State Basketball |Peoria Notre Dame 32 minutes away from a repeat state title, Mt. Carmel sets sights on finishing 3rd

NORMAL - Peoria Notre Dame continued its dominance on the biggest stage, rolling past Mt. Carmel 61-35 in the Class 2A state semifinal at the IHSA Girls Basketball State Finals on Thursday at CEFCU Arena on the campus of Illinois State University.

The Irish, defending Class 2A champions, extended their winning streak to 15 games and remain undefeated in back-to-back state finals appearances. They advance to face the winner of the other semifinal between Phillips and Nashville in Saturday's championship game.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Peoria Notre Dame's Lexi Baer drives to the paint backdoor during the second half. The junior led all scorers with 18 points to help the Irish advance to Saturday's Class 2A title game.

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Lexi Baer led the charge with 18 points and nine rebounds, powering Notre Dame's offense in key moments. Emy Wardle added 15 points, connecting on three of her four attempts from beyond the arc, while Julia Mingus chipped in 10 points to round out the team's top scorers.

Up by just three points at halftime, the Irish found another gear in the third quarter. Baer scored six points in the frame, while Alli Stickelmaier and Cora Heinz each contributed four points to help Notre Dame stretch its lead to 15. That surge put the game out of reach and sent the Irish back to the title game with a chance to repeat as state champions.

For Mt. Carmel, Maycee Randall delivered a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Madison Stevens added eight points and seven boards. The Aces were making their first-ever appearance in the Final Four after a convincing 61-42 victory over Kankakee McNamara at the Unity Supersectional.

Despite keeping pace through the first half, Mt. Carmel struggled to contain Notre Dame's offensive pressure after the break. The Irish's ability to spread the scoring across multiple players and tenacious defense left little room for a comeback.

The Aces are back on Doug Collins Court Friday evening, hoping to take home the division's third place trophy at 6:30 PM on Friday.

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State Basketball |Panthers finish 4th at 2A state basketball

Regina Dominican's Maddie Witchger, Payton Olszewski, and the rest of the team celebrate with the program's fourth-place trophy at the IHSA Girls' Basketball State Finals Thursday evening. The Panthers fell 51-44 to the Lady Maroons in the Class 2A third-place game on Thursday at CEFCU Arena. Witchger finished the contest with seven points and two rebounds, while Olszewki hauled in six boards and four assists in addition to her lone trey.

PhotoNews Media

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State Basketball |Okawville wins semifinal, Lady Rockets head to title game

NORMAL - Alayna Kraus delivered a double-double performance to propel the Lady Rockets into the Class 1A title game at the Illinois High School Association Girls' State Basketball Finals on Thursday. The senior, named to the Illinois Media's All-State first team earlier in the week, scored 25 points and snagged ten rebounds in the 44-30 win over St. Bede.

Kraus collected seven of her rebounds and scored 13 points in the first half.

St. Bede's offensive effort was led by Ali Bosnich, who finished with 11 points and 13 ports. The 6-foot senior padded the stats with one block and three steals.

Also assisting in the Lady Bruins' scoring effort was Ashlyn Ehm and Savannah Bray. Ehm, who was 2-for-2 from the free-throw line, finished with eight points, three steals, and six boards. Bray scored six points in her seven minutes of action.

St. Bede advanced to the third place game against Altamont, who suffered a 60-48 overtime loss to Illini Bluffs in the first game of the state tournament series hours earlier.

Okawville sights are now set on becoming back-to-back state champions.

At last year's tournament, the Lady Rockets took home the Class 1A title after rolling over Christopher, 55-35. Kraus, a starter in that contest, scored a game-high 21 points.

Kraus & Co. take the floor at 11 a.m. on Saturday to face Illini Bluffs in the title game at CEFCU Arena on the Illinois State University campus in Normal.

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State Basketball |Altamont falls in OT to Illini Bluffs

NORMAL - Grace Nelson drained 32 points in Altamont's state semifinal game against Illini Bluffs Thursday. Unfortunately, the All-Stater and Lady Indians came up short in the Class 1A opener and overtime thriller, 60-48.

Nelson missed her first three-pointer but connected on her second shot in the game, cutting the Lady Indians' scoreboard deficit to two at 5-3.

Later in the first period, Tigers' Annabelle Fortin, Marissa Robertson, and Lilly Luczkowiak drop treys on successive possessions to go up 14-7.

Luczkowiak led Illini Bluff's scoring effort with a double-double, scoring 27 points and snagging eleven rebounds. Fortin finished with 12 points. Robertson's first quarter three was her only output of the game.

Altamont was on top most of the fourth quarter, leading by as many as six points, until Tigers' Chloe Eeten made a go-ahead basket on a pass from teammate Brenna Davis with 1:03 left on the clock.

Seven seconds later, Nelson was on the free-throw line. She made her first shot to tie the score at 46-all but missed the second that would have given Altamont a one-point lead with 55 seconds to go.

Bluffs called timeout with ten seconds left on the clock. Fortin attempted a three-pointer as time expired and missed, putting the game into overtime.

It was the Tigers' free-throw prowess in OT that saved the day. The team missed one shot out of ten from the charity stripe.

For Eeten, who finished the game with 11 points, it was her time to shine. The sophomore led all scorers in the frame with seven points, going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, punching Illini Bluff's ticket into the Class 1A title game.

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Throwback Thursday | SJO makes first basketball final four appearance

(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

PEORIA - Sophomore Tyler Harms dribbles the ball away from Winnebago's Dalton Langholf during St. Joseph-Ogden's third-place 2A game at Carver Arena a decade ago. SJO finished the season 29-6 at the state tournament after falling 67-54 to the Indians in the program's first final four appearance in school history. Three years later, the Spartans would return to Peoria to take home the Class 2A title.