St. Anne wasn’t at its sharpest during the first half of its River Valley Conference Tournament semifinal game against Momence.

A little course correction was required, and veteran Cardinal coach Rock Schoon helped steer his team back onto the correct path allowing St. Anne to secure a 64-43 victory and a place in Friday’s tournament championship.

The victory also allowed Schoon to reach a major coaching milestone, his 500th career victory, a benchmark fewer than 100 boys basketball coaches in the history of the state have reached.

He also achieved all 500 of those wins at the same school, an accomplishment that just over 50 coaches in the state of Illinois have accomplished.

“It just means I’m old,” Schoon quipped following the win. “I mean, you don’t win 500 games unless you’ve got good players that go out there and perform the things that they are supposed to do.

“I’ve been fortunate and blessed to coach a lot of great players over the years, and the legacy continues with this group.”

St. Anne (20-5) will play Central – for the third time this season – for the tournament title. Central defeated Gardner-South Wilmington in the other semifinal 54-53.

St. Anne jumped out to an early 10-2 lead in the contest, but struggled to gain much separation despite getting quite a few high-caliber scoring opportunities.

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RVC Boys Basketball: St. Anne vs. Momence Momence's D'Angelo Hundley fouls St. Anne's Matthew Langellier (2) during St. Anne's 64-43 victory in the River Valley Conference semifinals on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Tiffany Blanchette)

Momence (14-12) would stay in striking distance in the first half, closing to within five at several spots before allowing St. Anne to break out to a 30-19 at the break.

Even so, the Cardinals were well aware they hadn’t put their best foot forward to start the game. It didn’t take long for them to correct things.

St. Anne went on an 8-0 run to start the third quarter, fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from Matthew Langellier and Brandon Schoth.

“We started hitting shots that we weren’t hitting earlier,” Langellier said. “We also came out with better defensive pressure and a better mindset.”

After Aidan Smith broke up the St. Anne scoring streak with a 3-pointer for Momence, St. Anne would go on another 6-0 run to push its lead past 20.

Langellier led all scorers with 21 points, while Grant Pomaranski and Trevor Van Pelt each had 10. Seven different Cardinals scored at least four points.

“This is a totally different team than what we usually have,” Schoon said. “Normally, we’ve always had that one go-to player whose a super athletic kid.

“This group, I think we have one guy averaging 11 and four or five guys averaging nine. This is old-school basketball what we’re doing this year, and I’m really enjoying it. These kids don’t take any possession for granted.”

Erick Castillo scored 18 points to lead Momence, scoring his 1,000 career point in the process.

Schoon took over the St. Anne program in 1998 and guided the school to a state championship, the first Class 1A state crown, with a 67-61 victory over Nokomis in the 2007 finals. Schoon also guided St. Anne into the Class A state quarterfinals in 2004, where it fell in a two-point decision to Winnebago.

Schoon is a 1986 alum of St. Anne and was a starting guard on St. Anne’s 1986 super-sectional qualifier.

“What that man has done for people as an athlete or a person,” Langellier said. “He teaches you so many different things, not only about basketball, but how to be a better man.

“It’s what he does both off and on the court. It’s amazing.”