at the Lady Spartan Tournament starting Saturday.  They will open with WHNG.   
1/3/12 It was a very exciting game at Triopia tonight when the Trojan's boys team faced the Liberty Eagles.  The Eagles came in 6-6 and the Trojans were 5-3.  Triopia led for 3 quarters and had a 53-52 lead with less than a minute to play.  A big turnover hurt them and Obert scored what turned out to be the winning bucket. Liberty scored 19 to the Trojan's 10 in the 4th and finished well. John Love had an excellent night for Triopia with 11 points in the first half and 10 in the second half.  Millard also hit double figures while Joehl added 9.  Triopia turned the ball over 15 times to the Eagles 11 but the final one was the fatal one as it led to a lay up. Shover (17), Blewett (15)  and Obert (10) led the Eagles and Murfin added 8 to help round out a solid team effort.  Triopia shot 50% from the field but their 3 for 8 from the free throw line hurt them in the end.  Liberty hit 43% of their shots and (89%) 7 for 8 from the charity stripe.  Basically the Eagles did the right thing at the right time and their perseverance paid off with the victory. It was a hard loss for Triopia but, it showed once again how well they can play.  They just have to do it for 4 quarters. 
12/29/11 The 30th annual Beardstown Lady Tiger Classic came to a close tonight after 5 very good games.  Farmington came from behind to defeat Pleasant Plains 30 to 29 for the Consolation Losers Bracket Championship.  Mendon Unity won the 5th place trophy as they knocked off Illini West 67 to 62.  In the Consolation Bracket, the winner was Lewistown as the Indians downed the Little Giants of Canton 61 to 53.  In the 3rd place title tilt, it was Routt Catholic hanging on to defeat Macomb 53 to 50.  In their earlier game, with Illini West, Routt tied the IHSA record with 44 made free throws in one game and they also set a new record for the most free throws attempted (66) in one game.  The old record was 61. The Lady Tiger Tournament Champion is the undefeated Havana Ducks, who fought off Illini Bluffs 57-52. It was a well attended tournament and well seeded as #1 beat #2 in the final game.

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM:  Taylor McClintock and Kenzie Wall of Illini Bluffs;  Samantha Ellsworth and Jill Friedrich of Havana; Joanna Gross and Emily Bystry of Routt Catholic; Kristyn LeGrande and Delanie Monn of Lewistown; Shea O'Brien of Pittsfield; Lauren Gronewold of Illini West;, Rachel Rush of Mendon Unity and Andrea Lietz of West Central.  The Terry Kennedy Award went to Taylor McClintock.   

12/28/11 Rushville and Beardstown are rivals in most sports and met each other today in the 30th annual Lady Tiger Tournament.  The Rockets defeated the Beardstown Tigers 47-43.  Wise scored 16 while Crow hit 10 and Collins 8 to lead the way.  Rushville hit 17 of 50 from the field and 12 of 19 from the free throw line and got away with 30 turnovers.  Harris knocked down 18 for the Tigers as Riddle (9) and Herter (9) chipped in.  Beardstown made 12 of 41 from the field and 18 of 32 free throws in the loss.  They had 32 turnovers.

Pleasant Plains won a 42 to 30 game over Triopia as they hit 17 of 40 shots.  Eight of the Cardinals scored in the game as they took care of the ball with only 14 turnovers.  Clayton lead the Trojans with 17 points and Washington had a pretty good game with 7 points.  Poor shooting (12 of 40) did not help the cause for Triopia.

Pittsfield had a great game against Havana last night but, today they got beaten 63 to 36 by Illini West.  Lauren Gronewold led the Chargers with 29 points and Bastert hit double figures with 10.  They had 24 of 63 shots and 10 of 14 from the line.  They also kept the turnovers reasonable with 16 while forcing 30. For the Saukees, O'Brien scored 18 points as the team found it hard to play back to back games with the same enthusiasm.  The Chargers will play Mendon Unity at 2:30 pm on Thursday.

In a close game, Canton dropped Brown County 33 to 25 and will take on Lewistown at 4:00 tomorrow.  The Hornets shot 27% from the field and 44% from the line as Mosby led the way with 7 points.  Canton shot 36% from field, 60% from the free throw line with 13 turnovers.  Martindale scored 13 points to lead the Little Giants.

Lewistown got off to a quick start and led every quarter as they handed West Hancock a 69-54 loss.  Dewald (16) and Hartweg (15) were the scoring leaders for the Titans in the loss.  West Hancock put up 82 shots in the game and turned the ball over 18 times.  The Indians were 27 of 60 in field goals and 6 of 10 from the charity stripe and turned the ball over 30 times.  LeGrande scored 27 points and Monn 22 as they won their 3rd game of the tournament.  

Illini Bluffs came into the Lady Tiger as the #2 seed and will play in the title game tomorrow.  They got past Macomb 60-51 and never trailed in the game.  McClintock scored 25 points in the game and Kenzie Wall added 21.  They will pose an interesting challenge for the Ducks tomorrow night.  The Tigers took care of the ball with only 15 turnovers in the game. Saddler led the Bombers with 13 points however, Westen (7), Thoroman (7) and Mahr (7) all contributed in the game to keep it close.  These two teams played earlier in the season and the Tigers won 63-60.

When Routt Catholic defeated Illini West, it looked like they would have a decent chance of defeating the #1 seed Havana Ducks as well.  It didn't work out that way as the Rockets never got to the same level they played against the Chargers.  They lost 58-36 and were never really in the game.  While they tied the Ducks (22) in turnovers, it was the rebounding that did the Rockets in.  They put up 35 shots while Havana shot 53 times and while they had the same percentages, the sheer number of shots gave Havana the advantage.  Gross (16) and Bystrey (13) played pretty well but their supporting cast never got into a good flow.  Routt will play Macomb for 3rd place at 6:00 tomorrow.  The Havana Ducks were not super sharp either however, they did enough to win the game.  They had numerous 2nd and 3rd chances due to solid offensive rebounding and they made it stand up.  Friedrich scored 20 and Ellsworth 12 to lead 7 other team members in their offensive attack.  Havana was the better team tonight and earned the right to play for the championship tomorrow when they face the Tigers from Illini Bluffs.       

12/27/11 As the 30th annual Lady Tiger Tournament moved into day two, the anxiety and excitement moved up another level.  The games were tighter and wins were harder to come by.  In the opener, Rushville-Industry knocked off WHNG but, in spite of the loss, the Spartans played their best game of the tournament.  The final was 45-26 but the improvement in the offense for WHNG was noticeable.  Elliott led the scoring with 7 points but, there were 6 Spartans in the scoring column and they only had 6 turnovers in the second half.  Crow scored 11 and Wise 10 to lead the Rockets as 9 players scored in the win. Rushville will play Beardstown today and WHNG will face Griggsville-Perry.  

Farmington and Canto battled hard with the Farmers leading the early part of the game and the Little Giants finally coming out on top 53-49.Jenna Putrich led  10 Farmington players in the scoring column with 16 points as they shot 33% from the field and turned the ball over 19 times.  They will play Liberty tomorrow at 11:30.  Canton has been a good competitor in the tournament so far this year as they nearly beat West Central in their opener and had well balanced scoring in their game today.  Nine players scored with Martindale (15) leading the way. Turgeon (9), Chasteen (8), Buchman (7) and Fletcher (6) all chipping in.  They hit 36% of their field goal shots and only turned it over 13 times. They will play at 3:00 on Wednesday as they face the Brown Co. Hornets.

The Lewistown Indians had 9 players score in their attack against Triopia as they won 45-31.  Monn scored 10 and LeGrande 8 in the win as Lewistown improved to 8-8 on the season. Clayton (9) was the leading scorer for the Trojans but 7 players put their name in the history books of the Lady Tiger Tournament this year.  Wednesday's game with Pleasant Plains may be more to the liking of the Trojans in regard to the pace of the game but, they will have to take good care of the ball against the pesky Cardinals.  Lewistown will have to be ready for the ever changing line up of players coming into the game for West Hancock.

The Routt/Illini West Battle was an intense, set on the edge of your seat game, from the out set.  There were 99 free thros shot in the game with 57 fouls and 69 turnovers in this up and down the court affair.  It was a roller coaster ride for both teams and the Rockets of Routt came out on top 63-51.  It was the #5 team getting past the #4 team and the win put the Rockets into the semi-final round where they will face the #1 seed Havana Ducks.  Lauren Gronewold (13) and Bastert (11) led the Charger attack and they were relentless with team pressure on the defensive side of the ball.  Bystrey showed solid senior leadership as she hit 14 points in the victory.  Tonry added 10 and Garde came off the bench to score 8.  While only hitting 9 field goals in the game, the Rockets were able to convert 44 of their 66 free throw shots into points and stayed strong late in the game at crunch time.  It was a nice team effort of defense and intensity that Routt will have to match again tomorrow as they go for an upset against the undefeated Ducks.  Illini West will take on an improving Pittsfield team at 1:30.

Macomb is one of those team in the tournament who seem to be getting better and better.  They had a close battle with the #3 seeded Mendon Unity Mustangs and came out on top 43 to 41. The Bombers lost to Illini Bluffs back early in the season (by 6) and have fought their way into a semi-final match up with the #2 seed Illini Bluffs team for Wednesday.  That may be one of the more interesting games on the day.  Saddler, who is speedy and savvy, scored 12 points in the win as Westen (9) and Mahr (8) were among 6 players who added to the points.  It was a nice combination of pressure defense and timely shooting that propelled the Bombers past the Mustangs.  The Mustangs  had 3 players (Rush, Begeman,Moore)  with 9 points each but could only hit 10 of 24 free throws in the loss. That's tough when you only lose by 2.  With the loss, the Mustangs will now face West Central in the next round.      

The Tigers of Illini Bluffs jumped out to a 17-14 first quarter lead and never looked back as they played steady ball and knocked off the #7 Cougars of West Central.  For West Central, they had 27 turnovers and only shot 33% from the free throw line.  Their biggest problem was the slashing moves of McClintock and power of Kenzie Wall who had 46 of the 66 Tiger points.  The Cougars are not a big team and had no answer for the strength of Wall who had her way in the paint.  McClintock was her usual smooth self and hit 25 (her season average) while Kenzie Wall scored 21.  There were 6 other Illini Bluffs players in the scoring column in this well-balanced attack.  Consistency and fundamental basketball were the words of the day for the Tigers as they hit 56% from the field and 10 of 19 free throws with only 16 turnovers.  Their re-match with Macomb will be fun to watch. As for West Central, they will have to deal with the taller Mustangs of Mendon as nothing gets easier.

The Pittsfield Saukees have been part of the buzz of the 30th annual Lady Tiger this year.  They are much improved and playing with a great deal of intensity and passion.  That says a lot for their excitable head coach Jeff Shireman.  He has gotten the Saukee players to buy into his program and they put a scare into the #1 seed Havana tonight.  The final score was 62-54 in favor of the Ducks but it was a 4 point game late and Pittsfield had a chance. O'Brien (19), Klatt (12) and Chamberlain (11) led the attack.  Heavner played well in the paint until she fouled out late in the game. Pittsfield hit 21 of 52 from the field and 9 of 18 from the free throw line with 19 turnovers.  Havana got challenged in the game but stood their ground and came out with a 15-0 record on the season.  The came in #1 and will stay #1 until someone can step up and knock them off.  Ellsworth (17), Friedrich (14) and Kachanuk (12) were strong with their slashing, outside shooting and power in the paint combination.  They also took care of the ball with only 13 turnovers as they hit 23 of 57 shots and the only downside was the 6 for 23 effort from the foul line. They will have to step that part of their game up when they take on Routt in the semi-final round.  Routt nearly beat the Ducks last year in the Illini Central Sectional and would love nothing more than to get it done on Wednesday.  This, like the Macomb and Illini Bluffs game, will be great stuff for the semi's.  These are 4 teams very capable of taking home the big prize.  No matter who wins or loses, the last 2 days of the Lady Tiger will be filled with great games. 

  

12/26/11 Lewistown and Griggsville-Perry got off to a slow start at the LTC and the Indians lead 9 to 5 after one.  The ended up winning the game 41-31 and advanced to take on Mendon Unity in round #2. LeGrande led the way with 14 points and Monn added 13.  Battefeld played well with 6 points also but, overall it was 25% performance from the field and 12 for 18 from the line with 16 turnovers.  Rachel Smith was the leading scorer for the Tornadoes as she hit 12 points and Bradshaw who was drawing a lot of attention finished with 8 points.  G-P shot 21% in field goals and 41% from the line with 20 turnovers.  The Tornadoes are 3-9 after the loss.

White Hall North Greene had a hard time breaking the press of Routt Catholic on Friday night and the problems continued into their game with Pleasant Plains today.  They had 17 points and lost to Routt and could only muster 15 points today in their loss to the Cardinals.  Emily Elliott was the leading scorer with 6 points as the Spartans hit 21% from the field and 5 of 8 from the line.  They also had 18 turnovers in the loss.  Plains had 10 players in the scoring column as they spread the ball around well in the win.  The Cardinals hit 16 of 46 from the field and 3 of 5 free throws.  The most impressive part of the win was the small number of turnovers as they only had 1 in the first half and 5 in the second half.  Hannah Hergenrother led the way with 7 points in this nice team win.  The win earned Plains the right to take on Havana at 7:30 in round 2.

Illini West came into the tournament as the #4 seed with a losing record due to their early schedule of playing 3A and 4A schools. Their speed was too much for Brown County as they won 51-13 while shutting out the Hornets in the 3rd and 4th quarters.  Lauren Gronewold had 18 points to lead the way as 8 players scored in the win.  They hit 44% from the field and 47% from the line with 18 total turnovers.  They pretty much dictated the speed of the game from the very beginning and did a nice job of denying the talented Vaness Markert the ball in the paint.  Markert led the Hornets with 5 points but Brown County had 41 turnovers in the loss.  Brown County only had 19% shooting from the field and 2 of 6 free throws so, not a lot went right for the Hornets in this game.  

Mendon Unity only had 1 loss on the season but, they got off to a slow start in their game verses Lewistown.  Once they warmed up, they went on to win 55-40 and will face Macomb tomorrow at 4:30.  Rush scored 14, Begeman 13 and Moore 12.  Churchill added 6 while Bowles and Donley added 4 each.  Hitting 34% from the field and 62% of their free throws, the Mustangs took care of the ball with only 16 turnovers.  They are a pretty good looking ball club and will be very competitive tomorrow.  Monn hit 14 points while LeGrande scored 8 and Eberle 7 as the Indians fell to 7-8 on the season.  The shot 40% in field goals and 42% from the line with 23 turnovers.  Lewistown as a little inconsistent in their loss but will win a lot of games before the regular season ends.  They have decent height and some talented young players on their roster. 

