High School Sports

Marshall has been officiating high school basketball games since 1974, and the officials locker room at Coal City High School now bares his name.

Nikki Kerstein scored a game-high 21 points, including five in the final 1:17, as banged-up Montini outlasted St. Ignatius 50-44 in the Class 3A state championship game on Saturday evening at CEFCU Arena in Normal. 

Bradley-Bourbonnais senior Charlie Short wrapped his first and only season on the swim team by competing in four events at state in the Athletes With Disabilities division, earning a bronze medal.

All five Montini seniors played all 32 minutes of Thursday’s late night Class 3A state semifinal game.  Their reward? They will be playing for a state championship.

Bishop McNamara opened the game with an 18-2 lead, but Bismarck-Henning never gave up, coming back in the fourth quarter to win the Class 2A Peotone Sectional and put an end to the winningest season in McNamara history.

Lemont’s playoff run came to an end Friday in the Class 3A Brother Rice Sectional championship game with a 53-41 loss to the host Crusaders on Friday.

St. Patrick senior Anthony Favia put Fenwick in an early hole, scoring 15 of his game-high 25 points in the first quarter, and the Friars couldn't complete the comeback in a 54-44 defeat on Friday in the Class 3A Little Village Sectional championship.

Freddy Hassan had 21 points and 20 rebounds, and Kaneland's boys basketball team beat Crystal Lake South 49-37 in the Class 3A Rochelle Sectional final Friday night.

A game after not playing at all, sophomore Edvardas Stasys came off the bench to help anchor Benet's sterling defensive effort as the Redwings beat Downers Grove North 44-32 in Friday's sectional final.

After only managing one point in the second quarter, Glenbard West, led by senior Teyion Oriental, flipped the script in the second half to take a 50-33 victory over Geneva for the Hilltoppers' first sectional title since their state title run in 2022.

Eastland slowed the game down against No. 1 Pecatonica and held on for a big 36-31 road win to earn its first sectional title since 2013. 'Our game plan was necessary to win.'

Aurora Christian twice had to come back from double digits against Hinckley-Big Rock on Friday in the Class 1A Somonauk Sectional final, holding on for a 57-54 victory despite 23 points and 19 rebounds from Martin Ledbetter.

Montini’s bid for its first sectional championship fell short Friday night with a 44-28 loss to Christ the King in the Class 2A Christ the King Sectional championship in Chicago.

Originally ruled ineligible to play Friday night's Rochelle sectional title game, the IHSA board upheld an appeal allowing Kaneland to play tonight despite using an ineligible player of the last seven games.

Players from Huntley, Cary-Grove, Crystal Lake South, Marian Central and Johnsburg were named to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's All-State Girls Basketball Team, released Friday afternoon. Huntley's Anna Campanelli earned Class 4A first-team honors.

Fulton junior basketball player Landen Leu, who was a key contributor after missing the first month of the season due to a broken ankle, is the Sauk Valley Athlete of the Week in an online vote. 'Landen came back and immediately changed the dynamic of our team.'

The Cissna Park girls basketball team beat St. Edward 50-44 in the third-place game of the IHSA Class 1A State Finals on Friday in Normal, just a few short months after placing third in volleyball.

Mason Schweizer previews Friday's Class 2A Peotone Sectional championship between Bishop McNamara and Bismarck-Henning

After winning a thriller in the closing seconds over Marian Catholic on Wednesday, Lemont will now take on the top seeded Crusaders on their home court.

Carrollton's red-hot start put Cissna Park in too deep a hole to climb out of in Thursday's IHSA Class 1A State semifinals.

Huntley's Class 4A supersectional loss to defending state champion Loyola Academy doesn't take away from one of the greatest seasons in McHenry County history. Plus notes on Cary-Grove's overtime battle with Grayslake Central in the final girls basketball notes of the season.

Montini senior guard and Missouri recruit Nikki Kerstein is set to finish her senior year on the same center basketball stage as she did her sophomore and junior seasons. This time, she hopes, with a different result.

Gabriel Sularski's three-point play with 3.9 seconds left capped a 28-point night and sent Lemont past Marian Catholic 56-54 in a thriller of a Class 3A Brother Rice Sectional semifinal.

Montini's boys basketball team won a sectional game for only the second time in program history, beating Chicago Clark 52-46 in a Class 2A Christ the King Sectional semifinal on Wednesday in Chicago.

The Kaneland offense surged in the second half to knock off Rockford Boylan and reach the Class 3A Rochelle Sectional championship game.

