Wrestling, boys’ basketball remain unbeaten in Apollo Conference, girls’ basketball defeats Champaign Central

By FRED KRONER

fred@mahometnews.com

Mahomet-Seymour’s basketball and wrestling teams all finished the week on a winning note.

Both the wrestling and boys’ basketball squads have remained unbeaten in Apollo Conference action.

Wrestling

The Bulldogs won four matches in two days, including Senior Night wins over Mount Zion (42-33) and Lincoln (39-20) to improve to 19-2 overall and 4-0 against Apollo teams.

Those victories on Friday followed victories over Pontiac (42-33) and Champaign Central (54-15) on Thursday.

Four M-S wrestlers went 4-0 in the late-week matches: senior David Spencer (138 pounds), junior Wyatt Heimann (182), senior Ben Stahl (220) and senior David Griffet (285). All four posted pins in three of their matches.

Each of Spencer’s pins were registered in the first period.

Finishing 3-1 were freshman Gage Granadino (145)and junior Kyle Johnson (160). All of Granadino’s wins were by pin. Johnson had a technical fall triumph along with narrow 3-2 and 6-4 decisions.

In all, 10 squad members posted at least one pin to end the week.

The fastest falls were by sophomore Boden Freeman (132) in 19 seconds, freshman Payton Ragona (106) in 33 seconds, Griffet in 37 seconds and Spencer in 48 seconds. Other teammates with pins were freshman Skyler Yancy (152), senior Lucas Morgan (160) and senior Jack Vaughn (182).

M-S will conclude its regular season on Thursday with conference matches at Taylorville against both the Tornadoes and Effingham.

Girls’ basketball

Balance was the key for the Bulldogs in a 59-41 triumph over visiting Champaign Central on Saturday.

All five starters scored between seven and 11 points and grabbed between three and six rebounds.

“Overall, it was a good team victory,” head coach Nathan Seal said. “There wasn’t one kid who stood out.”

M-S (12-7) led by 11 points at halftime and the lead never dipped below 10 points during the final two quarters.

A back-and-forth first quarter ended with sophomore Alexa Franklin scoring a basket less than a second before the buzzer sounded, lifting the Bulldogs into the lead for good, 15-14.

Franklin was one of six non-starters who scored points against the Maroons (9-13).

“We have a lot of depth and we trust the kids,” Seal said. “There are a lot who could start for other teams and it makes our practices competitive.”

Junior Kailyn Northrup led the team with 11 points. She hit 5-of-5 second-half free throws and led the Bulldogs with four steals.

Another junior, Amanda Franklin, added 10 points and made all four of her free throws after the first quarter.

Senior Jessica Franklin scored eight points and had a team-high four assists.

Seniors Cassidi Collins and Erin Lenschow each notched seven points. Lenschow hit the Bulldogs’ lone three-pointer.

Junior Keida Nichols came off the bench to haul down a team-best six rebounds.

“After the first quarter, we did a good job forcing them into shots,” Seal said. “Offensively, we moved the ball well and made the extra pass.”

The Bulldogs face a three-game week starting with a Monday game at Mattoon and concluding with consecutive home games on Thursday (vs. Normal West) and Friday (against Lincoln).

The Friday contests are in conjunction with boys’ games and are part of the annual Coaches vs. Cancer event.

The girls’ varsity game will start at 6 p.m. in the main gym with the boys to follow against Lincoln at approximately 7:30. The junior varsity games that night will be played in the fieldhouse, beginning with the boys at 6 p.m.

Boys’ basketball

The Bulldogs (15-5) trailed at halftime, 27-20, but put up 39 second-half points to force overtime against Morton in a Central Illinois Mid-Winter Classic road game.

The Bulldogs prevailed 67-62 thanks to an 8-3 edge in overtime.

M-S had the game’s top two scorers. Cory Noe bagged 27 points and Noah Benedict added 22.

Benedict was an efficient 3-for-3 from three-point range and 7-for-7 from the free throw line.

Noe pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds. Benedict had seven rebounds.

Other major contributors were Brooks Coetzee with seven points and Holt Campion with six points. Campion and Dawson Finch each ended with three assists.

M-S plays host to Champaign Central (10-7) on Tuesday in a non-conference contest. The  Bulldogs are 7-0 in Apollo Conference games.