Illini Bluffs had to wait until 6:00 today to get into action in the LTC but it paid off with a 70-61 win over a pesky Farmington team.  The Farmers hit 46% of their shots and 9 for 11 from the free throw line as they hung around until the end.  They had 24 turnovers, which hurt them in the end, but they are a pretty good 8 and 13 team.  Putrich had 15 points and Danley 12 as 7 of the Farmers scored and made a solid run at upsetting the Tigers. As for Illini Bluffs, they had 4 players in double digits.  Kenzie Wall had 21 points, McClintock 18, Hannah Wall 14 and Russell 12 as Illini Bluffs hit 45% of their shots.  They also knocked down 15 of 25 free throws with only 13 turnovers in the win.  The Tigers will face the West Central Cougars at 6:00 tomorrow and that will be an interesting game.

In the final game of the evening, the #1 seed Havana Ducks tot off to a quick start and led all quarters to post the 47-25 win over Pleasant Plains.  They were a little too quick and aggressive for the Cardinals as they stayed undefeated with their 14-0 mark. Kachanuk scored 11 points and Friedrich 10 while Ellsworth added 9.  Seven of the Ducks scored with 36% shooting and 40% in free throws.  They forced 22 turnovers while committing 14 of their own.  The Cardinals could only manage 24% shooting and 50% free throws (1 for 2) in they loss.  Yakel and Forsythe scored 8 each as this Young Cardinal squad looks like they have a good thing going.  Havana will face a Pittsfield team who looks pretty good at times and may cause them a few problems.  It is time for some very entertaining and competitive basketball as we head into round two.       

12/23/11 Routt got off to a slow start tonight, in girl's basketball, at WHNG but ended up with a 48-17 win over the Lady Spartans.  This is a young Spartan team with 10 freshmen on the roster and 4-5 of them get several minutes per game.  Halie Kraushaar led the Spartans with 7 points as they shot 23 per cent from the field and 37 per cent from the foul line.  They had 38 turnovers in the game and that is too many to basically beat anyone.  Routt had 3 players with double digits as Tonry (12), Halpin (11) and Bystrey (10) all had a good night of basketball. Once again, the Rockets had 9 players in the scoring column as they prove how unselfish they are as a team.  They hit 76% (13 of 17) free throws and 31% from the field.  They had 15 turnovers in the win and will play Liberty on Monday at the Lady Tiger Classic in Beardstown.

In a very tight basketball, the WHNG boys defeated Routt 51-48 as they led quarters 1, 2 & 4.  Davis led the Spartans with 18 points, as Wear added 15.  Knox added 8 in the win as White Hall North Greene hit 18 of 41 field goal attempts and 12 of 15 from the free throw line.  They also had 18 turnovers in the win. For the Rockets, they also shot 44% from the field but only had 4 free throws and made 2 of them.  They had 18 turnovers also as this was a very close game.  The Rockets had 2 shots to tie the game but came up empty.  Lindsey had 3 long range treys and 1 average 3 point shot to lead the Rockets with 15 points.  Young had 12 before fouling out and Long had a good night with 11 points. It was a fun and exciting ball game between two evenly matched teams.  The Spartans had 12 fouls in the game and the Rockets 18 so there was a 15 to 4 advantage for White Hall North Greene in the win. If they meet again before this season is over, it will be another very tight battle.  There isn't much difference in these two teams.    

12/22/11 There may be some fans who think that the 81-63 loss to Bloomington Central Catholic is a set back to the Rockets of Routt Catholic in girl's basketball but, I am not one of them. This was a good game and when Routt came back from a 14 point deficit to only trail by 2 points at half time, it showed what they can do when they are on top of their game.  They hit 9 of 12 shots from the field and 11 of 14 free throws in the 2nd quarter as they out scored the Saints 29 to 17.  After shooting 13 out of 20 in the first half, Routt could only manage 9 of 26 in the 2nd half and that wasn't enough to keep them in the game. Central Catholic hit 29 of 64 shots in the game while the Rockets knocked down 22 of 46.  The Saints won this game for two primary reasons.  First of all, they hit 20 of 22 free throws and that is hard to overcome.  Secondly, they had way too many 2nd and 3rd chances on their shots as their offensive rebound, or the failure of Routt to block out, was pretty impressive.  McGraw (23), O'Donnell (18), Hayes (16) and Mason (14) were too much for Routt to overcome.  Routt had 24 turnovers and forced 21 on the Saints so that wasn't too bad.  The Rockets also had 9 players in the scoring column so, in my opinion, this was a great set up game for the Lady Tiger Tournament next week.  Gross led Routt with 13 points, Bystrey 9, Langdon 8, Tonry 8 and Arendt 7 so the Rockets have a lot of weapons.  Their only losses have come at the hands of QND and Bloomington Central Catholic and that is a pretty good resume.  They will take on WHNG tomorrow night in a road game at 6:30. 
12/19/11 Triopia Boy's basketball was fresh off of a win over Carrollton on Friday night and were hoping to build some momentum when they played Waverly at the Prep Showcase tonight.  It didn't work out well as the Trojans could never get into the flow and lost a convincing 45-30 game to the Scotties.  Huddleston and Herzberger scored 8 each but the Trojans only shot 33% from the field and 40% from the free throw line with 14 turnovers in the loss. Waverly shot 35% from the field and 70% from the free throw line with only 5 turnovers in the win.  Burchett scored 18 points and Smith 15 to lead the way as 6 Scotties scored in the game.  Waverly improved to 8-3 with the win.

In the final game of the night, the Routt Rockets had a hard time getting into the flow of their offense and lost 35-27 to Athens. The Rockets could only muster five 2 point buckets in 4 quarters. They hit 17 of 26 free throws and that helped them stay in the game. Young led the way with 9 points as Routt hit 5 of 33 shots in the loss.  Routt had 21 turnovers in the game as the Warriors defense played well for all four quarters.  Athens had 8 players in the scoring column and hit 12 of 31 from the field and 11 of 23 from the charity stripe.  They had 8 turnovers in the first half and 12 in the second half as they did just enough to hang on for the win. Athens improved to 4-5 on the year and they led all four quarters and are hoping to get more consistent in their play.  

12/17/11 WFNB is a big, strong girl's basketball team and the Lady Rockets of Routt Catholic are fast with team depth.  They matched up today and it will probably not be the last time they meet this year.  It was a hard fought battle from the beginning with the Scotties leading the first and 2nd quarters while Routt led the 3rd and final quarter with a 56-46 win.  The game was a lot closer than the final score indicated.  WFNB was more aggressive today than I have ever seen them play.  It kept them in the game but it also caused them some problems as their fouls mounted up and Routt took advantage with a 29 for 39 effort from the free throw line. The Scotties had 26 fouls in the game the Rockets had 14.  WFNB finished with 17 of 37 from the field and 11 of 20 from the charity stripe but they also turned the ball over 24 times in the loss.  Routt only shot 29% from the field and the 74% from the free throw line along with only 15 turnovers helped them win the game. Fore led 6 Scotties in scoring with 21 points as she played an all around solid game.  Gross led 7 Rockets in scoring with 19 as she hit 12 of 14 free throws.  WFNB lost last night to Springfield Lutheran and may have also been a little leg weary for today's game.  Routt will take on a very strong Bloomington Central Catholic team on Thursday night in a road game and it will be fun to see if they can be competitive.  Their only loss came at the hands of the undefeated Raiders of Quincy Notre Dame in the first game of the year. 
12/16/11 Routt Catholic made the long trip to Pleasant Hill tonight to take on the Wolves in boy's basketball.  They came away with a 58-32 win and improved to 5-1 on the year.  The Wolves only have 6 players on their roster and did not lose this came for the lack of trying.  They played hard but did not shoot well as they were only able to hit 8 of 38 from the field and 12 of 21 from the free throw line.  Gunterman led the way with 13 points as Cox added 8 and Latham 6 in the loss.  Pleasant Hill had 22 turnovers in the game and didn't have enough height or inside game to stay up with Routt.  The Rockets had 10 players in the scoring column and spread the ball around well.  Long led the way with 12, Eilering 11 , Lindsey 9, Dietrich 8 and Young 6 as the Rockets led all 4 quarters to post the win.  They shot 57% from the field and 50% from the free throw line with 8 turnovers in each half.  They controlled the boards and hit 6 treys in the game.  Routt will take on Waverly Saturday night and face Athens at Illinois College on Monday evening. 
12/15/11 Harden Calhoun was too big and fundamentally too strong for Triopia tonight in girl's basketball as they won 53-27 and improved to 11-0 on the season.  The Warriors showed some vulnerability at times but were too strong over all.  Klocke scored 15 and Squier 12 to lead 7 players in the scoring column.  They hit 43% from the field and 64% from the free throw line with 12 turnovers in the win.  Triopia only shot 25% from the field and did a great job with 5 of 6 free throws with only 9 turnovers They just did not have enough fire power to pull off the win.  Clayton led the way once again with 12 points but, Washington was second high with 5 points and that won't get it done against high level competition.  They fell to 6-5 on the season and will take on a pretty good West Central team on Monday night in a road game.  
12/13/11 Jacksonville High did everything but win their girls basketball game with Rochester tonight.  They got off to a great start with an 8-2 lead, lead 9-7 after the first quarter, 13-13 at half time, led 24-19 after the third and then everything went south and they lost 42-33.  Three out of ten free throws and 23 turnovers did not help and they shot 14 of 39 from the field.  With the loss they fell to 4-7 on the season.  Keene led the was with 22 of the 33 points.  Rochester came to the Bowl with a reputation for playing good defense.  The Rockets were 7 and 5 with a 4 and 0 record in the CS8. They trailed until the 4th quarter, then out scored the Crimsons 23 to 9 and put the game away. They made 11 of 17 free throws in the 4th and 5 of 10 field goals as they got busy and closed out the game strongly.  Nuding led the way with 13 points and Matsen scored 8 points in the final period.  Eight of the Rockets scored in the win as they hit 12 of 30 shots and 14 of 22 from the charity stripe.  They aren't the strongest team we have seen this year however, they did the right thing at the right time including 64% from the free throw line.  Rochester had 11 turnovers in the first half and 8 in the second half at crunch time. It was a good example of how you close a game. 
12/12/11 We saw the 7-0 Lady Hawks of Carrollton, for the first time, this evening as they hosted Triopia and won 45-34.  They are a pretty good looking young ball club.  They started 2 freshmen tonight and played 2 more in the course of the game.  Rachel Williams is the post player and scored 20 points with 16 in the first half.  She did a lot of things right and looks to have a promising high school career.  Senior, Kim Lake, also played well with 10 points and the Hawks stayed undefeated.  Their down side was 20 turnovers but, they shot 57 per cent from the field and 70 per cent from the line.  Clayton had an equally good game for Triopia as she hit  for 22 and had several very good defensive plays.  She did not have a lot of help tonight as McLain hit for 6, Musch 4 and Ganz 2. The 15 turnovers was acceptable but 31 per shooting and 44 per cent from the free throw line was not good enough.  Triopia is 6-4 but was hoping to be the first team this year to defeat Carrollton.  The bottom line is the Trojans and the Hawks are going to make some noise in the WIVC before this season is done. 
12/10/11 Carley Beebe was a little too much as she hit 31 points with a 16 for 17 performance from the free throw line and led the South Fulton Rebels to a 51-46 win over West Central.  She is a very nice ball player as she can bring the ball down the floor, hit the trey, drive the lane, pass the ball to her teammates and basically can dictate the tempo of her team.  Crouse scored 6, Lascelles 6, Perry 5 and Burgard 3 to round out the offense. They hit 16 of 39 from the field and 18 of 23 from the free throw line with 24 turnovers.  In spite of losing, the Cougars of West Central did a nice job of not giving up after trailing 23-12 at half time.  They did not look like they had enough offensive fire power to stay in the game but, they made it a 2 point game late and had Beebe missed a free throw or two they may have come all the way back.  They had 29 turnovers in the game while shooting 39 per cent from the field and 62 per cent from the line.  Lietz scored 21, Bettis 11 and Abby Lashmett 9 to led the attack.  Kilver added 3 free throws and Carmody hit 1 two point bucket to round out the scoring.  West Central was ahe faster of the two teams however, the Rebels controlled the paint and that was huge today.  South Fulton is 9-1 and West Central 4-3 after today's game.  The Cougars are getting better but, they are not there yet.  The Rebels will play one more game without one of their senior starters, Destiny Bollinger, then hope to be back to full strength.   
12/8/11 For the first 2 quarters, Routt Catholic and Springfield Lutheran played a very tight ball game.  It was 22-21 Routt at half after Hapin hit a 2 point runner at the buzzer.  The Crusaders had led most of the first half, then they let it slip away in the third quarter as the Rockets out scored them 21-10 and never looked back.  The Crusaders were led by Roat with 12 points while Harkins and Deal hit 9 each.  They shot 12 for 40 from the field and 10 for 18 from the free throw line but, their 34 turnovers was way out of line for them to stay in this ball game.  Routt had 16 turnovers and only shot 36% from the field with 57% free throws but, they were very aggressive defensively and caused Springfield Lutheran all kinds of problems.  Bystry led the way with 14 points while Tonry scored 12 and Langdon 10.  Halpin chipped in 8 points  as 8 Rockets contributed to the win.  Arendt only had 5 points but she had numerous rebounds and played a strong defensive game.  Routt improved to 4-1 on the year and the Crusaders fell to 8-2.  These two teams may meet again in the post season as they are in the same regional.  
12/7/11 from Ryon McNeff The first semifinal match up of the Spartan Classic featured Brown County and Routt. Both teams would play neck and neck the entire first half with neither team going on a big run. Then right out of the gate in the 3rd quarter, Routt would take advantage of Brown County's miscues and capitalized to jump out to a 37-25 lead heading into the 4th quarter. Brown County would make a hard charge at the beginning of the 4th quarter but they ended up digging themselves in a bigger hole. Routt would hold on and pick up the quality victory 54-43 to move on to the Championship game. Brant Young led the Rockets in scoring with 17 while Justin Volk had 16 for the Hornets. Brown County shot 36% from the field and 59% from the free throw line while Routt went 40% from the field and 78% from the free throw line. Routt will take on the winner of North Mac and Greenfield while Brown County will get the looser of that contest on Friday night.
12/6/11 Springfield Calvary was red hot in the first quarter and blew to a 22-7 lead on 9 for 12 shooting and 1 for 1 from the free throw line.  They backed up the 75% first quarter with a 57% half and a 32-15 lead.  Sayre was 6 for 23 (13 points) to lead the Trojans and Clayton shot 5 for 19 (12 points) but no one else got more than 4 points in the loss.  Triopia shot 29% from the field and 60% from the free throw line with 15 turnovers in the game. They fell to 5 and 3 on the year.  The Saints hit 23 of 48 for the game and 7 of 15 in free throws as they also are 5-3 after the win. Schmitt hit 16, Mattsson 14 and Huffman 14 in a well rounded attack.  Stoner came in off of the bench to toss in 6 points as she ran the court well and had some easy lay ups.  The interesting part of Calvary is that they lost to Lutheran in overtime last night and will be part of the Lutheran regional, along with Routt at post season time.  That is an educated guess that would make for a very nice regional.  We will Lutheran in Jacksonville on Thursday where they will take on Routt. 
12/5/11 Joann Gross was not able to suit up for tonight's girls basketball game and it is unclear as to when she will return, however the rest of the team stepped up nicely and posted a 62-27 win over visiting Greenfield.  Gross is the leading the Rockets in rebounds and in scoring and it was a challenge to see who would take her place until she is ready to play again.  Birdsell played up from the JV team with 4-5 rebounds while Halpin (20), Tonry (15) and Bystry (12) along with Langdon's 7 points did a nice job as Routt led at the end of all 4 quarters.  Routt also forced 21 turnovers while only committing 8 of their own.  Kristen Bishop and Cole led the Tigers with 6 points each.  Greenfield hit 12 of 40 shots and 2 of 6 from the free throw lines.  Routt was 17 for 49 from the field and 5 of 7 from the charity stripe as they improved to 3-1 on the season.  They will take on a good Lutheran team on Thursday night at home.  The Rockets have shown they have the talent to have a different player lead in scoring on a given night so, it is hard to defend them.  Once Garde and Gross get back, they will be a very interesting team to keep an eye on.   At the North Greene boys tournament - Pleasant Hill, Western and Routt Catholic all won their games.
12/2/11 Routt has a very interesting boy's basketball team this season.  They are big, strong, fast and can shoot the ball pretty well.  When they get a match up with West Central, it should be a very entertaining game.  we had a chance tonight to see the Rockets take on Springfield Lutheran, who we had seen 4 times already.  Routt got off to a fast start and led the first quarter 22-4 and 35-9 at half.  They won 67-32 and improved to 2-0 on the year.  Lutheran was taken out of their game early and never recovered.  Kruger had 14 points in the loss as he scored 11 in the second half.  They shot 26% from the field and 56% from the free throw line while turning it over 25 times.  Routt hit 7 of 18 free throws and 26 of 53 from the field and had 19 turnovers.  They are quick and run their offense well while dogging their opponents on defense.  Routt will play next week at the North Greene Spartan tournament @ 8:00 on Monday.  They lost the freshman and JV game to the Crusaders tonight.  
12/1/11 On paper it looked like this would be a long night for the Lady Trojans of Triopia when they hosted Routt Catholic. In the end, it turned out to be a very hotly contested game with the Rockets winning 55-47.  It was a 4 point game with plenty of time left for the Trojans but, they couldn't make a big basket at crunch time.  The out shot Routt 40% to 37% and 66% to 62% from the free throw line but the Rockets hit 7 of 15 treys while Triopia hit 0 of 2 attempts.  Routt also turned the ball over 22 times and forced 26 on Triopia.  it was a very entertaining game and Triopia showed they are not to be counted out early in games this season.  Clayton scored 16, Musch 10 and Washington 9 in the loss. Seven of the Trojans scored in the game.  Tonry hit 17 (3 of 4 treys) and Kuhn hit double digits (11) with 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.  Gross had an off shooting night for her (7) and Bystry came through 9 points in the Routt win.  The Rockets had 7 players score in the game also and are anxious to get Garde back into the line up in the middle of December.  Routt is 2-1 after tonights game and the Trojans are an impressive 5-2. 
11/29/11 Tonight's boys basketball game, between Triopia and the Rockets of Rushville-Industry, was closely contested and fun to watch.  The Rockets had played 5 games already (2-3) and the Trojans were playing their first game of the year. It turned out to be a 54-47 win for Triopia but the lead changed hands several times and Rushville had led by as many as 5 points in the early part of the game.   Jones (12), Hamlin (12) and Taylor (16) all had good offensive games tonight but, the Rockets only shot 42% from the field and hit 4 of 7 free throws in the loss.  they turned the ball over 19 times as well.  For their first game, the Trojans played pretty well. Joehl (10), Huddleston (14) and Millard (17) spread the ball around well and were quick to the basket.  Love tossed in 8 points and Herzberger 5 as Triopia shot 54% from the field and 64% from the charity stripe.  The had 11 turnovers in the first half and only 2 in the second half and showed they may be a team to watch out for this season.  They have a nice combination of size and speed, with some depth, so it should make for an interesting year.  Their JV also won the opening game 44-38. 
11/28/11 Routt Catholic and the West Central girls basketball teams face each other 3-4 times each season and tonight was #1 for 2011-12.  The final score was 48-40 as the lead changed hands numerous times before the Rockets could lock it up. In no surprise, it was a rugged game with a lot of fouls and a lot of free throw shots.  The Cougars committed 25 fouls and shot 4 for 7 from the free throw line.  Routt had 14 fouls and hit 14 of 33 free throws in the win.  Adnrea Leitz led the Cougars with 16 points and Kilver hit double digits with 10 points.  West Central hit 17 of 51 from the field for 33%. In the win, Gross led in scoring for her second game in a row with 15 points.  Bystry had a good game with 13 points but neither of them shot well from the charity stripe.  Gross was 1 for 8 and Bystry was 2 for 8.  They both played well on the defense and hit the boards well to help preserve the win. It was strange to see the Rockets hit only 14 of 33 free throws after shooting 76% against the Raiders of QND on Saturday night.  The defense showed up for both teams in turnovers as well as the Cougars had 29 and Routt 22 in this battle. These are two pretty good basketball teams who will win a lot of games this season.
11/26/11 Quincy Notre Dames girl's basketball is a solid program year after year and this year they look awfully good once again. They were in Jacksonville tonight to take on the Rockets of Routt Catholic.  The game was over quickly as the Raiders took a 31-8 lead and never looked back.  They won the game 88-37 and had 12 of their 14 players score in the win. Kassidy Gengenbach (17), Tori Kuhn (16) and Frericks (13) led the well balanced attack.  QND is 2-0 and averaging 89 points per game on the early season.  They shot 63% from the field, 74% from the free throw line and committed 23 turnovers in the win. Routt hit 8 for 28 from the field and 76% from the free throw line had 35 turnovers as they had a hard time dealing with the Raider defense.  Gross worked very and did well with 13 points in the game and 8 Rockets scored in the loss.  Routt will take on the 2-0 West Central Cougars on Monday @ Bluffs and it will be a good WIVC match up.  It will be a hard fought and important early season game for both teams and should a fun match up.  
11/25/11 Day four of the New Berlin Turkey Tournament set the stage for a very good final day on Saturday.  Springfield Lutheran and Carlinville battled for 4 quarters and the Crusaders finally won it 43-39.  It wasn't a pretty game as the Cavaliers shot 29% and the Crusaders hit 32% but it was competitive and exciting right down to the end. Davis led the Cavaliers with 11 points and Stewart, who was the leading scorer coming into tonight's game, only scored 2 as Carlinville just couldn't get over the hump in the loss.  The Cavaliers will finish their tournament as they take on Raymond Lincolnwood.  Kruger led the Crusaders with 17 and Schahl had his best night with 9.  Kirby had an off shooting night as he finished with 3.  Both Lutheran and Lincolnwood will bring a 2-2 record to their 4:00 match up.

