Category Archives: Sports Section

AOC Volleyball Finishes Third

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AOC Volleyball Finishes Third
The Arthur-Okaw Christian Volleyball team finished the 2019 season with a 36-2 record and a third place finish in the National Association of Christian Athletes tournament.
The team started the season winning all four matches in the Arthur Christian Classic.
The Conquering Riders went on to win their first 17 matches before losing their only regular-season match against Goshen Home School Sept. 21.
Arthur-Okaw Christian then went on to win 19-straight games before losing to The Rock Lions Oct. 25.
AOC’s starting lineup consisted of two seniors, four sophomores and one freshman.
The team roster included senior Lyla Kauffman, senior Lindsey Mast, senior Chloe Tiarks, junior Alexis Cutler, junior Trinity Gregory, junior Susie Pickett, sophomore Chloe Mast, sophomore Ava Yoder, sophomore Halie Rhoades, sophomore Keisha Miller, sophomore Victoria Cisney, and freshman Liana Kauffman.

Knights Volleyball Season Over

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•November 6, 2019•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond lost to Central A&M in the quarterfinals of the Cerro Gordo Regional last Tuesday.
The Knights won the first set 25-19, but the Raiders battled back to take the next two sets, 25-18, 25-19 to win the match.
Mackenzi Bowles led the Knights with 11 kills to go with three digs, and Cheyenne Chupp contributed nine kills and six digs.
Alisha Frederick had a team-high 25 assists to go with seven digs, and Addi Tinkle added three aces, five digs and three assists.
Michaela Powell recorded a team-high 20 digs and served three aces.
ALAH’s season ended with a 12-23 overall record and 3-6 in its inaugural year in the Lincoln Prairie Conference.

OV Volleyball Team Takes Semifinal Match

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•November 6, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Okaw Valley volleyball team defeated Villa Grove in the Kansas Regional semifinal match but could not take down Tri-County in the championship.
Against Villa Grove last Tuesday, the Timberwolves won both sets, 25-19.
Kate Jeffers led OV with 10 kills, three aces and three blocks, while Paige Coleman collected eight kills, eight digs and three aces.
Grace Bunfill had 26 kills and three digs, and Macie Fleshner contributed nine kills and 10 digs. Read More

ALAH Knights Playoff Bid Cut Short at Carrollton

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•November 6, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

For the first time since 2014, the Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond football team made the playoffs.
Saturday, the Knights traveled a long way to take on Carrollton, a team ALAH coach Ryan Jefferson grew up playing against.
Carrollton took an early 8-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Knights answered in the second quarter when Brady Borntreger rushed in for a score to cut the lead to 8-7.
Bornterger also threw for 66 yards on 7-of-16 passing during the game.
Carrollton put up 16 points in the third quarter to extend its lead to 24-7. Read More

Sullivan Cross Country Runners Make Sectionals

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•November 6, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

Three Sullivan cross country runners competed in the ISHA Effingham Sectionals Saturday.
For the girls’ individual runners, Tori Turnbaugh finished the race with a time of 20:58.96, and Katherine Kite ran a 21:41.62.
For the boys’ individual runner, Chase McClure finished with a time of 19:24.90. Read More

Senior Night Win for SHS Volleyball

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Alexis Wallace, Gwen Diepholz, Meena Corkill and Avery Still pose during SHS Senior Night Tuesday.

•October 30, 2019•
The Sullivan volleyball team celebrated a win on Senior Night against Tuscola Thursday but then lost in the Class 2A Teutopolis Regional quarterfinals Monday.
The loss to the host Wooden Shoes ended the Redskins’ season with an overall record of 9-21 and a 2-5 Central Illinois Conference record.
Teutopolis defeated Sullivan in straight sets, 25-13, 25-11. Read More

SOV Football Finishes Against Central A&M

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Luke Vanderburgh returns a punt against Central A&M on Senior Night at Victory Field Friday night

•October 30, 2019•
On Senior Night, Sullivan-Okaw Valley football team finished its second-straight winless season with a loss against Central A&M, the undefeated champions of the Central Illinois Conference. Read More

SHS Sends Cross Country Runners to Sectionals

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•October 30, 2019•
The Sullivan cross country team competed in the IHSA Regional at Dacey Trail in Forest Park in Shelbyville, Saturday.
In rain and windy weather, three Redskins advanced to the Effingham Sectional meet this weekend.
For the girls’ team, Tori Turnbaugh and Katherine Kite advanced to sectionals. Read More

OVHS Volleyball Team Wraps Winning Season

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OVHS Players recognized: April Decesaro, Kate Jeffers and Paige Coleman at Senior Night Tuesday.

•October 30, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Okaw Valley volleyball team completed the regular season with a 22-10 overall record and a second place finish in its inaugural year in the Lincoln Prairie Conference.
The Timberwolves finished the LPC with an 8-3 after dropping a match to Argenta-Oreana Thursday (24th) and defeating Blue Ridge last Tuesday.
Against the Bombers, OV lost 24-26, 25-17, 20-25 in its last regular season game.
Kate Jeffers totaled five blocks and six kills, and Paige Coleman collected nine digs and six kills.
April Decesaro added two aces and six digs, while Grace Bunfill finished with 11 digs and 22 assists.
Avery Bruns recorded three blocks, Macie Fleshner had eight kills and Karson Park had seven digs.
Against Blue Ridge last Tuesday, OV won in straight sets, 25-17, 25-19.
Jeffers led the team with nine kills and three aces, and Coleman contributed eight kills and eight digs.
Bunfill tallied 25 assists, seven digs and two aces, while Fleshner finished with four kills and seven digs.
Bruns had four kills, Decesaro had 12 digs and Park had eight digs.
OV entered the Kansas Regional this week.

Knights Second Half Propels ALAH into Playoff Berth

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Ben Carroll rushes down the sideline in the Knights 23-0 win.

•October 30, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond football team went into the half against Villa Grove/Heritage tied at 0-0.
The winner of the game would earn its sixth victory and an automatic playoff berth.
After a first half filled with penalties and sloppy play by both teams, the Knights’ coach Ryan Jefferson told his players in the locker room what they needed to do to win the second half.
“Both teams played evenly bad the first half,” said Jefferson. “I told our team we needed to do three things to win the game: one) tackle better, two) less penalties, three) do something on offense. We did those three things much better the second half and never looked back.”
ALAH came out in the second half and scored three touchdowns and a field on its first four possessions.
“Starting the second half, it was like it was a new game,” Jefferson said.
The Knights put the first points on the board in only three plays.
A 52-yard kickoff return by Ben Carroll led to a Kaden Feagin 18-yard run and then a 10-yard touchdown run by Finn Davison.
Aaron Likens kicked the extra point to take a 7-0 lead.
Feagin finished with seven rushes for 38 yards and two catches for nine yards, and Davidson added 50 yards rushing on four carries.
ALAH’s second score came on their next possession after Brady Borntereger competed a 29-yard pass to Jamison Rocke to help put Likens in position for a 32-yard field goal. Read More