M-SJHS seventh-grade girls to play for Sectional Championship, Eighth-grade out of IESA 4A tournament

By Fred Kroner

The basketball season for the Mahomet-Seymour Junior High eighth-grade girls’ basketball team came to an end on Tuesday (Nov. 29) with a 31-29 loss at home to Champaign Edison in an IESA Class 4A regional semifinal game.

The contest marked a rematch of the seventh-grade regional championship game from 2021.

The Bulldogs trailed, 31-27, with less than two seconds remaining. Kenna Collins cut the gap in half by sinking two free throws.

M-S forced a turnover with 0.4 seconds left. Courtney Fonte banked in a desperation three-pointer, but it was ruled that time had expired by the time she released the ball.

M-S and Edison were tied at halftime, 12-12.In the regular season, the Bulldogs had defeated Edison, 32-17.

Breckyn Hess led the Bulldogs with a season-high 11 points. Aubrey Meints chipped in with five points.

On Monday (Nov. 28), Hannah Martin tallied a team-high nine points as the M-S eighth-graders dispatched Rantoul Eater, 40-12, in a quarterfinal game of the regional.

Martin was supported by Collins with six points and Olivia Cox with five points.

M-S was the No. 2 regional seed. Eater was the No. 7 seed. Edison was the No. 3 seed.

M-S ends the season with a 19-7 season record. For their two-year junior high career, the group was 41-11.

For the year, Fonte led or shared the team lead in scoring in 13 games. Martin led or shared the lead in 10 games and Hess was the leader in four.

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The M-S seventh-graders (18-8) play at home on Wednesday (Nov. 30) in the IESA Class 4A sectional championship game against Mount Zion (23-3). Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m. The winner qualifies for the state tournament.