By FRED KRONER
Fifteen days into February, a Feel-Good Story of the Year surfaced at Danville High School.
Mahomet-Seymour’s girls’ basketball team made a case for themselves by virtue of their 53-40 victory over Decatur MacArthur on Thursday (Feb. 15) in the championship game of the Danville Class 3A Regional Tournament.
Not only did the 2023-24 team become the first in the history of girls’ basketball in the district to capture three consecutive regional titles, but they also salvaged IHSA hardware in a season that produced two coaching changes within a 28-day span.
Despite the adversity, after M-S principal Chad Benedict took over on an interim basis, the turnaround capped a positive end to the season.
Kylie Waldinger (15 points), Selah Campion (season-high 13 points) and Reese Gallier (13 points) supplied the offensive heroics against MacArthur. All three hit a shot from three-point range.
Adaline Eisenmann tallied eight points, Hannah Creel scored three points and Grace Binkley added one point.
M-S led, 11-8, after one quarter, but moved into a 31-15 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs maintained the lead by sinking 12 of 17 free throws.
The 12-player varsity roster for the record-setting third straight regional championship team was Grace Binkley, Selah Campion, Hannah Creel, Adaline Eisenmann, Courtney Fonte, Kelsie Fuoss, Reese Gallier, Addie Lagacy, Hannah Martin, Anna Streicher, Kylie Waldinger and Sidney Young.
M-S (14-19) is 3-1 in games Benedict has coached. The Bulldogs will return to action on Tuesday (Feb. 20) in the 6 p.m. semifinal game of the Decatur MacArthur Sectional against top-seeded Quincy Notre Dame. M-S is the No. 3 seed.
