In a community as small as Cissna Park, whose IHSA enrollment count is 98 students this year, the odds of having one generational talent come through town is astronomical.

Not only do the Timberwolves have three, but they’re all in the same graduating class.

Powered once again by the senior trio of Sophie Duis, Addison Lucht and Josie Neukomm, the Timberwolves took early control of Thursday’s IHSA Class 1A Watseka Sectional championship against Lexington and never let go for a 25-16, 25-9 win that gave the Timberwolves (37-1) their third straight sectional championship.

“It’s super special,” Duis said. “Doing it the past two years we were super grateful, but there’s always been another year after. But especially because this is our last year, it makes it extra special because we really want to take in every game with each other and we don’t want it to end shorter than it should. We really want to make the most of every game and play as long as we can because we’re not ready to be done yet.”

Facing the same Minutemen (28-10) squad they’d eliminated in each of the past two sectional title rounds, the Timberwolves left little doubt from the jump, storming ahead with an 8-2 run in a first set that never got any closer than 10-5.

And after Lucht’s kill ended the first set, the Timberwolves saved one of their best sets of the season for the back end of Thursday’s tilt. With setters Ella Schluter (10 assists) and Mady Marcott (eight) directing the offense, not only did Cissna Park’s star power pile up the points – Lucht had 10 kills while Duis and Neukomm each had seven – some timely kills and blocks from Marina Day, Ava Henrichs and Annika Stadeli overwhelmed Lexington to a no-doubter of a second set that was sealed with a bruising Duis swing from the middle.

“We can put the ball in anyone’s hands and they’ll put it away,” Neukomm said. “We can fire all cylinders at any point in the game and I think we showed that tonight. Even if some of us are off, like I kind of was tonight, our right sides came in key. Marina Day, she had a heck of a day.”

The Timberwolves will have another familiar meeting in Monday’s Heyworth Super-Sectional, as they’re paired against Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg in the supers for the third straight year. Cissna Park coach Josh Landon and his team know that while they’re going to get every team’s best fight every night, they’re continuing to improve themselves.

“They’re doing the same in the gym, they’re focusing on themselves,” Landon said. “That’s what we continue to preach to them, to go out and be the best versions of themselves they can be. If they’re able to do that when we go out to battle, they’re going to continue to rise to the top, and they’ve embraced that.”

The Timberwolves’ nine-deep senior class knows they’re guaranteed at least one more game together on Monday, but after a fourth-place state finish in 2023 and a third-place run last year, they have full plans on winning three more games next week and bringing the school its first IHSA state championship ever and first athletic state championship since the school’s co-op with Milford won the inaugural Illinois 8-Man Football Association State championship in 2018.

“We’re extra hungry this year to get it done,” Lucht said. “We have one more game to get to the final four, so we’re going to be focused on Monday, but after that, we already have a win on that stage from the third-place game, so I think we’re going to come in with confidence and get it done.”