Local Sports Digest: Marquette seventh-grade boys basketball heading to IESA State quarterfinals

Marquette 7th-grade boys heading to IESA State

Marquette’s seventh-grade boys basketball team will open play at the IESA State Finals with a quarterfinal and potentially semifinal game this coming Saturday at East Peoria Central Junior High School.

Marquette (18-6) plays Peoria St. Jude (17-4) in the Class 7-1A quarterfinals at 1 p.m., with the winner advancing to the 6:30 p.m. semifinal. The IESA third-place and championship games are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 9.

Marquette defeated Annawan 20-17 for the sectional championship and state berth after a 26-23 win over Peru Catholic for a regional title.

Shepherd volleyball scores sweeps

Shepherd’s seventh- and eighth-grade girls volleyball teams picked up wins over Mendota. The 7s won in three sets led by Meredith Waldron (10 points) as well as Libbee Hoffman (six points) and Zoey Torress (six points). The eighth-grade Rams won in straight sets paced by Greysyn Carrier (11 points), Piper Lewis (three kills) and Ashlynn Ganiere (eight points).

Shepherd also swept La Salle — the seventh-grade team winning in two led by Waldron (nine points), Lanie Allen (four assists), Joselyn Rose (three kills), Lily Brewer (seven points) and Hoffman (seven points); the 8s triumphing in three with the attack spearheaded by Lewis (13 points), Chloe Carmona (10 points), Carrier (nine points), Ganiere (seven points) and Annabelle Johnson (two assists).

Against Northlawn, Shepherd’s 7s and 8s both won in straight sets. Carrier (11 points, two assists), Rowan Weems (eight points), Ganiere (three kills), Johnson (four assists) and Alania Schulz (two kills) led the eighth-grade Rams.

Shepherd 8s move on to title game

A home eighth-grade IESA regional championship game Thursday is next for the Shepherd eighth-grade boys basketball team (19-5) after a 28-26, overtime win over Coal City. Griffin Dobberstein scored 14 points, while Dane Schmitz and George Shumway added six points apiece.

Shepherd prior to that swept a pair of eighth-grade games with Fieldcrest, winning the “A” game 52-17 (Dobberstein 12 points, Schmitz 11, Aleixo Fernandez and Shumway seven apiece) and the “B” game 40-10 (Kayden Kundert and Michael Cinkan eight points each, Darien Gutierrez seven, Bryer Harris five).

Shepherd’s 7s had their season end with a 22-3 record after a 36-17 regional loss to Minooka. Rory Moore scored seven points to lead the Rams.

Woodland 7s fall in title game

The seventh-grade Woodland boys basketball team scored a 30-10 win over Odell and a 26-23 edging of Cornell in its 7-1A regional before falling 43-22 to Pontic St. Mary’s in the championship game.

Marquette spikers sweep Wallace

Marquette volleyball won all three matches versus Wallace recently.

The eighth-grade team won in two sets, led by Emily Ryan Adair (three aces, five digs), Hunter Hopkins (17 assists, five aces), Taylor Gamons (three aces, four kills), Anna Hjerpe (four kills), Kinley Rick (four kills) and Kelsey Cuchra (three kills).

The Marquette 7s won in two sets, paced by Dixie Smick (three aces), Rick (six kills), Lucy McGrath (three kills), Ceci Reynolds (four digs) and Jakobi Reed (eight assists).

The sixth-grade team won in three sets. Leaders included Ady Boaz (six aces), Mackenzie Hamm (four aces), Kallyn Diss (three aces) and Reynolds (two kills).

Quintet of wins for Dolphins at Super Splash

A dozen Ottawa Dolphins swam at the Danville YMCA Super splash, with three — Cole Bressendorf (boys 9-10 100 freestyle), Brennen Heaver (boys 11-12 200 freestyle) and Ryland Heaver (boys 8U 25 butterfly) — winning individual events.

The girls 11-12 200 freestyle team of Addisyn Budnick, Aria Phillips, Cat Collet and Dawsynn Kettman along with the boys 11-12 200 freestyle team of Bressendorf, Bryce Marks, Brennen Heaver and Kaiden Lemke won relay events.