SIU recruit Daniel Pauliukonis scored a season-high 23 points and hit five of Benet's eight 3-pointers, and the Redwings shot 69% for the game in beating Waubonsie Valley 63-45 in front of a sellout crowd at the Class 4A Benet Sectional semifinal.

Martin Ledbetter scored 32 points after being held to two in the first quarter, and Hinckley-Big Rock erased a 10-point deficit in a 72-52 win over Ida Crown on Wednesday in a Class 1A Somonauk Sectional semifinal.

Geneva senior Hudson Kirby proved to be a thorn in Wheaton Warrenville South's side once again, as he put up 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Vikings to a 59-43 win in a Class 4A St. Charles East Sectional semifinal Wednesday night.

In a physical matchup with Dakota, Eastland won the turnover battle and hit its shots to pull away in the second half en route to a 55-39 win in a Class 1A Pecatonica Sectional semifinal. The Cougars advance to face Pecatonica for a third time this season on Friday.

Congratulations to The Times Athlete of the Week, Ottawa girls basketball’s Marlie Orlandi!

Down 18-8 early on, Karter Krutsinger tallied 20 first-half points to propel Bishop McNamara past Joliet Catholic Academy and into Friday's sectional championship.

Downers Grove North slowed the game down and stunned Bolingbrook with a 29-26 victory in a Class 4A Benet Sectional semifinal Tuesday.

Kankakee saw a 12-point lead disappear in the fourth quarter in an eventual 65-63 loss to Metamora in the IHSA Class 3A Washington Sectional semifinals.

Carson Trivellini scored 21 points, AJ Demirov had seven points and 12 assists and Crystal Lake South's boys basketball team won its 30th game of the season, beating Sycamore 66-37 in a semifinal of the Class 3A Rochelle Sectional on Tuesday night.

DeKalb senior Marquise Bolden went to the bench with four fouls in the third quarter, which helped Warren go on a run that led to a 61-49 win over the Barbs in a Class 4A Waukegan Sectional semifinal Tuesday.

Sycamore managed eight total points between the second and third quarters in a season-ending 66-37 loss to Crystal Lake South in a Class 3A Rochelle Sectional semifinal.

Ryken Howard beat the buzzer to send Rock Falls to Friday's Class 2A Marengo Sectional final as the Rockets gutted out another pressure-packed victory. It was the second straight game RF beat the buzzer to win.

TJ Williams scored a career-high 32 points and added seven steals, and top-seeded Glenbard West pulled away from Glenbard East for a 65-47 win in Tuesday's Class 4A St. Charles East Sectional semifinal.

Sterling's Kaedon Phillips and Nico Battaglia both earned spots on the All-Western Big 6 Conference basketball team. Phillips also eclipsed 1,000 career points in his final game.

Longtime Milford boys basketball coach Dave Caldwell enters retirement after leading the Bearcats to 448 wins in two successful stints as head coach.

Bishop McNamara cut an early 18-point deficit to as close as six by the beginning of the fourth quarter, but the Golden Aces pulled away late in Monday's Class 2A Tolono Unity Super-Sectional.

Glenbard West's memorable playoff run that included the program's first sectional title since 1999 ended on Monday, as Fremd beat the Hilltoppers 67-47 in the Class 4A Hersey Supersectional to advance to state for the eighth time in program history.

The Cissna Park girls basketball punched its ticket to state with a 47-35 win in super sectionals on Monday in Farmer City, returning to Normal just a few months after making a state run in volleyball.

Montini recovered and never wavered after Grayslake Central had surged from 18 points down to take the lead, and the Lady Broncos made nine free throws – seven from Nikki Kerstein – to survive Monday's supersectional 51-45 to return to state.

Huntley's historic and undefeated season came to an end Monday night with a 57-33 loss to defending state champion Loyola Academy in a Class 4A Warren Supersectional. The Red Raiders finished with a school-record 35 wins.

Bolingbrook has advanced to seven straight sectional tournaments, but is still seeking its first ever state championship.

Crystal Lake South's boys basketball team plays Sycamore in a semifinal of the Class 3A Rochelle Sectional on Tuesday night. A win will give the Gators their second 30-win season in a row after they won a school-record 31 times last season.

Four of the seven schools in the Daily Chronicle coverage area reached sectionals. Here’s a look at one player for each team who isn’t the most high-profile player on the team but can still have a big impact.

Mason Schweizer previews the area's two super-sectional girls basketball games Monday night, as Bishop McNamara and Cissna Park both eye trips to state.

Hinsdale South junior Callie Carr capped off a 39-0 season Saturday with her first state championship, while Montini senior Kat Bell and Glenbard East junior Nadiia Shymkiv took second in their respective brackets.