MSJHS girls’ basketball wins IESA Regional Championship
By FRED KRONER
Four days after reaching the 20-win mark for the season, Mahomet-Seymour’s seventh-grade girls’ basketball team captured an IESA Class 4A regional championship on Wednesday (Nov. 15) and moved to within one win of qualifying for state.
The Bulldogs played the same opponent they faced in their season-opener on Sept. 12, when they lost to Champaign Franklin by one point.
In the rematch, in a tournament hosted by Champaign Jefferson, top-seeded M-S pulled out a 27-26 victory over second-seeded Franklin after recovering from a three-point deficit in the final minute.
Cambria Clark led M-S with 13 points. Kennedy Lee notched 12 points and Phoebe Graham added the other two points.
The Bulldogs trailed, 9-8, after one quarter, but had pulled into a 14-11 lead at halftime. Entering the final quarter, M-S found itself on the short end of a 23-21 score.
The Bulldogs were still behind, 26-23 as the final 60 seconds approached.
The comeback commenced when Clark hit two free throws, trimming the M-S deficit to 26-25.
A defensive stop gave the Bulldogs a chance to complete their rally in the waning seconds.
An offensive rebound by Lee, led to M-S taking the ball out of bounds under their own basket.
Kara Benway found Clark on the inbounds pass for a wide-open layup that created the final score.
M-S coach Jimmy Lanphear called the regional title contest, “an intense game that was back-and-forth all the way to the final buzzer.”
M-S (21-5) returns to action in the sectional at Kankakee Junior High against Crete-Monee on Wednesday (Nov. 29). The winner advances to the eight-team state tournament.
Crete-Monee won its regional title game, 31-26, over Kankakee.
M-S has a five-game winning streak. The regional crown was the fifth all-time for a seventh-grade girls’ basketball team from the school. The 2023 club joined a list that includes regional championship teams in 2018, 2011, 2000 and 1989. Additionally, the 1984 M-S team earned a regional title before there was a separation for seventh- and eighth-grade athletes.
The top-seeded Bulldogs earned a title shot by virtue of a 39-26 victory over fifth-seeded Danville North Ridge in a semifinal game of the Champaign Jefferson IESA Class 4A regional tournament on Saturday (Nov. 11).
Lee collected a team-high 12 points for M-S. Clark, who downed 5 of 6 free throw attempts, followed with 11 points and Emma Baker added eight points.
Also contributing to the scoring column were Olivia Banister (four points), Graham (two points) and Kynadi O’Malley (two points).
The M-S seventh-grade roster includes Emma Baker, Olivia Banister, Kara Benway, Amelia Blackman, Cambria Clark, Phoebe Graham, Layla Koroyanis, Kennedy Lee, Layla Nagle, Kynadi O’Malley, Marlee Roberts, Nora Robinson, Kendal Schonauer, Bailey Tarter and Clara Ummel.
The seventh-grade head coach is Maggie Franklin.
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The M-S eighth-graders (16-8) open IESA regional play at home on Saturday (Nov. 18) at 1:15 p.m. against either fourth-seeded Champaign Edison or fifth-seeded Danville North Ridge.
The top-seeded Bulldogs defeated both of their possible opponents during the regular season.
The eighth-grade head coach is Jimmy Lanphear.
