By Fred Kroner
A 12-day layoff didn’t hamper the Mahomet-Seymour eighth-grade girls’ basketball team on Tuesday (Nov. 30) when it opened postseason play with an IESA Class 4A regional semifinal game at home.
The Bulldogs vaulted into leads of 18-4 after one quarter and 31-6 at halftime en route to a 45-19 triumph over fifth-seeded Champaign Franklin.
The win was the 19th in a row for top-seeded M-S (22-1), which will return to the court on Thursday (Dec. 2) against third-seeded Urbana in the regional finals at M-S at 4:30 p.m. The Bulldogs topped Urbana by 27 points in a regular-season meeting.
Urbana earned its berth in the finals with a 26-25 upset over second-seeded Champaign Jefferson.
For the Bulldogs, Lily Bosworth nailed a season-high 15 points against Franklin, including a buzzer-beating shot from behind the backboard. Ava Yeakel chipped in with 11 points.
The M-S seventh-grade girls’ team is one win away from a state berth and will try to secure its spot on Wednesday (Dec. 1) at Taylorville at 6:30 p.m. against the host team. Taylorville has a 22-2 season record.
The M-S seventh-graders have a 22-3 season record.