In the second game, the Cougars of West Central put it in cruise control early and knocked off Raymond Lincolnwood 67-23. Snyder had 13 for the Lancers but, the rest of the team didn't score so well as Raymond Lincolnwood fell to 0-4 in the tournament.  The Cougars forced 25 turnovers in the their win as they had 3 players (Jordan Boehs 21, Day 17 and Barnett 11) in the win.  West Central had 7 players in the scoring column once again as they will come after you with a variety of scorers, a good defense and very few turnovers.  They will try to take care of New Berlin at 7:00 on Saturday night and take home the title.    

New Berlin wanted to win their game tonight with Rushville-Industry to give themselves a shot at the Turkey Tournament title against West Central.  They got it done as they defeated the Rockets 42-30 and did a very good job of holding down Austin Jones.  Jones worked very hard for his 8 points and Plumer (6) along with Plater (5) tried to help pick up the pace.  Hamlin also added 6 points but the Rockets came up short in the end.  Kemp had 14 points in the first half while Gustafson and Lehman added 8 points each in the win.  Burger did what he needed with 7 points also but the Pretzels will have to shoot better (39%) from the field and (50%) from the free throw line if they want to have a chance against the #1 seed.  With only 2 wins last year, New Berlin has to fill good about their start to this season. 

11/23/11 Rushville-Industry went 0-5 last year at the Turkey Tournament in New Berlin and are 2-1 heading into day four this year.  Tonight they had to come from behind to knock off the Cavaliers of Carlinville 44-39 in overtime.  Stewart led Carlinville with 11 points while Kleeman added 10 and Butcher 9 in the loss.  The Cavaliers hit 36% from the field and 54% from the free throw line with 14 turnovers.  Jones went scoreless in the first half for the Rockets then, he got hot and knocked down 20 points including 5 treys in the second half.  Taylor and Plumer each scored 4 points in the overtime as well to help secure the win.  Taylor was active with his 14 points in the game as Rushville-Industry shot 42% from the field and 62% from the charity stripe. 

Springfield Lutheran faced the #1 seed, West Central, in the second game tonight got beat 51-23.  It was going to be a tough enough game the way it was but, when Kruger hurt his knee early in the game, it became even tougher.  Hankinson hit 9 points and Haake scored 8 but it wasn't nearly enough to fight off the smooth working Cougars.  Kirby knocked down 6 points for the Crusaders also but, with only 3 players scoring in the game, they were never really in the contest. Seven of the Cougars scored as they spread the ball around with Jordan Boehs leading the way with 14. Day hit double figures with 10 and Lomelino added 9.  West Central shot 44% from the field and 36% from the free throw line and finished with 9 turnovers in the win.  They are only giving up 20 points a game and averaging 53 and that is a hard combination to beat.  They have Raymond-Lincolnwood and New Berlin left on their tournament schedule.

In the final game of the night, the Lancers of Raymond Lincolnwood played 3 good quarters of basketball but the 4th quarter did them in as they lost to New Berlin 65-45.  It was a much better game than the final score indicated but, this is a young Lancer team and they looked like they ran out of steam.  Kraeger and Brockmeier had 14 points each and Snyder 8 in the loss. With only 2 turnovers in the first half, Raymond Lincolnwood led 27-22 at half time.  They turned the ball over 16 times in the second half and that helped sink them. They hit 35% of their shots and 69% of their free throws.  Kemp led the Pretzels once again as he hit 19 points.  Lehman played strong with 13 points as Hodson and Longhta each scored 8 points.  Over all, there were 8 of the New Berlin players in the scoring column.  They were hot last night and didn't cool off much tonight as they hit 51% of their field goals and 71% of their free throws.  They are hoping to defeat Rushville-Industry on Friday and give themselves a shot at the title against West Central on Saturday night. As for the Rockets, they would love to upset the apple cart with a win Friday. It should be a good game and fun to watch.    

11/22/11 Day two of the Gene Bergschneider Turkey Tournament is history as 1 team is 2-0, 1 team is 0-2  and 4 teams are 1-1 so, tomorrow nights games are very important to everyone. In the opener tonight the Rushville-Industry Rockets got it together and knocked off the Lancers of Raymond Lincolnwood 63-57.  Jones hit for 25, Hamlin 12 and Plater 11 to lead the Rockets .  Lincolnwood owned the boards ealry and also held a 13-7 lead after one quarter of play.  Rushville made some defensive and rebounding adjustments and took over the lead at the end of the third and held it through the 4th.  While the Rockets only shot 30% from the field, they hit 68% of their free throws in the victory.  Snyder scored 23 to lead the Lancers and Krager added 12 while Pope and Brockmeyer each scored 8 in the loss. The Lancers shot 40% from the field and 45% from the free throw line and turned the ball over 16 times.  After 26 turnovers against West Central, the Rockets only turned it over 7 times tonight as they picked up their first win of the year.

West Central won their second game of the tournament as they are averaging 55 and only giving up 19 per game in their wins.  Carlinville had trouble from the beginning and their leading scorer, Stewart, only had 5 points if that will give you an idea as to how hard it is to score on the Cougars.  They shot 19% from the field and 71% from the charity stripe.  West Central still struggled from the free throw line as they hit 5 of 10 free throw line but, they did well with 51% from the field. Jordan Boehs (15) led the 7 Cougars who did score in the game. Corey Barnett added 9 points while Day had 7.  West Central forced 16 turnovers and only made 9 of them in the win.  They will take on the Crusaders of Springfield Lutheran tomorrow evening as they try stay undefeated in the tournament.

The Host Pretzels played very well tonight as they got off to a quick start and maintained it for 4 quarters in their 74-56 win over Lutheran. Eight of the Crusaders scored tonight as Kruger led the way (16) and Kirby (12) as well as Hankinson(10) scored in double figures. Lutheran hit 47% of their shots and 75% from the line.  New Berlin hit 58% from the field and 53% from the line but they hit the boards well in the win.  Kemp (22), Burger (19), Longta (12) and Gustafson (10) led the well balanced attack.  Kemp had 6 treys in the game as they tried to open up the inside game of Burger who came through with some big buckets.  The Pretzels only had 6 turnovers with their starters in the game and 15 over all in the win.  New Berlin would like to win their next two games and get a chance to take on the Cougars in a title tile on Saturday night.  Raymond-Lincolnwood and Rushville Industry may have something to say about whether or not the Pretzels will get their shot.    

11/21/11 The New Berlin Turkey Tournament opened this evening with three games.  Raymond-Lincolnwood fell behind early in the first game and trailed at half time 41-17 to Springfield Lutheran.  The Lancers made a great comeback, only to fall short 56-52 in the end, but it was a real show of determination under first year head coach Mike Rigoni. Kruger led a well balanced attack (18) for the Crusaders as Hankinson (15) and Kirby (14) were impressive on the offense.  The second half for Springfield wasn't but it was good enough as the Crusaders finished 22 of 50 from the field and 4 for 11 from the line.  Krager led the Lancers with 15 while Snyder(13), Brockmeyer (10) and Sale (9) added to the second half drive. This could be a relatively strong team before the season ends.

