03/09/2026
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - With the way that the IHSA put together the boy's basketball state tournament for 2025-26 is, to be nice, unique.

Southern Illinois was basically split in half in 1A, with some of the teams from the east part being routed to the Charleston for the super-sectional while the teams on the west side of Little Egypt were slated for a trip to the Jacksonville super.

Although Lawrenceville's trip to Eastern Illinois University's Lanz Gym isn't a herculean road trip, Goreville going to the Jacksonville Bowl will take a bunch of gas money.

The Blackcats journey to the Bowl will be 208 miles and roughly 3.5 hours, give or take, although I doubt Coach Todd Tripp and his crew will mind.

It's been six seasons since Goreville dispatched Central A&M to win the Carbondale Super-Sectional in 2020, just a few days away from the state, and most of the country, being shutdown because of Covid19.

After taking home fourth place in 2018, this will be the Blackcats' third super-sectional appearance.

Goreville took the measure of rival Waltonville on Friday night, winning the Trico Sectional championship, 47-44 to improve to 32-4 on the season, which tied the program record for wins in a season from last winter.

Senior Zech Green and junior Nick King have been special this season for the Blackcats.

Green scored 13-points and King added seven in the defensive struggle victory over the Spartans, the second narrow victory over state-ranked Waltonville.

Senior Garrett Church scored 11-points in the Waltonville win, including three big 3-pointers as the Blackcats' advanced.

Coach Tripp has some others who pull their weight.

Six-one junior Lawson Land contributes as does 6-foot freshman Dylan Tripp, 6-2 junior Tommy King, 6-foot freshman Braden Compton and 6-2 senior Lincoln Turley.

All of these 'Cats produced scorebook numbers in the sectional championship game win.

The Goreville resume is impressive as they beat two other teams (Benton, Lawrenceville) who are also playing in super-sectionals on Monday.

Two of the wins were over state-ranked Waltonville, along with triumphs over regional winner Casey-Westfield and 30-game winner Sparta in the sectional semifinals.

The Blackcats will play a Jacksonville Routt team that is 30-4 and playing in their first super-sectional after winning the 1A Nokomis Sectional for head coach Will Whalen.

The Rockets topped Mt. Sterling Brown County, 49-45 behind 23-points from 6-4 senior Bryson Mossman.

Mossman has over 2K career points for Routt.

Routt has 6-2 sophomore Nolan Mossman (13-points vs. Brown County) with 6-5 senior Brady Turner and 6-7 senior Adam Abell.

Of their 30-victories this season, the Rockets have won contests against 16-teams who have 20 or more wins.

Jacksonville Routt won't have to travel far to the Jacksonville Bowl, which is the home court for Jacksonville High School while Goreville will need to validate its passports.

Lawrenceville won't have to travel nearly as far and most of the old-time fans in the Lawrence County community know the way to Charleston by heart.

In the heyday of Indians' basketball they made many trips to Eastern Illinois University's Lantz Gymnasium.

Lawrenceville won four state championships and finished third once, with all of the their super-sectional victories coming at EIU.

This is the first Elite Eight for the Tribe since 1996 when they also won the Charleston Super-sectional.

Coach Tad Shick, when the enrollment's from the IHSA came out and Lawrenceville dropped from 2A to 1A, knew he had the team that would make a postseason run.

After all, the previous season they took home a 2A regional title before losing in the sectional to Warrensburg-Latham.

The two losses (33-2) were to 2A Tolono Unity in the semifinals of the Effingham/Teutopolis Christmas Classic and to Goreville at the Benton “Rich Herrin Classic” Shootout February 7th.

Both Unity and Goreville suit up Monday in super-sectionals.

Jayden Goff, Zander Cessna and Noah Wilson have been the three-headed monster for Coach Shick, and the three seniors have been the cogs of a three-season successful run.

The 6-5 Goff netted 19-points and grabbed 11-rebounds in the 59-45 victory over Altamont to capture the 1A Macon Meridian Sectional.

Wilson added 15 and Cessna seven in the win over Altamont.

