Results Class 4A Saturday, March 17 At Peoria Carver Arena State championship Belleville West 60, Whitney Young 56, ot Third place Evanston 61, Larkin 49 Friday, March 16 At Peoria Carver Arena State semifinals Belleville West 64, Larkin 53 Whiney Young 62, Evanston 56 Tuesday, March 13 Super-sectionals At DeKalb:
Aurora Christian High School’s Class 1A State championship wrestling team receives acknowledgement at Tuesday’s Aurora City Council meeting. Alderman Carl Franco, center, left, holds a championship shirt with Aurora mayor Richard Irvin. Jason Crane/The Voice
Justin Pearch, head wrestling coach of Aurora Christian High School, engages in a mock encounter with Richard Irvin, mayor of Aurora, who wrestled as a youth. Aurora Christian won the Class 1A State wrestling championship in its second year of the program. Jason Crane/The Voice
Jared Crutcher, 10, of West Aurora High School, and Bolingbrook’s Tyler Cochran, 23, stretch for the ball in Friday’s Class 4A Romeoville Sectional championship game. West Aurora won, 82-67. Crutcher scored 26 points, collected five blocked shots, 13 rebounds, and one steal. West Aurora advanced to the Normal Super-sectional at
By Bob Narang – The Naperville North High School boys basketball team last week had thoughts of an appearance in the sectional finals dancing in their heads. And why not? The Huskies had a memorable regular season, opened the Class 4A playoffs with double-digit victories over both Hinsdale Central and
Benet Academy defender Ben Cooney, 5, seeks to move with Willowbrook’s Neil Paxton, Jr. in Friday’s Class 4A, largest division, Glenbard East Sectional championship game. Benet won, 67-40, to advance to the DeKalb Super-sectional against Larkin Tuesday. Willowbrook ended Naperville North’s season in the sectional semifinal, 47-43. See page 12.
Missouri Valley Conference champion Loyola University, 28-5 overall and 15-3, is one of two Illinois focal points in men’s college basketball post season. University of Illinois Chicago is the other. The Loyola Ramblers are seeded No. 11 in one of four brackets in the 68-team NCAA Tournament and will take
Rockford Boylan High School defender Anthony Brown, 32, moves in to tip away an attempt at a score-tying shot by Burlington Central’s Patrick Mayfield with :04 remaining in the Class 3A Woodstock North Sectional championship game Friday. Boylan won, 57-55, and advanced to the Hoffman Estates Super-sectional against North Chicago
The variations form peaks and valleys on the basketball March Madness scene. The rush, physical and adrenalin, of a Friday night sectional tournament success, turns somber in a following game which is a signal the season has ended in defeat. Every sectional champion Friday used euphoria to build a case
West Aurora High School boys basketball team celebrates following Friday’s Romeoville Sectional tournament championship victory over Bolingbrook, 82-67, to advance to the Normal Super-sectional against Belleville West. See videos at facebook.com/thevoice.us. Al Benson/The Voice
Benet Academy boys basketball team members pose for a celebration photo following its 67-40 victory over Willowbrook in the championship game of the Glenbard East Sectional. Benet advanced to the DeKalb Super-Sectional game against Larkin Tuesday. Jason Crane/The Voice
By Bobby Narang – Stephanie Hart did it again. The Geneva High School senior forward hit a game-winning shot in the final seconds Saturday evening for the second straight year to give the girls basketball team a 28-26 victory over Montini in the Class 4A State championship game at Redbird
Oswego East High School’s A.J. Hughes, 2, feels an arm to the head by Joliet Central’s Cameron Blackmon in the Class 4A Oswego East Regional championship game Friday, Joliet Central advanced to the Romeoville Sectional tournament with a 49-38 victory. Al Benson/The Voice
Last season it was Northwestern University. This season it’s Loyola with a berth in the men’s basketball 68-team National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournament. Last year Northwestern qualified for the first time in the tournament. Thanks to a 64-49 victory over Illinois State in the championship game of the
By John Schutt – Monster Energy Pennzoil 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Nev., Sunday, March 4. Ryan Blaney had the fastest car and won the pole position in his Penske Ford. The dominating car, and winner, of all three stages of the race was Kevin Harvick in his
First-year Oswego East High School head basketball coach Ryan Velasquez gives instructions to his team during the Class 4A Oswego East Regional championship game Friday. Joliet Central won, 49-38. Al Benson/The Voice
One and done. That’s the proven excitement of high school and college basketball postseason March Madness tournaments. Aurora University advanced last weekend to the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division III 64-team tournament, won an exciting game at the buzzer, and ended the season in the round of 32 to
Aurora University men’s basketball players celebrate Saturday, Feb. 24 with a trophy as Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference champion. The Spartans defeated Benedictine University, 76-71, in Aurora to qualify for the NCAA Division III 64-team tournament. Aurora won the first game Friday at Washington University in St. Louis with a last-second
The Geneva High School girls basketball team members flash a No. 1 sign Sunday in front of Graham’s Chocolates on Third Street in Geneva after capturing the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 4A State basketball championship Saturday at Redbird Arena in Normal. The championship was the second year in
The high school Winter season is in high-visibility mode. Boys and girls basketball, wrestling, swimming and diving, all have the finish line in view. In high school basketball the theme remains the Original March Madness: One and done, frantic finishes, all prevail. The term March Madness was started by the