In the second game of the night, it was all West Central as they played well on both ends of the floor and crushed the Rushville-Industry Rockets 61-21.  This was simply a matter of the #1 team taking on a team that will need to find their identity under first year head coach, Mark Darr, and also find some offense on the way.  Tonight the Rockets will have a better chance of finding out who they really are as they take on Raymond-Lincolnwood in a little closer match up.  It was hard to determine much about the Rockets as they met up with a team they don't need at this point.  Crane led the team with 7 points as he came in as a bench player.  West Central is a veteran team with a lot of strong inside players and good ball handlers.  Day showed his quickness with 18 points and Corey Barnett added 10 in the win.  Lomelino put in 8 as did VanDeVelde as 8 of the Cougars scored tonight in a well rounded attack.  Their pressure defense forced 26 turnovers on the Rockets.  West Central shot 57% from the field and only 38% from the free throw line (they will work on that) but, were just too strong for the young Rockets tonight.

The final game of the night was an up and down affair for New Berlin and for the Cavaliers of Carlinville.  Carlinville prevailed and won the game 54-45 but not without some struggles of their own. New Berlin jumped out to an 16-9 lead in the first quarter and that was the best news of their night.  The only scored 4 points in the second quarter and 8 in the third and never recovered as Carlinville hit them for 14 and 12 in those same quarts to hold a 35-28 lead after 3 quarters.  The Pretzels had well balanced scoring but, not enough of it.  Gustafson (10), Kemp (9), Burger (9), Lehman (8) and Longhta (7) led the way but there were holds in the defense and the speed of Barry Stewart got to them.  Stewart scored 21 points as a non-starter while Kleeman added 12 and Marchiori 10 in the Carlinville win.  The Pretzels hit 35% from the field and 75% from the free throw line while the Cavaliers tallied 41% from the field and 41% from the line.  Carlinville will get a chance to test their metal against West Central tonight so that will be fun to see how they come out.  

