Sports

Bradley-Bourbonnais senior Nick Allen and Kankakee junior Lincoln Williams are the 2024-25 Daily Journal Boys Basketball Players of the Year.

The Daily Journal 2024-25 All-Area boys basketball team.

Bradley-Bourbonnais softball rallied from its first loss of the season to salvage a doubleheader split with Huntley and more in Friday's Daily Journal roundup.

Beecher's Taylor Norkus struck out 13 Reed-Custer batters and allowed just three hits in the Bobcats' 10-1 win Friday.

The Momence baseball team earned a comeback win over Peotone at home on Friday while Peotone picked up a win over Momence on the softball field.

Rich Zinanni, Fred LeSage, Irish O'Reilly, Jack Sikma, Ben Zobrist and Michelle Bartsch-Hackley are the six people with local ties that will be inducted into the new Illinois Sports Hall of Fame in June.

After Jocelyn Sanchez gave the Kays an early 2-0 lead, Nia Lawrence assisted Aaliyah Lanum for the equalizer before her second goal of the game gave Bradley-Bourbonnais a thrilling comeback win Thursday.

Beecher picked up a pair of shutout wins over Gardner-South Wilmington on Thursday to open the season 2-0, and more in Thursday's Daily Journal roundup.

The Boilermakers improved to 4-0 on the young season behind Lydia Hammond's 14-strikeout effort and more in Wednesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Wilmington beat Central 22-5 at home on Wednesday, scoring 11 runs in the fourth inning to improve to 4-1 on the season.

The Wilmington softball team beat Central 22-5 at home on Wednesday, scoring 11 runs in the fourth inning to improve to 4-1 on the season.

Owen Freeman, the 2022 Daily Journal Boys Basketball Player of the Year, transferred from Iowa to Creighton Wednesday, as first reported by On3 Sports.

Wilmington looked to have earned a win in Wednesday's pitcher's duel with Lincoln-Way East before a late Griffins rally.

Bishop McNamara's Trinity Davis and Cissna Park's Addison Lucht were recognized as All-State girls basketball players by the Illinois Media.

The Bradley-Bourbonnais baseball team won 17-4 in Alabama to improve to 2-1 on the season and more in Tuesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Against an up-and-coming Kankakee team, Ava Peterson got plenty of run support from an experienced Manteno lineup to help the Panthers to an 11-1 victory Tuesday.

Taking a look at boys tennis teams around The-Herald News area for the 2025 season, with top returners, newcomers and more.

New Kankakee head baseball coach Nick Crowe begins his first season as a varsity head coach prepared to face challenges that come with his new role, with an experienced staff to help him along the way.

Bishop McNamara's Callaghan O'Connor struck out every batter he faced and more in Monday's Daily Journal roundup.

The Bishop McNamara softball team beat Peotone 6-2 on the road Monday for their first win of the season.

The Boilermakers scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back in Monday's nonconference tilt with Herscher.

A handful of schools competed at Reed-Custer's Comet Classic over the weekend, with Bishop McNamara leading the local boys and the host Comets leading the local girls.

The Fightin' Irish came up a run short, Herscher won in walk-off fashion and more in Saturday's Daily Journal roundup.

Just minutes after Jocelyn Sanchez's equalizer, Kankakee freshman Jasmine Torres' last-minute goal gave the Kays a dramatic 2-1 win at Bishop McNamara, their first-ever win over the Irish.

Bishop McNamara senior Trinity Davis is this year's Daily Journal Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

The Daily Journal 2024-25 All-Area girls basketball team.

The Bradley-Bourbonnais boys track and field team competed in the SouthWest Suburban Conference Boys Indoor Meet, placing ninth as a team, and more in Friday's Daily Journal Roundup.

Herscher's baseball and softball teams visited Kankakee on Friday and swept the Kays with a pair of big wins.

Former Kankakee football player Marques Easley, now a freshman at Georgia, was suspended indefinitely by the team Thursday following a vehicle crash

The Kankakee girls soccer team beat Reed-Custer 2-0 to win its season opener and more in Thursday's Daily Journal roundup.

The Bradley-Bourbonnais boys water polo team dropped a home contest against Andrew on Thursday, struggling defensively after a key player fouled out early on.

The Kankakee Community College baseball team opened the season by winning 15 of its first 18 games, with several former area high school baseball standouts among the team's contributors.

The Kankakee baseball team lost its season opener on Tuesday as St. Anne-Donovan's Carter Ponton flirted with a no-hitter, and more in Tuesday's Daily Journal Roundup.

No. 9 hitter Lorenzo Zdanwic was 2 for 2 with a home run and three RBIs in Morris' 12-1 win over Bradley-Bourbonnais

The Bradley-Bourbonnais softball team beat Marian Catholic 12-0 Tuesday in the season opener, getting five shutout innings from Lydia Hammond.

After several teams easily captured state titles after utilizing a multiplier waiver that allowed them to compete at lower classifications, the IHSA announced changes to both its multiplier waiver and success formula equations for the 2025-2026 athletic seasons.

Jacob Onnen had the go-ahead RBI single and earned the win on the mound and more in Monday's Daily Journal Roundup.

Bishop McNamara's Dom Panozzo and Callaghan O'Connor combined for 14 strikeouts and a shutout effort in a 3-0 opening day over a talented Wilmington team Monday.

Bishop McNamara had a historic basketball season, as both the boys and girls teams both made at least the round of 16 in the same year for the first time ever.

Owen Freeman, a former BBCHS standout and the 2022 Daily Journal Boys Basketball Player of the Year, announced his intention to transfer from the University of Iowa Saturday.

The Bradley-Bourbonnais Special Olympics Unified basketball team won its second state championship in the past three years Saturday.

Highlighted by Lincoln Williams' first-team selection in Class 3A, Nick Allen's second-team selection in Class 4A and Jacob Reardon's third-team selection in Class 2A, eight local players earned IBCA All-State recognition.

After capping off her sophomore season with a state silver medal, Central-Iroquois West's Payton Temple is this year's Daily Journal Girls Wrestler of the Year.

Coal City junior Brody Widlowski and sophomore Cooper Morris have been named the Daily Journal's 2025 Boys Wrestlers of the Year after both placed second at individual state and helped the Coalers win gold in the Dual Team State Finals.

The 2024-25 Daily Journal All-Area wrestling team.

Manteno High School senior Ava Peterson, a three-sport standout, was selected to the IHSA All-State Academic team last week.

Coal City's Dominic Zuccarello and Max Christensen won state titles at the IESA State Wrestling Tournament over the weekend, where nine other area wrestlers also placed.

When Bishop McNamara and Bismarck-Henning met in the boys basketball sectional championship round last week, it reunited the two head coaches, who were former Olivet Nazarene University teammates.

Bradley-Bourbonnais' Nick Allen, Grant Park's Blake Brown and Manteno's Ray Lee all set the career scoring records at their schools this season.

The Trinity boys basketball team placed third in Division 5A at the NCSAA National Tournament over the weekend, finishing the season at 23-11.