Kankakee 7th grade boys take 4th at state

As the IHSA boys basketball season transitions into the start of postseason play next week, some of the area’s future high school hoops stars have competed at the Illinois Elementary School Association state level.

At the seventh grade level, Kankakee saw its season end with a 19-2 record and fourth-place finish in IESA Class 7-4A with a 44-37 loss to Matteson Colin Powell in the third-place game at East Peoria Central Junior High Saturday.

Mashawri Boyd had 16 points and Kaiden McElroy added 15 to give the dynamic duo 31 of the team’s 37 points. The Kays entered the state tournament with an unblemished 18-0 record.

Three local teams tipped off at state at the eighth grade level over the weekend, including another local team that got to state with a perfect record.

Bradley Central saw its perfect season end with a 55-35 loss in the Class 8-3A state quarterfinals to East St. Louis Lincoln at Tolono Unity High School. DaJuan Brown totaled 11 points to lead the Knights. Kayden Douglas added eight points for a BC team that finished the year 26-1.

In Class 8-2A, Milford’s season ended at 20-4 overall with a 43-15 loss to Green Valley Midwest Central in the quarterfinals at Bishop McNamara. Sam Mann, Maddox Muehling and Coby Brown had four points apiece for the Bats.

St. Anne (19-8) also had its season end in the quarterfinal round, falling in a 45-43 heartbreaker to Cambridge in the Class 8-1A quarters at Warrensburg-Latham Middle School. Raleigh Hays scored a game-high 22 points to pace the Giants to account for just over half the team’s total scoring.