11/18/11 from Ryon McNeff West Central opened the basketball season in a great way tonight over Brown County. Both teams played a tight game until about halfway through the second quarter, when Kelsey Bettis made three 3 pointers in a row and broke this game wide open. One of the things I like about this West Central team is their ability to change a game in an instant with their long range shooting. But when that was not working for them, they were able to rely on Andrea Lietz to provide a great presence underneath the basket. Brown County had a lot of trouble handling the intense full court pressure and as a result committed 31 turnovers in the contest. Vanessa Markert and Emily Hendricker both reached double digits in the scoring column tonight for Brown County. Andrea Leitz led all scorers with 23 points tonight and Meghan Lashmett came in off the bench and added 15 more. West Central shot 36% from the field and 61% from the free throw line while Brown County went 36% from the field and just 44% from the free throw line.
11/5/11 Triopia was under-sized in their second round match up with Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley but, they made up with it in speed and determination as they knocked off the Falcons 21-0.  The Trojans put up all of their points in the first quarter and turned back Gibson City with 2 goal line stands to hang on for the win. Triopia improved to 11-0 with the win and the Falcons ended their season with 8 wins and 3 losses.  For Triopia, that will give them a game next week at Mt. Sterling where they will face the 10-1 Hornets.  These two teams met in regular season play with Triopia winning 22-21 with 1 second left in the game. The Hornets pretty much dominated the earlier game but, the Trojans came out on top. The re-match of these two WIVC teams will assure us of a team in the semi-final round for the south as they take on either Arcola or Tuscola.  Tuscola defeated Moweaqua A & M 31-6 today and Arcola defeated Pawnee 24-22.  Game numbers for Triopia and Gibson City aren't as important to me as the defensive and offensive effort that Triopia showed on the field as they held a very good Falcon team in check.  If you like high school football, make plans for being in Mt. Sterling next Saturday as I don't think you will leave disappointed in the effort or talent you will see during the game.  These teams know each other well and it will be a matter of which team executes the best.  No trick plays or surprises - just hard nosed class 1A football at it's very best. 
11/1/11 from Ryon McNeff The second match of the evening saw a very experienced and tough Payson team taking on a young team from Pawnee. When you saw both of these teams standing out on the court before the game, you could see that Payson would also have a distinct size advantage all the way around the court. Payson jumped out to an early 6 point lead and held that lead until they starting making a few mistakes and let Pawnee back in to the first game. Pawnee made a nice effort but it came up a bit short and Payson took game 1 25-21. In the second game, Pawnee just could not find an answer for the net play of Payson and they also committed too many service errors to keep themselves in it. A great effort by Pawnee all the way around tonight but Payson would prove to be too much as Payson picks up the 25-21, 25-12 to advance on to the Sectional Championship. For Pawnee, Jessica Bailey led the way with 5 kills tonight and Gianni Bennett added 4 blocks. Payson was led by Catherine Richards with 15 kills and also got 22 assists from Erin Smith. Payson will take on Lutheran for the Sectional Championship on Thursday night.
11/1/11 from Ryon McNeff The first game of the night would be the best game I have witnessed this entire season. Lutheran came out and got to a 4 point lead early in this game and held it for a while. But then Calhoun came to life and took the lead back and these two teams would battle back and forth the rest of the first game. Calhoun had a chance to put it away in game one, but a service error gave Lutheran the advantage and they took game one. Lutheran was able to carry the momentum over from game one into the start of game 2 and Alexis Gorsek pushed out 10 straight service points. Calhoun was just never able to recover and would see their season end as Lutheran picks up the win 25-23, 25-11. Maddie Baalman had 11 assists and Morgan Stein added 8 kills for the Lady Warriors. For Lutheran, Abby Heise added 13 kills tonight and Cydney Long had 10 assists. Lutheran will advance on to the Sectional Championship against Payson on Thursday night.
10/29/11 On paper it looked like Triopia had the advantage in today's first round football game for class 1A.  They had previously beaten Routt, they were on their home field, they were 9-0 verses the 5-4 record for the Rockets.  From the Routt point of view, they are a rival of the Trojans and had beaten them 2 years ago after Triopia had defeated them in regular season.  Unfortunately the favored team won 47-0 to move on to round two and Routt ended a strange season.  They had won 5 games to start the season and lost 5 games to end their season.  The Rockets could not sustain any running or passing game today and didn't look like the same team they were early in the year.  Rossi's injury (high ankle sprain) rendered him relatively ineffective so that hurt the passing game as Triopia was able to put a serious rush on the quarterback.  At the end of the game Routt only had 10 yards through the air and 57 on the ground and no points on the scoreboard.  On the other hand, Triopia had 308 yards rushing, 79 yards passing and 7 touchdowns with 6 extra points.  Each team had 15 yards in penalties in a basically cleanly played game.  Triopia had 3 turnovers and after two early fumbles the Rockets did a better job of hanging onto the ball.  The Trojans turned the two fumbles into two touchdowns, so once again (like their first meeting) the Rockets paid a price for their mistakes.  Joehl caught a 21 yard and a 22 yard touchdown pass.  Wayland ran the ball in from 25 and from 28 yards.  Huddleston scored on a 8 yard run and hit Love on a 34 yard pass as the Trojans showed their ability to score in numerous ways with a variety of  players.  With their win today, the Trojans earned the right to play Gibson City in the next round.  Due to their higher ranking, the Trojans will host Gibson City who won 31-8 so I don't think we will lack offense in next weeks game.       
10/27/11 The bad news for Triopia volleyball is that they lost in the regional championship 25-15, 25-12 to the #1 seed Springfield Lutheran and their season came to an end.  The good news is that they finished 26-7 and had the best win loss record in their school history.  They also lose two players, even though they are very good players, and will return a nice nucleus plus a winning attitude for next year. Washington had 1 point and 4 kills tonight while Clayton had 3 points and 5 kills.  Meyer finished with 5 assists and had did well with 1 point, 2 assists and 1 block.  Brookly Lacy had 2 points while McLain recorded 1 point and 5 assist. The Trojans only had 2 service errors in the match.  The Crusaders came in as the favorite to win the regional and accomplished their mission.  They will take on Hardin-Calhoun next Tuesday in Liberty at the sectional level.  Gorsek had 4 points while Voightman had 9 points and 1 assist while taking care of the libero work.  Cowles had 2 kills, Roat 3 kills and 1 block, Pfeiffer 1 kill and 1 block and Gerberding had 3 points.  Quigg ended up with 1 point and 3 kills and Lutheran was led by Heise and Long who had a very good evening.  Heise had 1 point, 8 assists, 10 kills and 2 blocks and Long had an equally good night with 8 points, 11 assists, 1 kill and 3 blocks.  This team had 6 service errors on the night but, played all around good team volleyball.  They finished 4th in the state last season and only lost 1 player so, they are going to make a strong run again this season.  Calhoun has the players to pull off the upset but they will have to play very consistently and try to take the Crusaders out of their attack game.  Easier said than done. It will be a fun match next Tuesday. 
10/25/11 Triopia and Routt met in the regular season and the Rockets won the match 2 games to 1.  Triopia was looking forward to a re-match and it came to them in the semi final round of the Routt regional tonight. The Trojans won a very exciting match 25-21, 26-28, 31-29 in front of a loud crowd and the win means Triopia will play in the title game on Thursday against the #1 seed, and very talented Lutheran  team of Springfield.  Routt ended their season with 21 wins and 15 losses.  Smith had 8 points, 6 assists and 2 kills.  Casler finished with 4 kills and 1 block.  Bystrey played well with 7 points and 5 kills and Bergschneider had 1 point, 1 assist and 1 kill.  West added 1 point, while Arendt ended her Rocket volleyball career with 1 point, 4 blocks and 13 kills. Langdon had 2 kills, Gross 1 point, 5 kills and 1 block.  Nix had 2 points, 4 assists and 2 kills.  White played well with 6 points and 21 assists and the Rockets had 9 service errors.  Lacy (Breanna) had one of her best matches of the season with 8 kills and Brooklyn Lacy added 10 points.  Carls had a point and Meyers 4 points with 6 assists and 1 kill.  Washington had 2 points, 13 kills and 3 blocks. The two seniors, Clayton (1 point, 1 assist and 12 kills) and McLain (9 points, 26 assists and 1 kill) both finished their night with impressive numbers. They will get a chance to play at least 1 more match in Columbia Blue when they take on Lutheran.    
10/24/11 Triopia came into tonight's regional volleyball game with Springfield Calvary  as the favored team (on paper) with their 22-6 record verses the Saints 3-19.  In the end, the  Trojans were too strong for the Saints and defeated them 25-6, 25-13.  Triopia will move on to play Routt Catholic tomorrow night and the Saints season came to an end.  Schmitt and Wood had 2 kills each and Huffman 1 in the loss. Stoner served 3 points, 1 assist and 1 block in the match as Huffman added 2 points and 5 assists.  Calvary had 5 service points to 3 for the Trojans.  Breanna Lacy had 4 kills as Erin Washington played well with 3 points, 5 kills and 1 block.  Clayton played strong with 5 points, 2 assists, 4 kills and 1 block.  Meyer served 7 points, had 1 assist and 1 kill while Carls contributed 3 points, 2 kills and 1 block.  Sayre came in late for 1 kill while Brooklyn Lacy had 9 points.  McLain did a nice job with 7 points and 14 assists in the Trojan win.  Routt defeated Triopia in conference play, at Routt, in 3 games earlier this season so this will be a nice semi-final match.
10/21/11 Routt Catholic wanted a win tonight to improve to 6-3 to put themselves in a better play off position.  They were playing the Northwestern-Greenfield Tigers who had won 3 and lost 5.  The Trouble was that Rossi (leading rusher), Dupre and Stiltz were all injured (starters) and the Rockets just didn't have enough back up to get it done tonight. They lost 27-0 to fall to 5-4 and will have a tough opening play off game as they will have to take on a 9-0 or 8-1 opponent on the road. Greenfield will not make the play offs as they finished with 4 wins and 5 losses but played well tonight.  They had 182 yards of rushing and 83 yards passing as they controlled the clock and played some Dan Bowman style of defense.  They held the Rockets to 30 yards passing and 52 yards rushing. Young led Routt with 35 yards rushing.  Boston (68 yards) led the Tigers while Settles (43), McEvers (34) and Gibbs (23) all contributed to the offense.  Settles had a 2 yard TD as Masters ran for a 3 yard TD.  Gibbs added a 3 yard TD and Boston rounded out the scoring with a 31 yard scamper for a score.  Masters had an interception while Sheehan ended up with 2 fumble recoveries. It was a frustrating night of football for the Rockets and they will need to re-group to get ready for the play offs. Their frustration showed with 75 penalty yards against only 25 for the Tigers.  It wasn't a strong offensive game for either team but there was some solid hitting in this WIVC match up. 
10/20/11 Pleasant Plains is a little stronger than Routt Catholic and won their 3rd match over the Rockets in the last 6 days. The final score was 25-14, 25-23 on senior night at the Routt Dome.  Abby Smith had 4 points 8 assists and 1 kill and Bystry had 1 kill.  Bergschneider had 1 point and 1 assist and West came in to serve 6 points.  Arent had 2 points and 8 kills while Langdon added 1 kill and Gross finished with 1 kill and 2 blocks.  Hungerford had a kill and White had 2 points and 5 assists.  Routt had 6 service errors in game 1 and 4 in game 2 as they dropped to 21-16 with the loss.  The Cardinals improved to 24-9 with their win.  Rugless had 3 points and 1 assist, Baietto 1 point, 2 assist and 1 kill.  Whetstone led the way with 4 points and 10 kills and Cody Stone added 1 point and 2 kills.  Kulavic served 6 points and Speaks was strong with 6 kills.  Oschwald finished with 6 points and 1 assist from her libero position.  Craven played well with 5 points, 2 assists and 2 kills and Paige Graham contributed 3 kills.  Slifer did a great job with 19 assists and 2 kills for the victorious Cardinals.  The Cardinals will play in the Pittsfield regional this year, as the 2 seed and Auburn will take the #1 seed into post season play.  Plains beat the Trojans early in the year, at the County Tournament.   
10/17/11 Tonight's match between Beardstown and West Central was very exciting and very competitive.  The Tigers won 26-24, 19-25, 26-24 and improved to 17-7 on the season.  They will play in a tough regional at Quincy Notre Dame next week. As for the Cougars, the fell to 23-11 on the year and will play at Pittsfield.  Carmody had a nice night with 7 assists and 7 kills.  Rachel Moore was solid with 4 points, 2 kills and 30 assists.  Kilver contributed 5 points and 1 kill while Roberts added 9 points, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 11 kills.  McLaughlin shared playing time with Lawson and finished with 6 points and 1 assist.  Street had 5 points and 2 kills and Victoria Miller rounded out the West Central numbers with 4 points, 2 assists, 1 block and 12 kills.  The Cougars finished with 7 service errors.  Beardstown basically played well for three games and deserved the win.  Brake had 8 points, while Brewer had 5 points, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 4 kills.  Newman added 5 points, 1 assist and 6 kills.  Riddle - 2 points, 2 assists and 2 kills.  Herter and Harris led the was again with 5 points, 8 assists and 8 kills (Herter) and 9 points, 14 assists, 3 blocks and 18 kills (Harris).  Beardstown finished with 7 service errors.  The West Central JV won 27-25, 25-23.    This game broadcast was moved from WRMS due to some difficulty with equipment. 
10/15/11 The Waverly volleyball tournament was a huge success again this year.  There was a very good field of teams in the tournament and Pleasant Plains came away the over all winner.  Routt finished second as Calhoun took third and New Berlin fourth.  The "All Tournament" team was named and it was Jill Brackett and Morgan Stein from Calhoun,  Emily Lascody of New Berlin, Madison Oschwald and Callie Whetstone of Pleasant Plains, Darcy Arendt of Routt Catholic, Rachel Goodall of Greenfield and Victoria Miller of West Central.  This is a very good group of talented players and there were at least eight more who could have easily been named but there wasn't enough room on the ballot.  This was a quality tournament and the best team came out on top, in the opinion of most of the tournament officials.  The host school did a solid job of putting on the tournament and it was a fun place to be for nearly everyone who attended. 
10/14/11 The Triopia Trojans are the #1 team in Class 1A football for the state of Illinois and they played like it tonight as they put up 445 yards of offense while holding the Pleasant Wolves to 188.  The final score was 33-6 for the Trojans and it wasn't quite as easy as the final score reads.  They had a tough time early in the game and only had a 19-0 lead at half time. Two of their first scores were big plays with a fumble recovery run in 20 yards by Jonah Wayland after a hard hit by John Love.  The second long score was a 65 yard scamper by Jared Sanders.  The first score was a 16 play 62 yard drive capped by a Derek Schone 9 yard run.  Schone ended the game with 3 touchdowns as Caleb Miller scored 1 also.  Miller led the ground game with 107 yards and Schone finished with 105 as the Wolves were keying on him all night long.  Huddleston threw 7 passes and complete 5 of them for 38 yards of offense.  Love caught 4 for 20 yards.  The down side for Triopia were 2 fumbles for 2 turnovers but the good news is they improved to 8-0 on the year with one game left (WHNG) in the regular season.  Rodhouse led the Wolves with 46 yards rushing.  Gunterman had 14 rushes for minus 47 yards and he was 17 of 46 in passing for 184 yards as Pleasant Hill fell to 4-4 on the year.  They will likely win next week as they take on ISD but their 5-4 record may not get them to the play offs due to their low point total.  Triopia is play off bound and will host a first round game if they get past the Spartans next Friday.  This is a strong Triopia team and not a team you want to face in the early rounds of state play.   
10/13/11 Triopia and Beardstown, on paper, are evenly matched but the Tigers played without Brake, Janssen and Hoeness tonight and it hurt them over all.  Triopia won 25-19, 25-20 to improve to 18-5 on the season.  The Tigers fell to 16-7 and will have their regular line up back in two more games and before they head into the tough QND regional.  Brewer had 4 points and 1 kill and Newman finished with 1 point and 2 kills.  Riddle recorded 1 point, 2 assist and 4 kills while Harris had 5 assists and 6 kills.  She also had numerous digs in the loss.  Herter played well with 5 points, 6 assists and 3 kills while Leischner rounded out the scoring with 2 points. Triopia took advantage of the short-handed Tigers and were a little steadier over all.  Breanna Lacy had 2 kills, Washington 5 points and 2 kills, while Meyer scored 4 points, 1 assist and 2 kills.  Emily Carls served well with 5 points and 1 kill.  McLain did what she did best with 18 assists and 1 kill and Brookly Lacy had 1 point.  Katie Clayton played her last home game as a senior with 5 points,, 2 blocks and 13 kills as she served an ace for the 24th point and got the final kill of the night.  Triopia will play in the Routt regional and will need to get past Routt and Lutheran if they want to win and move on to the next level.  
10/12/11 Hardin Calhoun and Routt Catholic played volleyball at the Routt Dome tonight with the WIVC championship in the balance.  With the Routt win, 25-21, 24-26, 25-18, they will share the title with Calhoun and West Central.  What's fun is that these 3 teams will be at the Waverly Tournament this week end and will likely have to deal with each other as well as Pleasant Plains and the outcome will be interesting and unpredictable.  Maddie Baalman had 9 points, 1 kill, 2 blocks and 27 assists to lead the Warriors.  Stein finished with 2 points, 1 assist, 3 blocks and 14 kills.  Preston had 6 kills, Brackett 6, Hayn 4 and Squier 4 as Calhoun was able to attack from several different angles.  The Warriors had 6 service errors tonight and Routt ended up with 10.  Smith played a solid game with 2 points, 3 kills and 13 assists for Routt.  Bystrey had 7 points, 2 blocks and 3 kills while Arendt recorded 10 kills and 3 blocks.  Gross contributed 5 kills and Langdon 2 and Casler had 2 kills as well.  Nix came in late in game 2 with 2 points and Bergschneider had 10 points plus several great digs in the win.  Rachel White rounded out the evening with 4 points and 11 assists as Routt was a little more consistent in their match tonight.  It didn't prove much as you get the feeling if these two teams meet again on Saturday the outcome will still be unpredictable.  
10/11/11 Western and Meredosia had played earlier in the year and the Wildcats won in 3.  Tonight it was the same result but it
turned out to be an exciting match.  The Indians had a 24-20 lead and lost the third game due to some strong serves by Morgan Ryan who served 5 aces in a row for the win.  Platt was very good as the setter and Zaer had strong kills. Motley showed one of the strongest back court hitting games we have seen this year while Sterns and Wharton played all around good games.  Floyd had 11 points to lead the Indians, while Carlin finished with 17 assists.  Meredosia is 8-17 after the loss and are the #3 seed at the Payson regional while Western is seeded #4.  The #1 seed Indians of Payson will be a hard team to knock off.  The Regionals start on the 24th.
10/10/11 Routt Catholic volleyball improved to 15-7 last night with their 25-12, 25-15 win over Brown County.  The Rockets led all night long and cruised to the win with some good net and floor play.  White had 9 points (3 aces, Smith 8 (5 aces), West 6 ( 2 aces), Halpin 5 (1 ace) as Routt served well. Arendt led the way with 11 kill and Gross added 5.  Rachel White (11) and Abby Smith (6) led in assists and the libero Bergschneider had 12 digs to lead the defense.  With a record of 7-1 in conference, the Rockets will take on Calhoun on Wednesday for a share of the crown.  West Central is the third team in the mix in the very competitive WIVC.  
10/7/11 The tone for last nights football game between Brown County and Mendon Unity was set early.  Mendon took the kick off and marched to the 4 line of the Hornets.  They gained 3 yards on the first play and after the 2nd and 1 play were pushed back to 4th and 10 and were unable to score.  After that, the steady Brown County squad methodically ran their plays and the score up for the 35-13 final score to improve to 6-1 on the year.  They have Greenfield and Carrollton left on their regular schedule and are locked into the play offs. As for Mendon, the Mustangs fell to 4-3 on the year and will have their hands full with West Central and Carrollton as they fight to make the play offs.  The Mustangs rushed for 292 yards and threw for 32 as they accumulated 324 yards on the evening.  Brown County had 294 yards rushing and 65 passing for 366 and the time on the clock was relatively even.  Woodward was 1 for 4 through the air and Wittler was 4 for 8 with 1 interception and 32 yards.  He also ran for 91 yards while Vandermaiden carried for 84 and Miller 39.  For the Hornets, Logsdon had 180 on the ground and 11 through the air.  Sheppard 65 rushing and 8 receiving.  Volk finished with 46 yards receiving.  It was a relatively penalty free game and quick to the ground game.  
10/4/11 Triopia volleyball was very good tonight in game #1 and game #3 and not so good in the middle game.  Carrollton did step up their game a few degrees in game #2 but it was the increased number of errors and miss-hits that cast the Trojans.  Kim Lake played a very nice match for the Hawks with 5 points, 5 kills, 1 block and 18 assists.  Alexander had 8 points and 3 assists and Williams, a freshman, did a solid job with 5 kills and 5 blocks.  Pfleger had 6 kills and 3 points while Prough had the opposite with 6 points and 3 kills.  Lovel had 4 points, 3 kills and 1 block and the Hawks only had 3 service errors in the match as they all came in game 2.  With the loss, Carrollton fell to 12-8 on the season.  Triopia, when they were on their game, were excellent tonight as Clayton and Washington combined for 33 kills, 12 service points and 3 blocks.  They showed what 2 strong net players can do  when they play in tandem.  Breanna Lacy was either hot or cold with her kill attempts and she finished with 9 kills on the evening.  Meyer added 4 points, 3 kills, 1 block and 11 assists.  Emily Carls had 4 points, 1 block and numerous digs in the win.  Brookly Lacy contributed 7 service points, Kelsey Jackson had 2  and McLain had an all around good match with 10 points, and 25 assists.  The Trojans only had 2, first game, service errors.  Triopia improved to 17-5 on the year as they are trying to pick up 20 or more wins for the 2nd year in a row.    
