Jayden Riley hit a tie-breaking jumper with 46 seconds left and four free throws in the final minute to cap a 28-point night, sending Yorkville Christian past Pontiac 50-44 in the Class 2A Seneca Sectional semifinal.

Oswego co-op junior Owen Lippoldt finished third in the 50-yard freestyle and eighth in the 100 freestyle, and swam on the medal-winning 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays at the IHSA state finals on Saturday in Westmont.

Yorkville Christian boys basketball rolled past Chicago Christian to a Class 2A regional title, Oswego Co-Op's Owen Lippoldt qualified for the state swim finals in two events and anchored a relay finalist and Oswego East's Ella Cooper is still alive at the state wrestling meet.

Neuqua Valley star sophomore scored 20 of his 36 points in the second half as the Wildcats pulled away from an eight-point halftime lead to beat Oswego East 80-51 in the Class 4A Neuqua Valley Regional final, the Wildcats avenging their only loss of the season.

Woodland defeated Newark 57-38 to win the Class 1A Regional title game on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026 at Woodland High School. This is the first time since 1989 that Woodland has won a Regional title. Check out photos from the game by Tom Sistak.

Yorkville sophomore Lauryn Trotter got her competitive start in mixed martial arts and jiu-jitsu. As a wrestler she made Fargo Nationals in 2024. Now, after an injury-shortened freshman year, Trotter is headed to the IHSA state meet this weekend.

Yorkville Christian senior Jayden Riley, who scored 45 points and handed out seven assists in a win over Freeport, is the Record Newspapers Athlete of the Week in an online vote. Here is his Q&A with Sports Editor Joshua Welge.

Joey Jakstys scored 21 points as Yorkville upset Naperville North in a regional semifinal, and Plano, Yorkville Christian, Newark and Parkview Christian also won regional games in Wednesday's roundup.

For the second time this season, Plainfield East and Oswego needed to extend their game to double-overtime to reach an outcome. The Bengals kept their season going, escaping the Class 4A Oswego Regional semifinals with a 68-65 victory.