In Class 1a State Semifinals at the State Farm Center in Champaign on Thursday the day begins at 10am with Waterloo Gibault taking on Cornerstone Christian Academy of Bloomington. Gibault is 30-7 and have wins over Pinckneyville, Mater Dei and a couple over Marquette. This is their 3rd trip to state with a 2nd place finish in 1999. The Cyclones are 31-5 on the season out of the East Central Illinois Conference. This is the first state finals appearance for Cornerstone who is led by Jakson Baber at 17.6 points per game.
The 2nd game features Tuscola and Scales Mound at 11:45. Tuscola won the Altamont Sectional in a classic 4 overtime thriller over the state ranked Altamont Indians and then cruised through the SIU Super over Mounds Meridian. The Warriors are 30-6 and are balanced with 4 guys entering scoring between 8-14 points per game. This will be Tuscola’s 7th trip to state with their only win coming in 1989 when they finished 2nd in state. Scales enters at 32-5 out of the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference. They are led by Thomas Hereau averaging over 16 points per game. Head Coach Erik Kidronowicz is in his 17th year as head coach with the school’s only state appearance coming in 2022 with a 3rd place win. The losers of today’s game will play at 7pm tonight for 3rd place. The winners will play Saturday for the state title.
The 2a Final Four starts at 2:30 this afternoon as the TTown Wood Shoes take on DePaul College Prep. The Shoes finally got over the hump as they have been stalled at the Super Sectionals since their last state appearance in 2007 under Hall of Fame coach Ken Crawford. It’s Chester Reeder’s squad now and they enter at 28-7. Overall this is the Shoes 8th trip to state winning their only state title in 1986. DePaul is 21-12 on the season out of the Chicago Catholic Conference. They are making their 3rd trip to state with a pair of 3rd place finishes in 2019 and 2022. They lost to eventual champ Nashville in last year’s final four before beating Rockridge in the trophy game.
Rockridge is back again this year as they will play Bloomington Central Catholic at 4:15 in the other semifinal. They are 28-4 on the season making their 4th trip to state with a 3rd, 2nd and 4th place finish to their credit but still looking for their first big trophy. BCC is 25-11 out of the Illini Prairie Conference and led by Cole Certa who averages over 26 points per game. Coach Jason Welch is in his 17th year for BCC and the team is making their 7th trip to state having last gone in 2018 when they finished 3rd. They also won the state title in 2014. The losers will play at 8:45 tonight for 3rd place with the winners playing in Saturdays finale.