10/3/11 Jacksonville High was a little too strong for Routt Catholic as they played in the 4th annual Volley for the Cure at the Routt Dome.  The Crimsons won 25-17, 25-11 as they got on a roll and cruised to the win.  Routt got 6 kills from Arendt with 6 assists from Smith and 5 from White.  Gross and McGee had two kills each as the Rockets are getting more and more help from a lot of people.  They are having a hard time with teams who have a hard hitting front line.  McNeal had a nice night with 6 kills while Lonergan contributed 5, Keene 3, Jacques 3 and Chelsvig 2 as Jacksonville attacked the Rockets from many angles.  Stewart set the ball with 10 for the match and Bruner added 7, along with 1 kill.  Stewart (5), Keene (4), Howell (3), Fenner (2) and Ingram (1) all served well.  The only down side to the Crimsons win was their 8 service errors in the match as Routt only had 4 on the night.  It was a great night for the fans, for the Mia Ware Foundation and for volleyball in general as there was a lot of money raised for a good cause.  Thursday night we will carry another Volley for the Cure  as West Central plays at Franklin.
9/30/11 The Routt Catholic and Brown County football game tonight was everything you would want in in high school action.  It was primarily defense oriented and very intense for 4 quarters of fun.  The Hornets took a 7-0 lead, a 10-7 lead at half time;  then both teams scored a touchdown in the 4th quarter in an exciting finish.  Routt executed a perfect on side kick after scoring and making it a 17-14 game.  They had trouble moving the ball however and turned it over on downs and the game ended with the Hornets taking a knee. It makes both teams 5-1 on the season and puts them 1/2 game behind the Triopia Trojans.  Triopia has already beaten Brown County (22-21) and will take on Routt on Thursday night with the WIVC North Title on the line.  Brown County, in the meantime still has a road game left with Mendon Unity next Friday night.  Routt had 101 yards on the ground tonight and 101 yards through the air.  Shephard ran for 127 yards and Logsdon rushed for 126 in the win.  Shepard carried for 1 touchdown and Woodward also had a TD.  The Hornets kept the ball for 29 minutes and 40 seconds while the Rockets had it for 18 minutes and 20 seconds.  Routt had a hard time sustaining drives and with their last quarter success simply ran out of time.  Lonergan finished with 7 completions on 10 attempts for 101 yards.  The win for Brown County was hard fought and well deserved.  Routt, Triopia and Brown County will all make post season play and unfortunately will likely end up eliminating each other from the state run. These are good teams and represent the area and the WIVC very well.     
9/29/11 by Ryon McNeff Triopia traveled to Meredosia for tonight's volleyball contest. This contest always makes for an interesting one with these two teams knowing each other so well. The two teams played point-for-point for the first part of game 1 until Katie Clayton picked up her fist kill of the night then Triopia really took control. Once in control, Triopia never looked backed and won the match 25-15, 25-15. Emily Cambell had a nice night for Meredosia with 4 Assists and 3 Kills. Morgan Floyd also added 4 Kills on the night for the Lady Indians. Sydney Meyer had 6 Assists and 2 Kills while Katie Clayton had 8 Kills on the night for Triopia.
9/27/11 Routt Catholic lost their last 2 matches and did not play well in the process.    Tonight they turned things around as they knocked off the Carrollton Hawks and put themselves back into the hunt for the WIVC  title.  Carrollton came into the match with 10 wins, 2 losses and a 3-1 mark in the conference.  Lake played very well tonight as she finished with 2 points, 13 assists and 3 kills.  Leesman had 5 kills and Pfleger ended up with 4.  Varble, the Libero, had 5 points and several good digs in the loss.  The Hawks had 6 service errors and only 1 ace in the match.  The Rockets got good play from several players as they improved to 12-6 on the season and more importantly 4-1 in the conference.  Smith had 4 points, 9 assists and 5 kills.  West served 4 points while Langdon had 3 kills and 1 block.  Gross had one of her best nights with 6 kills.  Bystry contributed 2 kills and Bergschneider did a good job as the Libero and added 3 points as well.  Rachel White was solid with 4 points, 2 kills and 8 assists.  Arendt played strong as she finished with 6 points, 2 blocks and 8 kills.  The Rockets found out today that they will be the #3 seed at Waverly this year;  behind Pleasant Plains and the #1 seed Calhoun Warriors.  This is going to be a tough tournament and one you won't want to miss.  Also don't forget that the Rockets will take on JHS in a Volley for the Cure match at the Routt Dome on Monday.
9/23/11 The game between Triopia, who was 4-0, and Mendon Unity, who was 3-1, didn't turn out to quite as close as a lot of fans thought it would be.  The final was 34-0 in favor of the Trojans as they stayed perfect on the year and tied with Routt at the top of the WIVC North.  Triopia wanted to start out fast, get the lead and hopefully discourage the Mustangs.  The Trojans scored on their first 2 possessions and took a 14-0 lead then never looked back.  They finished with 239 yards rushing and 88 yards passing for a total of 327 yards.  In the meantime they held the high powered Mustang offense to just 74 yards rushing, 32 passing yards and a total of 106 yards in the loss.  Jacob Miller carried the ball 18 times for 60 yards and Vandermaiden had 16 carries for 32 yards.  Wittler was 5 for 32 in passing and rushed for -13 yards while catching 1 pass for 8 yards.  Triopia's Schone rushed for 87 yards and 3 touchdowns while Huddleston rushed for a 1 yard score and Love caught a pass for an 82 yard touchdown.  Huddleston was 4 for 6 and ran for 68 yards.  Sanders rushed for 50 yards and Curry carried for 33.  The Trojans played well after not tackling well on the Mustangs first series.  From then on they played a very nice game and have set themselves up to possibly win the North division.  After a week off, they will take on the Routt Rockets on a Thursday night in what will likely be the championship game.   Routt still has to play Brown County and Triopia while the Hornets still need to play Mendon, so the title is till on the line.       
9/20/11 Tonight was a big night for Routt Volleyball as Coach Gibson was trying for his 300th win of his career.  The Rockets came through for him with a 25-22, 25-21 hard fought win over the Triopia Trojans.  The Trojans led most of game 1 and hung around in game 2 but just couldn't get over the hump for the win.  Washington had 5 kills and 2 blocks while Clayton added 5 points and 3 kills.  Meyer had 4 service points and 2 kills while Carls recorded 2 points and 3 kills. Breanna Lacy had 2 kills and Brooklyn Lacy 1 point and the senior setter, McLain had a good night with 6 points and 14 assists.  The Trojans fell to 12-4 and 1-2 in conference.  For the Rockets they had to come back in both games but that is the sign of a good team and it paid off with the win.  They are now 11-4 with a 3-0 mark in the WIVC.  Abbey Smith played well with 8 points, 11 assists and 1 kill.  Casler had a block while Bystrey had 2 kills.  Bergschneider had numerous digs with 3 points and Tonrey came off of the bench with 2 kills.  West added 1 point and 2 assists:  Halpin 5 points, Langdon 2 kills and Gross had a good night with 3 kills and 1 block.  The Rockets were led by Arendt and White who came up big.  Arendt had 3 points, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 12 kills.  Rachel White also had 3 points, 1 kill and 8 assist.  Routt will take on a good Payson squad tomorrow night and it will interesting to see how they play after the big conference win tonight.  
9/19/11 West Central traveled to Barry to take on Western in area volleyball and might have taken the Wildcats a little lightly in game 1 and lost 21-25.  The Cougars re-grouped and came back to win game 2 25-12 and the 3rd game 25-19.  We saw the "Cats" at the Lady Sun Tournament and they are not a team to get too careless with.  Platt and Zaerr, especially, have played very well this season and did so tonight.  West Central was good at spreading the ball around and did a nice job as a team.  Brown had 12 points with 2 blocks and an assist. Roberts had 8 points, 6 kills, 2 blocks and 1 assist. Kilver contributed 7 points, with 3 kills and 12 digs.  Victoria Miller had another nice match with 7 points, 12 kills and 5 blocks.  Carmody and Street had 6 kills each while Moore was solid with 29 assists.  With the win, the Cougars improved to 12-4 on the year and have a big re-match with Triopia on Thursday in a short road trip.  The Trojans defeated the Cougars in two at the Meredosia Tournament early in the season.  
9/17/11 by Ryon McNeff Tonight's match up featured two of the top teams in the WIVC North Division with someone looking to pull into a tie with Triopia for first place.   Unity-Payson is a team that has been mentioned to be a big offensive powerhouse who loves getting in to shootouts and tonight's game would start out that way.  Both teams would trade scores back and forth but at the end of the first half, Routt would be able to get a 25yd Field Goal from Eilering that would put the Rockets up 24-21 at the half.  Then in the second Half, Routt would start to take control of the game.  Unity-Payson committed 3 more turnovers in the second half with Nick Lonergan converting one into a Pick 6.  Routt added a couple of more scores and pulled away with the win 44-21.  Routt ended up with 392 yards gained on the night with no turnovers while Unity-Payson gained 364 yards with 3 fumbles and 2 interceptions.  Kyle Vandermaiden led the Mustangs 93 yards on 18 carries.  Nick Rossi led the Rockets with 184 yards on 21 carries.  We had a lot of unknowns heading into this game tonight, mainly how could Unity-Payson fare against the rest of the top of the WIVC North.  The Mustangs had a size advantage over Routt but they could not keep up with the speed of the Rockets.  Routt improves their record to 4-0 (2-0) and will have next week off as they were scheduled to play Virginia.  Unity-Payson falls to 3-1 (0-1) and will host Triopia in week 5.
9/16/11 by Ryon McNeff South Fulton returns home in week 4 to take on the Lewistown Indians in a battle of two teams below the .500 mark.  Lewistown got out to a fast and furious start with South Fulton just not able to keep up.  The Rebels are a young team with a lot of players still working on gaining that varsity playing experience.  Because of that they are making mistakes but at the same they are making a lot of progress and have gotten a lot better each and every week.  Lewistown is one of those teams that will probably end this season around 5-4 but next season look to be a team that will be tough to beat.  Lewistown won this game 45-0 over South Fulton with 344 yards rushing and 135 passing.  Kody Gravitt lead the Indians with 132 yards rushing on 18 carries.  South Fulton had 24 yards rushing and 76 yards through the air tonight.  Braden Wherley with 29 yards rushing.  Lewistown improved to 2-2 on the season while South Fulton falls to 0-4
9/15/11 Routt Catholic improved to 10-4 last night as they dropped the Tornadoes of Griggsville-Perry 25-22, 25-14.  G-P put up a good fight in game #1 but, the depth and talent of the Rockets was a little too much of over come.  Bradshaw led the Tornadoes with 12 kills and 6 blocks but it wasn't enough.  Routt had 10 players with kills in the game and that is a lot of players to defend. They also had 4 players with blocks as they played well on both sides of the net.  Deeder had 18 assists for G-P while Smith (9) and White(5) set the ball for Routt.  Bergschneider (Libero) for the Rockets had 14 digs and 6 service points as she went about her business. White and Langdon also added 6 service points as the Rockets got a lot of players involved in this team win.  Sidwell and Kessinger each had 5 service points to lead the Tornadoes.  In a game of interest to the WIVC teams, the Calhoun Lady Warriors lost 25-11, 25-22 to Payson to drop to 11-2 on the season.    
9/13/11 Greenfield came into tonight's volleyball with Routt, with a 2-1 record and some hopes of playing well.  They started out nicely and were tied 9-9 then, the bottom fell out and the Tigers started making unforced errors and never got back into the game.  They were defeated 25-16, 25-13 and just couldn't challenge the Rockets.  Goodall started off like gang busters and cooled off.  She had 6 kills on the night and 3 points.  Kelly Pembrook also played well with 5 points and 9 assists as she covered the court well with some good sets.  The 7 service errors did not help Greenfield in the match.  As for Routt, they improved to 9-4 on the season and played sharp after the first few points of game 1.  Smith had 1 point, 1 kill and 8 assists.  Bergschneider contributed 9 service points while Tonry had 4.  West finished with 7 points, Langdon with 2 kills, Gross with 2 kills and Nix had 2 points and 1 kill.  Arendt was as strong as we have seen her all year with 5 points and 8 kills.  White came off the bench with 10 points and 8 assists.  Casler had a point and a kill and Bystry hit well from outside right with 5 kills in the win. The Rockets had 3 service errors and will take on the Tornadoes of Griggsville-Perry on Thursday as they look for win #10. This is a team that is deep and steadily improving.  They had no blocks tonight and will need to work on that aspect of their game to be ready face teams like Triopia and Calhoun who will come with strong net play.   
9/9/11 It was one of the most exciting finishes to a high school football that we have seen in a while as Triopia came back to score the winning touchdown and 2 point conversion with only 1 second left on the clock.  They defeated the Brown County Hornets who led from the early part of the 2nd quarter and had every right to feel they were going to come out with a 21-14 win and a 3-0 record for a share of the WIVC North conference lead.  The Hornets controlled the clock and had an 18 play possession that burned 11:45 off of the clock as they seemed to be on cruise control to the win. The Trojans finally got the ball back at their own 12 yard line with 2:08 on the clock.  13 plays later, a 10 yard pass to Sanders put 6 on the board.  After a time out, Triopia decided to go for 2 points and the win.  Schone started out with a sweep to the right and cut back inside to cross the goal line for the 2 point conversion and the eventual win.  The Hornets finished with 157 yards rushing and 79 yards passing with a 2 for 4 effort from the combination of Woodward and Sheppard.  Sheppard caught a pass for 47 yards and Volk caught 1 pass for 32 yards and a touchdown. Sheppard was the leading rusher for Brown County with 18 carries and 97 yards. Gooding led the defense with a multitude of tackles.  Triopia had 197 yards on the ground and 69 yards passing which included the game winning 10 yard toss from Huddleston to Sanders.  The Hornet defense did a nice job defending the pass and held Huddleston to a 5 for 12 passing night.  Schone led the way with 12 rushes for 140 yards and a 67 yard scamper to the end zone. He also had 3 catches for 27 yards.  Curry had a nice night with 12 carries and 74 yards. Love had a catch for 32 yards and some nice defense.  Richardson was very active on the defensive side of the ball. Joehl had an exciting 85 yard kick off return for a touchdown. While it was a disappointing loss for Brown County, they played a very nice team game and will be a force to be reckoned with throughout the balance of the year and into the play offs. As for Triopia, their persistence paid off and from a fans point of view, it was a nerve wracking finish for the #2 and #5 (1-A) teams in the state of Illinois. 
9/8/11 Tonight's volleyball between the 7-1 Warriors of Hardin-Calhoun and the 7-1 Cougars of West Central was everything you could hope for.  Game 1 went to the Cougars 25-21 with game 2 a Warrior win 25-20.  Game 3 was tied at 24-24 and Hardin-Calhoun scored 2 points in a row to win 26-24.  Moore had 13 points with 18 assists and 2 kills for the Cougars, while Roberts recorded 3 points and 6 kills. McLaughlin added 4 points and 1 assist as Kilver had a good service night with 7 points and 2 kills of her own.  Miller led in kills with 7 and she had a game high 4 blocks.  Brown had a couple of kills, 1 block and 1 point.  Lawson also had a nice match with 9 points and 4 kills.  Carmody rounded out the scoring with 1 kill.  It was a solid over all match for West Central but it wasn't quite good enough as the Warriors came through at crunch time with their 8th win of the young season. Stein had 11 kills, 3 blocks and 2 points.  Hayn contributed 3 kills, 2 points, 1 block and 1 assist with several good digs.  Preston had 5 kills while Brackett had 3 points and 7 kills.  Kailyn Baalman served 4 points while Clendenny had 6 points.  Squier added 2 assists and 2 kills and Maddie Baalman had 4 points and 18 assists as she did a nice job of setting for the victorious Warriors.  It was a close enough match that if they played again tomorrow it would be hard to pick who would win.  The big part of the night was Calhoun winning on the home court of the Cougars.  That will do a lot to boost the confidence of an already good Warrior team.   
9/6/11 Triopia won their 10th match of the year with a 25-14, 25-16 win over Brown County last night in volleyball.  McLain had 14 service points including 4 aces and Emily Carls had 11 points with 2 aces to lead from the service line. Washington was strong with 9 kills while Lacy and Carls each added 2. McLain and Meyer had 8 and 7 assists respectively as the Trojans improved to 2-0 in conference play.  Triopia also won the JV contest. 
9/2/11 Triopia and Greenfield have not played each other since 2006 and they are perennially two of the better teams in the WIVC and in central Illinois.  Tonight the Tigers weren't able to get much going and got beat 48-6 to fall to 1-1 on the year.  Triopia is 2-0 and will travel to Brown County next week to face the 2-0 Hornets.  It will be one of the bigger games of the week.  Triopia had 533 yards of offense tonight and held the Tigers to 107.  Huddleston had another nice passing game with a 6 for 7 night for 148 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Schone carried for 126 yards and Curry had 81 to lead the ground game.  Sanders (35), Miller (24), Huddleston (11), Wayland (27) and Link (24) all added to the impressive numbers. Joehl caught 4 passes for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Love caught 2 passes for 40 yards and a score also.  Schone, Curry, Miller and Huddleston all scored rushing touchdowns and Joehl was 6 for 7 in conversions. Masters had the only score for Greenfield/Northwestern with a rushing touchdown.  The Trojans are happy with the win but they know their north division battle starts next Friday night and also know that Brown County, Routt and Mendon Unity are all 2-0 in the early season.  It will be a hard earned title for someone this year.
9/1/11 Routt Catholic came into tonight's game with a 1-0 record and their lack of games showed in their effort against Auburn.  They were inconsistent with their offense and on the defense and lost 25-20, 25-16.  The good news is that they will get better with more court time as they are talented with enough height and speed to get the job done.  They also have a group of players who have a winning history at a lower level.  You can also add the fact that Auburn is a good, senior laden club that will win a lot of games this season. They are 1-1 on the season after their loss to Pleasant Plains this week. Unofficially, Bertoni had 4 points and 13 kills in the game while Dambacher had 8 points and 2 kills.  Bourne did a nice job of setting with 6 assist, 1 point and 1 kill.  Cline also had 8 assists and 3 points in the win.  Price had 3 kills, 1 assist and 1 block.  Kuentzler served well with 9 points and 1 ace.  Patter played a strong defensive game with 3 points and Lay added 2 kills and an assist.  Carter came in late with 1 assist and 2 aces to close out the game.  The Rockets used a lot of players in the match.  Smith was solid with 6 points and 4 assists. Arendt had 6 kills and a block.  Casler put down 2 kills and 2 blocks and Gross added 2 kills and a block.  Bergschneider had numerous digs and 2 kills while West served 3 points and had 1 assist.  Bystry served 3 points with a kill and White had 3 points and 4 assists. Nix had some good court time tonight with 1 point, 1 assist and 1 kill and McGee had a kill.  Routt had a lot of players who contributed in the match but they collectively did not cover the middle of the court well and made too many unforced errors to win.  Once again, it is early in the season and Routt fans will know more after the Rockets play 5 games in the Alton Tournament this week end.     
8/27/11 Routt struggled with Pleasant Hill in the first half of tonight's football game and trailed 22-21 at half time.  They got off to a quick start in the second half and won the game 42-29.  Rossi had 151 yards , with 4 touchdowns on 20 carries.  Eilering had 149 yards on 6 carries and also 1 catch for 38 yards.  Whalen finished with 61 yards and Alex Johnson had 4 yards on 1 carry.  Coop had 1 catch for 43 yards and a touchdown.  The Rockets had 334 yards of offense in the wind.  Lonergan was 2 for 5 through the air for 81 yards. For the Wolves, Gunterman was 32 for 52 for 328 yards, with 2 touchdowns and he garnered 55 yards on the ground.  Cox caught 11 passes for 148 yards and Gregurich had 10 catches for 124 yards.  Kolton Latham added 46 yards in receptions as well and the Wolves finished with 421 yards of offense.  Pleasant Hill played a solid 1st half and then gave up some big plays in the second half as it looked like they wore down a little in the loss.  They are a nice ball club and should have a good over all season.  Routt stayed tied with Triopia, Mendon Unity and Brown County at 1-0 with the win. 
8/26/11 In the season opener for Triopia and West Central, played at Don Kemp Field, it was a close game for the first half, then Triopia opened it up and finished with a 34-0 win.  The Cougars line did a nice job at the beginning but, the Trojans unveiled a nice passing game and that was one of the major factors in their victory.  One of the question marks for the Trojans was their defense as you felt they could score and weren't to sure with whether or not their speed could offset the West Central size.  The Cougars couldn't get their offense on track and lacked some consistency  as they finished with only 104 yards of offense and only 6 first downs in the win.  Triopia had 270 yards on the ground and 186 yards through the air.  Huddleston was 8 for 9 in the game as Joehl caught for for 88, Love 2 for 38, Curry 1 for 17 and Millard had 1 for 43 and a touchdown. Schone had 2  TD runs of 3 and 20 yards.  Sanders scored on a 14 yard scamper and Huddleston ran for 22 yards in his score.  Schone led the way with 118 yards rushing as Triopia finished with 456 yards of offense and 4 of 5 in extra points kicks by Joehl and Curry. Kaleb Miller had a nice game with 63 yards as well. Boehs was 5 for 13 passing and the Cougar offense was led by Luke Nash on the ground with 29 yards.  The Trojans are 1-0 and will face Greenfield-Northwestern at Palmyra while the Cougars will be at home to face the ISD Tigers.   
8/25/11 by Quincy Bejster

