Girls basketball

Manteno 48, Peotone 16: In the semifinals of the Class 2A Seneca Regional, the top-seeded Panthers (25-6) took a 20-3 lead after a quarter, shut out the Blue Devils for a 28-3 halftime lead and never looked back Monday, advancing to Thursday’s championship against Wilmington.

“Defense was our focus tonight,” Panthers head coach Bethany Stritar said. “We have struggled on offense the past couple of weeks, so we wanted to get some offense in transition off of our defense. We were able to do that and I was really pleased with our effort on defense.”

Emily Horath had 19 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. Maddie Gesky had nine points, eight boards and eight steals.

Mal Schroeder led Peotone (15-16) with six points.

Joliet Catholic 72, Beecher 26: The Bobcats (19-13) saw their season end in the regional semifinals at the hands of the Angels, who will face host Bishop McNamara in Thursday’s Class 2A Regional championship. Gianna Bonomo knocked down four 3-pointers to finish with a team-high 12 points. Aubrey Tiltges added nine points on a trio of 3’s and Molly Vladika added four points.

It was the final high school basketball game for seniors Molly Vladika and Aubrey Tiltges, who Keen credited for helping a young Bobcats team make great strides during the season, putting them in position for success down the road.

“I felt like we exceeded my expectations there,” Keen said. “We matured early on, had a great January and were really coming together. We were playing the defense we wanted to play from day one, and then the offense really started coming along. Here was a tough JCA team, so it doesn’t really show on the scoreboard in this one. But I felt for all of January and early February, we really did a great job.”

Clifton Central 47, Tri-Point 40: Just four days after falling to the Chargers in the River Valley Conference Tournament championship, the Comets (22-11) bounced back to down their conference rivals for the first time this season in their fourth meeting, coming when it mattered most in the Class 1A Clifton Central Regional semifinals.

Lia Prairie led the Comets with 12 points. She was joined in double figures by Alexis Prisock with 11 and Eriannah Martinez with 10. Emma Koch added eight points. The Comets will host Roanoke-Benson on Thursday.

Cissna Park 54, Hoopeston 22: The Timberwolves (25-2) advanced to Thursday’s Class 1A Fieldcrest Regional championship against Fieldcrest. Addison Lucht had 24 points, five assists, three rebounds and four steals. Lauryn Hamrick added 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Josie Neukomm had eight points, four assists and three boards.

Fieldcrest 42, Iroquois West 39: Amelia Scharp surpassed the 1,000-career point mark Monday, but the Raiders (18-11) had their season end in the semifinals of the Class 1A Fieldcrest Regional. Scharp scored 15 points to lead the team.

Bismarck-Henning 58, Watseka/Milford 47: The Warriors (25-5) had their quest for a regional five-peat snapped in the semifinals of the IHSA Class 2A Bismarck-Henning Regional. Christa Holohan led the team with 16 points while Noelle Schroeder added 11.