Category Archives: Sports Section

ALAH Girls Take Out Purple Riders

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•January 30, 2019•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

After losing the Little Okaw Valley Conference Tournament Championship game to Tri-County, the Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond girls’ basketball team bounced back to defeat Arcola in a close regular season LOVC NW game.
Monday night against Arcola, ALAH jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the first quarter, and after a 4-4 second quarter, the Knights took the 6-point lead into halftime.
The Purple Riders took advantage of a 14-9 third-quarter run to cut the lead to one.
In the fourth quarter, ALAH held off Arcola for the 37-34 win. Read More

Sullivan Girls Bounce Back With Bulldog Defeat

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Photo by R.R. Best
Emily White dribbles along the sideline against St. Teresa.

•January 30, 2019•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

After placing a disappointed fourth in the Central Illinois Conference Tournament with a loss to host St. Teresa last Friday, the Sullivan girls’ basketball team bounced back to defeat the Bulldogs to stay undefeated in the CIC regular season game in Decatur Monday night.
In the first meeting, St. Teresa had a 16-point lead by halftime, but the Redskins came out with a better start in the Monday rematch with a 16-10 first quarter lead.
The Bulldogs battled back to take a 26-22 halftime lead, but the second half the game Sullivan took over.
In the third, the Redskins went on a 21-13 run for blow the game open, then held on in the fourth quarter for the 54-48 win.
“I thought we played a tremendous game defensively tonight,” said Sullivan coach Sheri McCain. “We gave up 68 points to them on Saturday night, and tonight we held them to 48. We followed the game plan and did a great job attacking the basket.”
Lilly Null led the Redskins with team-highs of 17 points, seven steals and five assists.
“Lilly Null played a phenomenal game for us,” McCain said. “She was the difference offensively for us in the first half, and Avery Still was the difference in the second half.”
Avery Still hit double-digit scoring with 10 points, and Esther Miller followed with nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Josie Orris recorded eight points, and Emily White added five. Read More

Timberwolves Defeat Purple Riders, Outscore Oblong

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•January 30, 2019•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Okaw Valley boys’ basketball team defeated Arcola to place ninth in the 44th annual Little Okaw Valley Conference Tournament Saturday after winning the fifth annual LOVC NW Division Tournament consolation championship Friday.
To win the ninth place game at Arcola, OV knocked off Oblong 58-30.
After taking an 8-5 lead in the first quarter, OV went into halftime tied 29-29.
In the third quarter, the Timberwolves took over, outscoring Oblong 25-8 to blow the game open.
OV continued the pressure in the fourth for a 13-3 run to end the game.
Cameron Sharp scored a team-high 16 points, and Eli Hagerman hit double digits with 10 points.
Sam Hagerman added nine points, and Tyson Montgomery had seven. Read More

The Bombers Overpower The ALAH Knights

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•January 23, 2019•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond boys’ basketball team dropped its Little Okaw Valley Conference Northwest division opener on the road to Argenta-Oreana 51-44 last Tuesday.
Saturday’s opening of the LOCV NW Tournament was postponed because of inclement weather.
Against the Bombers, Austin Romine scored a team-high 13 points, and Adam Day hit double digits with 12 points to go with five rebounds and two steals. Read More

Ellis’ Extreme Efforts Not Quite Enough for Redskins Win

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•January 23, 2019•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

Despite losing two close Central Illinois Conference games this past week, Redskin senior Caden Ellis combined for a total of 63 points, 24 rebounds, 10 steals and four assists.
The Sullivan boys’ basketball team lost to Meridian last Tuesday and Clinton Friday, Jan. 18.
Against the Maroons, Clinton extended a 3-point lead after the first quarter during a 16-9 second-quarter run.
In the second half, Sullivan stayed close and in the fourth outscored Clinton 11-7 but eventually came up short in the 47-42 loss.
Caden Ellis recorded 23 points, nine rebounds and six steals, and Dominick Kimberlin added nine points, two blocks, two assists and seven rebounds. Read More

ALAH Girls Basketball Team’s Balanced Attack Leads to Wins

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•January 23, 2019•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

From the first day of practice, Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond girls’ basketball coach Mac Condill wanted his team to improve every day.
“That is truly my goal as a coach,” Condill said. “To continue improving and taking advantage of every opportunity we have in practices and games to gain a better understanding of the game of basketball and improve our skills. We have modified practices and how we approach things in order to try and continue to improve.”
It seems to be working.
“You never know until the season actually gets into the last couple weeks, but we have had point production from all sorts of players,” Condill said. “We’ve had eight players score at least eight points in a game at some point this season. That’s the kind of balance and options you need as a coach to hopefully battle for championships.”
The Knights knocked off Blue Ridge/Deland-Weldon last Tuesday and Arcola Thursday (Jan. 17) to win the fifth annual Little Okaw Valley Conference Northwest Division Tournament championship in Bethany. Read More

OV Girls Bounce Back for Two Wins

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Photo by R.R. Best
Okaw Valley’s Ciera Perry avoids opponent’s block while Madison Vogel offers a passing option during Timberwolves tournament action.

•January 23, 2019•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

After losing to No 6 seeded Argenta-Oreana 61-38, No. 3 seeded Okaw Valley bounced back the next two games to win the Little Okaw Valley Conference Northwest Division Tournament consolation championship.
OV defeated Decatur LSA 60-27 last Tuesday to make the consolation championship game, then knocked off Cerro Gordo/Bement 46-31 last for consolation title Wednesday.
The Timberwolves parlayed those two games into their third-straight win against Blue Ridge/Deland-Weldon Monday night.
Against Cerro Gordo/Bement, OV outscored the Broncos in every quarter.
After taking a 7-point lead, 22-15, in to halftime, the Timberwolves outscored CGB by four points in the third and fourth quarters for the 56-31 win.
Two Timberwolves recorded double-doubles.
Madison Vogel tallied a double double with 21 points and 18 rebounds, and Kate Jeffers collected 19 points and 10 rebounds. Read More

An Eventful Week for the Sullivan Girls’ Basketball Team

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Furnished photo
Sullivan coach Sheri McCain keeps the third ranked team in the state focused during competition.

Miller Hits 1000

•January 23, 2019•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

It was an eventful week for the Sullivan girls’ basketball team.
The Redskins defeated Central A&M to stay undefeated in the Central Illinois Conference, earned top seed in the CIC Tournament, moved up to the No. 3 team in the Associated Press Class 2A state rankings and knocked off Shelbyville in first round of the tournament.
Thursday, Jan. 17, the Redskins defeated the Raiders with the help of 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists from freshman Lilly Null.
“Lilly Null played her best game of the season,” Sullivan coach Sheri McCain said. “I am so proud of how she stepped up tonight.”
After falling behind four points in the first quarter, the Redskins turned a 20-8 second-quarter run into a 29-21 halftime lead.
In the second half, CAM outscored Sullivan by three points, but the Redskins fought off any comeback to win 51-46. Read More

Redskins Record Win Over Cerro Gordo-Bement

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•January 16, 2019•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Sullivan boys’ basketball team split a pair of games last week.
The Redskins lost to Warrensburg-Latham Friday but defeated Cerro-Gordo-Bement last Tuesday.
Against the Cardinals Friday, the game was tied after the first quarter, but W-L took a 26-22 lead into halftime.
The Cardinals broke the game open in the third quarter by doubling Sullivan’s score, 18-9.
W-L did it again in the final period with an 18-8 run for the 62-39 win. Read More