The Routt Lady Rockets opened their volleyball season with a victory (25-12, 25-8) on the road against the Pleasant Hill Lady Wolves.  Thirteen players earned statistical numbers for the Lady Rockets.  Abbey Smith started the season with four straight service points and finished the night with nine total service points, which led the team.  She also had seven assists and one kill.  Emily Bystry finished with eight service points and Nichole Bergschneider had seven service points.  Bergschneider, a senior, played the libero position for Routt and was very effective as the defensive specialist playing the back row.  Rachel White led Routt in assists with eight while Rachel Langdon led the team in kills, earning six of them.  The season opening win was the 290th victory at Routt for Coach Gibson.  It was the home opener for a young Pleasant Hill team after losing at Triopia on Tuesday.  There are only two seniors on the roster for Coach Clowers’ team which is going to improve with game experience throughout the season.  Shelby Pruett, one of those seniors, led the Lady Wolves with five service points.  Kelsey Whitaker, who missed the first game, was very active on the court helping the Lady Wolves.  The sophomore had three service points and worked a nice back and forth game with junior teammate Samantha Black.  Pleasant Hill will be playing in the Meredosia Volleyball Tournament next week.  Routt won the JV match 25-15, 25-21.  

8/23/11 by Brenda Lawless

It was the home opener for the Lady Trojans of Triopia. With 33 girls on the roster Coach Stacey Beeley had a full bench, filled with girls from Virginia and Triopia, who proved they work together extremely well with a win over the Pleasant Hill Lady Wolves 25-18, 25-7. Katie Clayton was the lone senior tonight, leading her team on and off the court. Katie will be a force on the front line for all the opposing teams in this area. She wasn't alone, Erin Washington, Emily Carls and Breanna Lacy put in plenty of kills. Setter Sydney Meyer filled some pretty big shoes replacing Lydia Reither for the Lady Trojans, as a sophomore she will make her name known.  Pleasant Hill played hard and will give teams fits. Samantha Black will keep teams guessing with back sets and dumps just off the 10 foot line. Black has the ability to set left right or middle with little effort. She showed no favorites sending the ball equally to Madison Martin, Shelby Pruett, Kennedy Moore, Lauren Jones or Leah Cathorall   Pleasant Hill's downfall for the night were the service errors. I call it early season jitters, something we won't see down the road.  It was a good start to the 2011 volleyball season

8/4/11 There was a great program of racing tonight at the Brown County Fair in front of a big crowd.  In race #1 Maiden Colt/Gelding Pace - BIG BEAR BOW 203.0,  Race #2 Open Mare Pace - ANDI'S SISTER 200.0,  Race #3 2 Year Old Trot - MR. GREENWELL 210.4,  Race #4 Open Pace - BOO BUG 201.1,  Race #5 3 Year Old Filly Pace - CUZIMADEMYMINDUP 200.3M  Race #6 3 Year Old Cot Pace - GOTTA LET IT GO 202.0,  Race #7 The Tazer Gun Pace - FORT SILKY 156.0. 
8/3/11 At the 142nd Brown County Fair tonight, the results are as follow:  Race #1 Two Year Old Filly Pace - MACSDIRTYLILSECRET 2.09  Race #2 Two Year Old Colt Pace - FOX VALLEY ARCTIC 259.1 (new track record for 2 year olds)  Race #3 Three Year Old Filly Trot - SASSY KAT 206.3  Race #4 Three Year Old Trot FOX VALLEY SPENCER 210.0  Race #5 Three Year Old Open Pace SPORTY GYPSY 200.2  Race #6 Maiden Filly Pace LITTLE WHITE LIE 205.3.
8/2/11 Beardstown led Peru 10-0 in the bottom of the 4th and it looked like the game was going to end with the 10 run rule. Peru was having none of it however and scored 8 runs in the bottom of the 4th and eventually lost 13-8 in a pretty good championship game for the 9-10 year old state softball tournament.  Dour, who had pitched a no-hitter against Peru 2 days ago got off to a great start as she went 2 innings and only allowed 2 base runners on walks.  She struck out 5 and turned the reins over to Maddie Craig who went 1 2/3 innings and got tagged for 8 runs as the game tightened up 10-8. Beardstown came back with 3 runs in their half of the 6th inning and put it away.  Coach Stock had to put Dour back into the game and she retired 7 batters in row as she struck out 5.  Peru could have laid down in the 4th but they ended up with 4 hits, 8 runs 8 errors and 2 runners were left on base.  Corsolini had a nice game with 2 hits and she also played a strong shortstop.  Beardstown had 15 hits, 13 runs 2 errors and they only left 2 runners on base.  Hobrock did a good job behind the plate and also had 3 hits to lead Beardstown.  Maddie Craig, Olivia Dour and Megan Dotzert all had 2 hits as 10 of the 12 batters had at least 1 hit.  The Beardstown All-stars did not lose a game in the district, sectional or state tournament this year and are a very deserved champion.  Peru's "never say die" attitude showed why they were in the championship as well 
7/31/11 Clear Ridge and River Forest played an elimination game today at the 9-10 year old softball state tournament and  the River Forest squad won a tight 5-3 game.  They scored 2 runs in the 4th and 1 in the 5th to seal the win.  Clear Ridge had a couple of tough losses in the tournament as they dropped a 9-6 game to Peru and then today's game.  Fierro had the only it for Clear Ridge as Maeve Nelson pretty much shut them down.  Fierro pitched a good game herself as she walked 10 and struck out 13 in the loss.  She allowed only 2 hits and 5 runs (2 earned).  Nelson had the only two hits for River Forest for the second day in a row as they hare having trouble getting the key hits in their games.  She drove in 2 of the runs and scored 1 in the win. Nelson walked 8 and struck out 12 as River Forest earned the right to play Peru in the semi-finals tomorrow night at 6:00.

Olivia Dour pitched a no hitter today as Beardstown shut out Peru 12-1 to advance to the title game on Tuesday night as the only unbeaten team.  She walked 5 and struck out 12 batters in the victory.  Peru made 6 errors in the game as Kamryn Olson pitched a pretty good game, walking only 2 and striking out 14.  Beardstown had 11 hits and were led by Blake and Maddie Craig with 2 hits each.  They had 9 of their 12 players with at least 1 hit in the impressive win.  They made 0 errors and left 4 runners on base and deserve to be in the championship game Tuesday.  They will get tomorrow off as they wait to see who their opponent will be.  Whoever wins tomorrow will have to defeat Beardstown twice, so they are in the drivers seat and it will be fun to see how they finish.   

7/30/11 The 9-10 year old State Softball Tournament, in Mt. Sterling, began today with a 9-6 win for LaSalle-Peru over Clear Ridge.  Clear Ridge scored 2 runs in the top of the 3rd and Peru came back with 7 runs (1 earned) in the bottom of the 3rd and never looked back.  Clear Ridge used 3 pitchers in the game as Kaminski took the loss. Curtin led the 7 hit attack with 2 singles, 1 RBI and 1 run scored.  Costillo had an RBI and Kaminski 2 in the loss.  Corsolini went the distance for Peru as she struck out 9 and walked 1.  The only down side was the 4 hit batsmen.  Peru had 2 earned runs and 7 unearned runs as they had 6 hits and left 9 runners on base.  Corsolini was the winning pitcher and she also led the hitting with a single, a double, 1 RBI and 1 run scored. Raven Stevens did a nice job behind the plate and also drove in 3 runs while scoring 1. With the win, Peru will take on the Beardstown team at 4:00 tomorrow.  Clear Ridge will face River Forest in an elimination game at 2:00 as one of those teams will end their 2011 Little League season.

The Beardstown/River Forest game was a roller coaster ride for both teams.  River Forest committed 9 errors in the loss and could only muster 2 hits.  Beardstown walked 17 batters  and made 2 errors, so it was hard to get a read on either of the teams. While River Forest only scored 4 runs, they left 15 runners on base so, they had opportunities.  Nelson had both of the River Forest hits and played a solid game at short stop with a couple of excellent defensive plays.  She may be one of the best 11 year old players I have seen this season. She has a strong arm and hit 2 triples as they both hit the 200 foot fence in 1 bounce.  Fiona Girardot went the distance and suffered the loss as she walked 2 and struck out 6.  She also had 5 wild pitches in the game.  Beardstown collected 13 hits to go with their 11 runs and they left 7 runners on base.  Blake led the way with 3 hits while Hobrock, Olivia Dour and Stock all had 2.  Nine of the 12 Beardstown players had at least 1 hit in the win.  They made 2 errors in the game and, if you could discount the walks, Beardstown played a very nice game.  Coach Stock said his team never walked 17 batters in their entire sectional and district tournaments, so we will see how tomorrow plays out when they face Peru at 4:00 in the semi-final game.

7/18/11 by Ryon McNeff Tonight's game was expected to be a defensive battle between Macomb and Beardstown but that expectation went out of the window early in this ball game.  Both teams had hot bats tonight and their were more defensive mistakes than normal by both teams.  Honestly, we saw a true championship style ballgame between these two teams as they battled back and forth all night long.  But Macomb finally found a way to break the game open in the bottom of the 5th inning and held on for the 13-9 win.  Macomb's Ben Higgins went 3-4 at the plate tonight with a single, 2 doubles, and had 2 RBI's.  For Beardstown, Chase Piehler he pitched a great game on the mound and also went 2-2 at the plate with 2 singles and 2 runs scored.  Macomb will move on to the Sectional in Salem this weekend.
6/27/11 In the opening game of the 11-12 year old Little League Tournament, at Beardstown, the Calhoun team defeated the host school 18-5 as they had 12 hits, 4 errors and left 13 runners on base.  The biggest problem of the evening for Beardstown was their difficulty finding the plate with their pitches.  They walked 13 batters and 11 of them crossed the plate and that is a little too much to overcome. Beardstown also only had 5 hits and 5 runs and will need some better run production Tuesday as they play in their elimination round game.  Young led Beardstown with 2 hits and 2 runs scored.  Schleeper and Scranton each had 2 hits for Calhoun as they were very aggressive, as a team, on the base paths.  Each team used 3 pitchers in the game.  Beardstown will face Pike Co. in the next round and Calhoun will square off with Rushville.

Rushville took an 11-5 win over Pike County as the compiled 5 hits and 3 errors while leaving 7 runners on base.  Curry and Hannah Etter had 2 hits each in the win and Hannah Etter is the winning pitcher.  Rushville used 3 pitchers in the game and they each did a commendable job.  Giving up 3 unearned runs of the 5 wasn't helpful and Rushville will need to play a little bit better defensive game Tuesday as Calhoun will try to run on them.  Pike County had some difficulty with walks last night as they gave up 8 with 1 hit batsman. Hively struck out 9 batters and Pike Co. committed 5 errors in the loss. Pike County could only muster 4 hits in the game also so, will need to hit the ball better against Beardstown in the second round if they want to stay alive for round three.  It will be interesting to watch them play Beardstown to see which teams can get their composure back and move on.   

