The Salem Lady Wildcats magical run to their first Sectional tournament in 20 years came to an end at the Mascoutah 3a Sectional on Monday night. They fell to Cahokia rival Freeburg in straight sets 25-14, 25-15 in front of a raucous crowd at Mascoutah High. The Lady Cats finish the year at 16-18, the most wins for a Salem team since 2011-12 when they won 18. Salem loses 7 seniors from the team so they will have to reload for next year. Freeburg advances to take on Mascoutah in the Sweet 16 after the Lady Indians eliminated Effingham in the first match of the night 25-19, 25-20. The Championship will be played on Wednesday night.
Photo: Toby Gullion/FTS Photography
In Class 1a Sectionals at Nokomis, St Anthony won a 3 set thriller over Hardin Calhoun to advance to the Sectional finals against Valmeyer, who beat the hosts in 3 sets. At Windsor, the host Lady Hatchets dominated Judah Christian and will play Cerro Gordo, who beat LeRoy in 3 sets.
In 2a action, it will be an all Breese final at Greenville as Breese Central beat Shelbyville 25-12, 25-12 and Mater Dei handled Staunton 25-11, 25-12. At Pinckneyville, Fairfield beat the host Lady Panthers in 3 sets and Carmi defeated Massac County.
In 4a, Belleville West won their match over O’Fallon in straight sets to advance to the finals of the Pekin Sectional. The semifinal match was played at Collinsville. They will play Normal West who beat Minooka.