Lawrenceville finished the final regular season Associated Press 1A rankings at number two.

They will face a LeRoy program that has also been state-ranked this season as the Panthers enter the super fresh off of a 62-58 win over Decatur Unity Christian to take home the 1A Danville Schlarman Sectional title.

LeRoy brings a 32-2 mark to the super-sectional and are riding a 14-game winning streak with the two defeats coming to 2A Clinton back on January 2nd and a January 24th loss to Tremont in the title game of the McLean County Tournament.

Tremont is also still alive in the state tournament as they will also play Monday night at the Macomb WIU Super-sectional against Lanark-Eastland.

Six-four senior Sam Edmundson scored 22-points in Friday night's sectional victory and he got help from 6-foot sophomore Brycen Umstattd who added 16-points.

LeRoy lost to eventual 1A state champion Chicago Hope Academy last season at the 1A Normal Super-sectional.

The Panthers program won the 1A title in 2016 at Peoria and they would like nothing better than to duplicate that feat in Champaign this week.

The Benton Rangers are a bit of a surprise in southern Illinois still being alive this far into the state tournament.

Coach Ron Winemiller's club went mostly unnoticed in local and state-wide rankings for most of the season but the Rangers are in the Elite Eight for the 12th time in the storied history of this program.

The Rangers shocked and shook up the 2A state tournament with a 41-39 double-overtime victory over state-ranked Nashville in the sectional semifinals and followed it up with a 58-43 spanking of state-ranked Carterville to take home the sectional championship.

Nashville had beaten Benton twice in the season, 48-28 on January 6th and then 73-40 on February 10th.

But the Rangers' turned the table, erasing a halftime lead to pick up the upset win.

Benton has been strong in the backcourt this season and in the state tournament they have stepped up.

Six-foot sophomore Drake Porter scored 28-points in the victory over Carterville on Friday night, 17 in the first half, as the Rangers roared out to a 31-10 halftime lead and cruised home to the sectional championship.

Six-six senior Nolan Schafer, who is a veteran who was part of the state runner up team as a sophomore two seasons ago, added 12-points for Benton while 6-3 junior Jaxton Wiggs added nine-points.

Wiggs hit the game-winning shot with :11 left in the second overtime in the sectional semifinal win over the Hornets.

Five-ten sophomore Clay Gage and 6-3 senior TJ Hamilton added nine and five in the title game.

Benton will face a team that hopes the road trip south won't end up having a hangover affect.

Quincy Notre Dame, who finished the regular season ranked second in the final AP Poll, comes to Carbondale with a 30-1 record.

The Raiders won their first 20-games before losing to a team from Jefferson City (MO.).

They have won 10-straight since, including a 72-62 win over Rochester to take home the 2A Pleasant Plains Sectional championship Friday night.

Friday's win added the 10th sectional championship for QND and the first since 2017.

Six-three senior Jace Allensworth scored 20-points in the victory Friday while 6-3 senior Gavin Doellman added 19.

Six-five senior Robbie Reed scored 16 in the win.

Six-four senior Sully Walker and 6-3 senior Beau Eftink give the Raiders a tall starting unit.

Tolono Unity exercised a 2025-26 demon on Friday night.

The Rockets had lost two heart-shattering games to Teutopolis this winter.

A 55-50 loss on December 6th at T-Town and then a 37-36 defeat in the title game of the Effingham/Teutopolis Christmas Classic.

But Unity got a clutch last second score from senior Brayden Henry for a 59-58 win to advance to the Pontiac Super-sectional.

They will face Kankakee Bishop McNamara, a 69-56 winner over Yorkville Christian in the finale of the 2A Seneca Sectional.

Coach Matt Frank and his squad had lost four-consecutive games to the Wooden Shoes but they stopped Teutopolis from winning their fifth-straight sectional championship.

Henry scored 20-points in the win Friday and seniors Tyler Henry and Dane Eisenmenger scored 10-points.

Senior Coleton Langendorf added eight-points in the win, as the Rockets are now 32-2.