5/28/11 The Virginia baseball field took a lot of work but, it was ready for the sectional title game on Saturday between the 12-10 Hartsburg-Emden Stags and the 23-10 Routt Rockets.  On paper it looked good for the Rockets but, there was something that you had to like if you were a Stag fan.  They had won their last 9 games in a row and 11 of their last 12, so they were playing good ball.  In the end, the rains came again and there was a 30 minute delay for lightening in the area however, the game came to a conclusion as the underdog Stags won 3-2.  Routt scored an earned run in the first and got a solo shot home run from Duke in the 5th but, it wasn't quite enough.  Hartsburg-Emden scored an unearned run in the first and 2 unearned runs in the 5th and Jason O'Brien made it stand up as he picked up his 4th win of the year.  The Stags only had 4 hits in the game but, it was enough.  Leonard, Wolpert, Bolen and Palulus had the hits. For Routt, Duke had 2 hits as Lonergan and Pratt had the other two.  Pratt had an RBI and Duke the other one.  Lonergan threw the entire game  as he walked 1 and struck out 5. The only down side of the game was the controversial slide at second base which could have been called runner interference as Johnson tried to complete a double play. The runner threw up his arms which interference but, only if the umpire calls it and that didn't happen.  As a result of the error, the Stags scored 2 runs which proved to be the winners.  In the end it was the 13 Rocket strike outs, the two errors and the fact they only put the ball in play 8 times that cost them the game.  You have to put the ball in play and  Routt couldn't make contact at the right time today.  In my opinion, they had a solid year as they picked up a few more wins than a lot of people expected.  Looking ahead the Rockets have a good young and should look forward to next year.      
5/26/11 Brown County and Routt Catholic baseball are very familiar with each other as they play in the WIVC North.  They had played earlier in the season as Routt won 13-3 and 4-3 (8 innings) but you knew this would be another hotly contested game.  Due to the wet conditions at Virginia, they played the game at Lenz Field in Jackson, an all purpose field, and the Hornets got off to a great start with a 5-1 lead.  They couldn't hold it however and Routt came back to win 14-5.  Duke went the distance for the win as the Rockets finished with 13 hits, 2 errors and they left 7 runners on base.  Lonergan and Morrision each had 3 hits in the game.  Duke and Sheehan had 2 hits each while Duke walked 5 and struck out 6 as he threw 116 pitches for the win.  Henricks had 2 hits in the loss and pitched 2 innings of relief.  Sheppard pitched 4 innings and suffered the loss.  Hartsburg-Emden defeated Lewistown 9-8 in the 2nd game so that set the match up for the Saturday Virginia Sectional title. 
5/21/11 Routt Catholic was favored as they headed into the title game of the Routt baseball regional against the 11-14 Payson-Seymour Indians.  The Rockets had a 7-0 lead as they  took the field in the 7th inning and won the game 7-3 after Bryce Terwelp hit a 3 run home run to close the gap. Terwelp had 2 of the Indians 4 hits and all 3 RBI's.  Alex Wiseman took the loss and Terwelp came in in relief.  For the Rockets, it was a very nice defensive game and timely hitting that won them the game.  Alex Johnson made an outstanding play at second base and Morrison made 2 running catches in center field.  Pratt also played well at first base and Ruyle had one of his best games of the year at shortstop.  He made several nice plays and hit a solo shot home run as well as an RBI double to round out the day.  Routt had 5 players with 2 hits and 1 with 1 as they pounded the ball today and hit the gaps.  Lonergan went the distance as he faced 27 batters and only allowed the 4 hits and 3 runs.  He walked 1, hit 1 and struck out 7 batters. It was an all around good day for Rocket baseball and it earned them the right to play Brown County in the first round of the Virginia Sectional on Wednesday afternoon at 4:15.  Brown County defeated West Prairie 7-6 as Ace Henricker hit a walk off home run.  These two team are out of the same conference and know each other well so, it should be a good game in a small ball park. 
5/18/11 Triopia and Routt had met twice earlier in the season but, tonight the stakes were a little higher as the regional title shot was on the line.  Routt had beaten Triopia in the earlier meetings but, one of them was a game that the Trojans let slip away.  The final today was a 7-1 Rocket win as Duke held Triopia to just 3 hits and 6 base runners over all. Meyer, Kleinschmidt and Love had the 3 hits in the game and Meyer scored the 1 unearned run. Parrish pitched a pretty good game but, he will be charged with the loss.  He faced 30 betters, gave up 7 runs (6 earned) with 3 walks and 4 strike outs. Duke went 7 innings and allowed the 3 hits and 1 run while walking only 2 and striking out 10.  Eight of the 9 Rocket starters had at least 1 hit tonight and Morrison led the way with 2.  Whalen and Gross each had 2 RBI's while Sheehan and Duke had 1.  Routt had 9 hits with 1 error and they left 4 runners on base.  They improved to 21-10 and will face either Griggsville-Perry or Payson on Saturday for the regional title.  Triopia will finish their season with 13 wins and 16 losses.   
5/17/11 On paper, the regional game between Virginia/AC and Niantic Sangamon Valley softball looked like a mismatch and that is what it turned out to be.  The Redbirds were 20-2 entering the game and the Storm were 3-11, with a young squad.  The final was a 13-0 win for Virginia/AC and they will play in the championship Saturday against either Tri-City or Springfield Calvary.  Sangamon Valley had 3 hits, 0 runs, 6 errors and they left 3 runners on base in the loss.  Their bright spot was the lead off hitter, Alycia Morlock who had 2 of the 3 hits.  On the other side, the Birds had 11 hits, 13 runs, 0 errors and they left 6 runners on base.   Jokisch  threw 68 pitches  while Courtney Thompson threw 108 pitches in the 5 inning game.  Stock was 3 for 4 while Allen and Jokisch each had 2 hits. It was a nice team win as 7 of the 9 starters had at least 1 hit  and all 9 reached base.  It will be a big title game for Virginia/AC as they will be home where they have not lost all season.
5/16/11 Routt Catholic was 4-15 and West Central 7-18 as they met in the first round of the White Hall North Greene Regional  Softball tournament.  When it was over, it was a 1-0 Rocket win as Nicholson and Ruppel did a solid job of pitching.  The Cougars had 4 hits, 2 errors and they left 4 runners on base. Howard led the offense with a single and a double. Nyki MCLaughlin and Roberts had the other two hits. Nicholson threw 8 innings  with 3 hits, 1 run, 5 walks and 7 strike outs. Routt got hits from Garde, Halpin and Casler had the three hits in the game as two of them came in the top of the 8th. Halpin singled, stole second and came on the RBI hit by Casler.  Routt left 7 runners on base as they missed some scoring opportunities.  Ruppel pitched 8 innings as she finished the shut out with 0 walks and 5 strike outs. With the win, the Rockets earned the right to play Griggsville-Perry tomorrow at North Greene. 
5/12/11 It was Senior night at Rushville-Industry for baseball and they came through with an upset win over Routt Catholic behind Keaton Dyche who threw a complete game.  The final score was 7-6 as Rushville got out to a 5-2 start in the first inning and hung on.  Why that was such a big deal is that this team has had big leads early in several games this year and have not hung on for the win. Harris had a grand slam in the first inning and it was followed by a solo shot by Brough, and some pretty good defense got the job done. Dyche not only won the game from the mound but was 3-4 from the plate. Canter played a good game also as he was 2-3 and on 4 times out of four plate appearances.  He also scored 3 runs and caught a good game.  Rushville had 9 hits, 7 runs (6 earned) with 1 error and 9 runners left on base.  Brent Long started the game for Routt and only last 1 inning.  He faced 9 batters and allowed 4 hits, 5 runs while walking one, striking out no one and giving up 2 home runs.  Duke came in for 5 innings and did a nice job as he gave up 1 earned run and 1 unearned run. He walked 2 and struck out 9, so it was a nice outing in spite of the loss, which was credited to Long. Lonergan, Ruyle and Pratt each had 2 hits in the game  as Lonergan had 2 RBI's, Ruyle 2 runs scored and an RBI and Pratt had a home run.  Routt had 9 hits, 6 runs, 3 errors and they left 5 runners on base, including the potential 7th run of the game in the 7th inning.  Routt will take a 20-9 record into their game with Jacksonville tomorrow night and will open their post season play next Tuesday when they face either Triopia or Virgnia/AC at home.  
5/11/11 Routt Catholic picked up their 20th win of the season this afternoon as they knocked off Alton Marquette 7-4 behind the pitching of Nick Lonergan.  The Explorers came into the game with 14 wins and 15 losses ands sent Tyler Moore to the hill.  He pitched 5 1/3 innings and was charged with 9 hits and 7 runs as he walked 3 and struck out 2.  He also hit a batter and had 2 wild pitches.  Schranch had 2 of the 8 hits the Explorers amassed in the loss. As a team, they committed 5 errors and left 3 runners on base.  Routt had 4 errors of their own and left 6 runners on base in the win.  Lonergan pitched 5 1/3 innings as he walked 1 and struck out 3.  He allowed 6 hits, 1 earned run and 2 unearned runs and faced 26 batters.  Whalen threw 2/3 of an inning and gave up 2 hits, 1 run, had a wild pitch and hit a batter.  Elliott led the Rocket hitters with a 3 for 3 day, a run scored and an RBI. Seven of the nine starters had at least one hit in the win. Sheehan scored twice and drove in 1 run and Ruyle had 2 RBI's as the Rockets played an up and down game but came out with the win.  They will take on Rushville-Industry tomorrow afternoon and Jacksonville on Friday as they end their regular season.  
5/10/11 Beardstown and Midwest Central are the #1 and #2 seeds at the softball regional at Macomb.  If the seeds hold up,  they will face each other on the 21st in the championship game. That is why tonight's game at Manito was so interesting. It wasn't a must win for either team but it was sort of a preliminary to what could be the title game.  Kuhlman was still nursing a sore pitching hand so she played in right field for the Tigers.  It was senior night so the Raiders did not start their regular team and it was a battle of gamesmanship as neither team was going to show all of their cards. Midwest Central scored 1 in the first, 3 in the second and 2 in the third and made it stand up for their 6-2 win. Goetze struck out 10 batters while only walking 2 and giving up 4 hits. She will be the pitcher in the next round if it happens.  Hanson was 3 for 4 in the game with 1 run scored and 4 RBI's. She also made an error but countered that with several strong plays from third base.  The Raiders had 8 different players with at least 1 hit in their 11 hit attack.  Harris led the Tiger attack with 2 hits out of their 4 as they made 1 error and went with Fox on the mound.  The difference in the game was the Tiger's inability to get the big hit with runners in scoring position.  With that all said, we have the makings for the possibilities of a great re-match and, if so, it will be a good game to see.  Beardstown is 14-10 and Midwest Central 13-7 and they know each other well.     
5/9/11 The Virginia/AC and Havana baseball teams were in need of a win today and it made for an interesting game. The final score was 13-9 as the Ducks had a big, 6 run, 5th inning. The Redbirds had 15 hits, 9 runs and left 7 runners on base.  They also committed 4 errors in the loss and fell to 8 and 15 on the season.  Leinberger and Hoffman each had 3 hits in the game while Birdsell, Young and McDevitt added 2 each. McDevitt had 2 run home in the first inning as he scored 3 times and had 3 RBI's.  Leinberger came in to relieve Mahoney and took the loss.  Himmel pitched 4 innings for Havana but, Flinn recorded the win with 3 innings of relief work. Bonnett, Flinn, Murphy, Fornoff and Himmel all had 2 hits as the Ducks got some timely hitting to pick up their 5th win of the year against 15 losses.  Flinn had a 3 run home run in the first to offset the Redbird lead. Havana had 14 hits, 13 runs, 1 error and they left 5 runners on base in the win.  It was a wind blown game that challenged the fielders and it may be the last regular season game for Virginia/AC.  
5/7/11 It wasn't a pretty game this morning but, it was a pretty entertaining game as Brown County took the early lead, then had to come back for the lead and hang on at the end to defeat Rushville-Industry 11-10.  Rushville fell back 2-0, 4-2, 8-4 before taking the lead at 9-8 and holding it for 3 innings.  They really were their own worst enemy today as they were hesitant in some of their plays, had too many past balls, simply couldn't hang on to the ball on a couple of occasions and left 11 runners on base.  On the other hand,  the Hornets got several timely hits today and took advantage of the Rockets as they scored 11 runs and only left 5 runners on base. Kerley posted the win and Swanger took the loss as she had some trouble with her control  as she walked two, who both scored, and hit a batter who also scored.  She has been a much better pitcher than we saw today and, since she is only a sophomore, we will see many more good games for her in her high school career. Kerley, Cooper, McKinnon, Leerhoff and Moorman all had 2 hits today as 7 of 10 Hornets had at least 1 hit.  Emerick did a very nice job at shortstop for Rushville and had 2 hits today. Salrin, Reische, Shaw and Higgins also had 2 hits each for the Rockets as they showed some determination by not giving up when they fell behind 8-2. Swanger only had 1 hit today but it was a 2 run home run.  This is an extremely young Rocket team with 7 of their starters being freshmen and sophomores and the other two are juniors.  Rushville-Industry is 5-16 and will play in the MNacomb regional while, Brown County is 6-14 and will be at the Payson regional.  
5/6/11 Anytime you can post a win over a 2-A team, it is a good night and the Routt Rockets did that with their 10-8 win over the Williamsville Bullets.  They scored 1 run in the 3rd and 9 runs in the 4th, then held off Williamsville in the 7th.  The Bullets fell to 15-8 on the year as Arnberger took the loss and is 0-2 on the season.  Jeffers, Roscetti, Kamrath and Meyer all had 2 hits in the loss as Williamsville finished with 10 hits, 8 runs, 0 errors and 4 runners left on base.  They were fresh off of a win over a tough Pleasant Plains team, to this was a little disappointing for them. Routt had 4 home runs today as they had 7 hits, 10 runs, 3 errors and left 2 on base. Duke, Sheehan, Elliott and Gross (grand slam) hit the long ball. Sheehan led the hitting with a home run and a double with his 3 times at the plate. Brent Long started strong and then got a little wild, walked a couple of batters, had his teammates make a couple of errors and he was down 4-1 in the game before the big 4th inning for the Rockets. He threw 83 pitches, allowed 7 hits, 7 runs (5 earned) while he walked 3 and struck out 2.  Pratt came in to finish the game with 2 2/3 inning of work as he gave up just 1 run.  Routt has 4 games next week and will head into the play offs on the 18th.  They are 18-8 after tonight's win.   
5/4/11 Beardstown and Virginia/AC softball is always a lot of fun as it is more of a "bragging rights" game than anything else as as they like to play each other.  Tonight was not different and it was very competitive as the Redbirds won it 6-3. The Tigers did not get the hits at the right time as they had some opportunity to score a few more runs and came up a little short.  Some of it was due to the solid defense by Virginia/Ac as Allen cut down a runner from center field and Jokisch made a nice stop from the pitchers mound and cut down Fox as she tried to score from third.  When it was all done, it was a nice night of softball.  Cooper hit a home run for Beardstown and Feigl hit her first home of the year, so there was a lot of excitement to go around.  Jokisch was the winning pitchers as she walked 2 and struck out 4.  Kuhlmann did well as she walked 3 and struck out 5 in spite of pitching with a sore right hand and getting stung on the index finger by a bee in the 6th inning.  Along with her great defensive play, Allen led the "Birds" with 2 hits and she also got on by way of an error.  It's only my opinion but, she may very well be the best center fielder in the area and proves it game after game. The only down side of the game was the 4 Redbird errors and the 2 Tiger errors along with the combined 16 runners left on base.  Somehow that seemed to add to the suspense of the game.  
5/3/11 Carrollton had won the WIVC South and Routt Catholic the WIVC North in baseball.  They squared off today as Routt brought a 17-7 record to the game and the Hawks were 19-0-1 so, you felt it would be a good game.  It did not disappoint as Carrollton took a 3-0 lead and hung on for the the 3-2 win.  They scored in the first with a solo home run by Weber and scored twice in the 3rd as they used 3 bloop singles and a Rocket error to push across 1 earned run and 1 unearned run.  The Hawks finished the game with