LOCAL ROUNDUP: North Vermillion wins sectional championship

Mar. 5—VEEDERSBURG, Ind. — The North Vermillion boys basketball team were at a low point a few years back.

Battling from a 2-22 season in coach Cody Wright's first season, the Falcons have fought back to a 15-10 record this season and capped off their comeback on Saturday with a 52-35 win over Rossville in an IHSAA Class 1A Sectional Championship at Fountain Central High School.

"It's surreal, especially where came from," Wright said. "In my first year, we were 2-22 and I really didn't know what I was doing. We had an inexperienced group that played hard and we learned a lot. We kept working hard and the group that we have now was there for the 2-15 Covid year and they flipped the program around and I am really happy for them to experience a winning culture.."

North Vermillion's defense was on display in the win. The Hornets had scored at least 50 points in the last five games, including at least 60 points in two sectional wins over Attica and Fountain Central.

"Rossville is really good and we had to play great basketball to win," Wright said. "We are a little bit bigger than most teams, but slower, so I was concerned with how they push the ball up the court and how well they shoot. Also, watching them beat Fountain Central by 15 the night before was concerning because they played us close a few weeks ago.

"We were worried but we had a chance and we it was our best defensive game for the second game in a row. Our offense was great, but we held Rossville to 20 points under their average, so the defense saved us."

Owen Edwards led the Falcons with 23 points, while Cody Tryon had 11 and Jerome White and Matthew Dawson each had eight points.

"Owen and Cody Tryon have been our X-factors," Wright said. "Matthew Dawson has been very consistent with 8-12 points and 10 rebounds a game. In order for us to be good, Cody and Owen have to step it up and put points on the board and Owen did that with 11 first quarter points on Saturday. Owen has done that in spurts this year, so I know he is capable and I am glad this happened on Saturday and I hope it continues through the weekend."

The Falcons will go to regional play on Saturday against Fort Wayne Canterbury (15-9) at Frankfort at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

"They are very athletic and very long and lanky. It will be a challenge and it will be one of the toughest test of the year," Wright said. "I think if we bring the same energy and intensity we brought to the sectional, we have a really good chance. I think we are confident that we can do it, but it will not be a easy feat for us. I am really proud with how the program has turned around. It wasn't me, it was them putting in the work."

MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Lincoln Land 70, DACC 53

SPRINGFIELD — The Danville Area Community College men's basketball team did not have a strong finish to the regular season on Saturday, losing to Lincoln Land 70-53.

Ryan Caddell had 18 points to lead the Jaguars, who was only down 28-24 at halftime, while Terrence Ringo had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Darius Davis had six points and Payton Weemer had four points and six rebounds.

Axel Laby had 18 points to lead the Loggers, while Kyle Leonard had 17 and Camren Kincaid and Jermontre Young each had 11 points.

The Jaguars will take on the Loggers again on Wednesday, this time in an Region 24 quarterfinal at 7 p.m. at Mary Miller Gym.

At Springfield

Lincoln Land Community College 70, Danville Area Community College 53

DACC (53) — Martez Rhodes 1-4 0-0 3, Jaylen Simmons 0-5 0-0 0, Donovan Parker 1-3 0-0 2, Ryan Caddell 7-11 0-0 18, Terrence Ringo 7-11 2-6 16. Dredon Nunn 0-3 0-0 0, Jameer Ajibade 1-2 0-0 2, Darius Davis 3-8 0-0 6, JaeSean Martin 0-1 2-2 2, Jaydin Dunlap 0-1 0-0 0, Lorenzo McMillion 0-1 0-0 0, Payton Weemer 2-3 0-0 4, Trevin Williams 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 22-55 4-8 53

Lincoln Land (70) — Jermontre Young 3-5 4-4 11, Kyle Leonard 5-7 3-4 17, Dane Foster 2-8 0-0 5, Camren Kincaid 2-9 7-11 11, Nick Cook 0-4 0-0 0, Jermale Young 1-6 0-2 3, David Laby 2-4 1-2 5, Stephan Douglas 0-1 0-0 0, Axel Laby 7-10 4-8 18, Brendenn Robinson 0-2 0-0 0, Kanye Montgomery 0 0-0 0-0 0, Mick Downs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-56 19-31.

DACC;24;29;—; 53

LLCC;28;42;—; 70

3-point goals — DACC 5-17 (Caddell 4-6, Rhodes 1-2, Simmons, Parker 0-1, Weemer 0-1, Williams 0-1, Nunn 0-2, Davis 0-3); LLCC 7-14 (Leonard 4-4, Young 1-2, Foster 1-3, Young 1-4, Douglas 0-1). Rebounds — DACC 39 (Ringo 11); LLCC 31 (Foster 6). Assists — DACC 13 (Martin 3); LLCC 7 (Foster 3). Steals — DACC 4 (Simmons, Ringo, Nunn, Weemer); LLCC 8 (Kincaid, Laby 2). Turnovers — DACC 20, LLCC 7. Total fouls — DACC 22, LLCC 9. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — none.

WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Lincoln Land 84, DACC 55

SPRINGFIELD — The Lady Jaguars were down 34-13 in the first quarter and could not recover in a loss to the Loggers on Saturday.

Jillisa Briggs had 13 points and 14 rebounds for Danville Area Community College, while Keiara Gregory had 16 points and five assists, Rylee Dowers had 13 points and three steals, Jayla Greer had seven points and six rebounds and Wariya Alhassan had four points and nine rebounds.

Marley Smith had 18 points for Lincoln Land, while Megan Harrell had 17 points and Avrie Schmidt added 14.

The Lady Jaguars will return to Springfield on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. for an Region 24 Tournament quarterfinal.

At Springfield

Lincoln Land Community College 84, Danville Area Community College 55

DACC (55) — Wariya Alhassan 2-8 0-0 4, Keiara Gregory 5-20 6-6 16, Jillisa Briggs 6-10 1-4 13, Jayla Greer 2-7 2-2 7, Rylee Dowers 3-13 4-4 13, Julissa Danglade 0-2 0-0 0, Briana Hernandez 0-0 0-0 0, Stephanie Stephen 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 19-61 13-16 55.

LLCC (84) — Sam Lindhorst 3-13 0-2 9, Dubin Thomas 3-8 0-0 8, Megan Harrell 5-11 7-13 17, Marley Smith 8-14 2-2 18, Avrie Schmidt 4-13 4-4 14, Trinity Tingley 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Nowaskie 2-2 0-0 5, Rilee Riggs 0-1 0-0 0, Whitney Rumbold 2-4 4-4 8, Olivia Marchizza 1-3 0-0 2, Nolee Sollars 1-5 0-0 3. Totals: 29-75 17-25 84.

DACC;13;15;12;15;—; 55

LLCC;34;14;16;20 ;—; 84

3-point goals — DACC 4-14 (Dowers 3-8, Greer 1-2, Gregory 0-4); LLCC 9-32 (Lindhorst 3-8, Thomas 2-7, Schmidt 2-8, Nowaskie 1-1, Sollars 1-5, Marchizza 0-1, Tingley 0-1, Harrell 0-1). Rebounds — DACC 35 (Briggs 14); LLCC 41 (Lindhorst 11). Assists — DACC 9 (Gregory 5); LLCC 21 (Lindhorst 6). Steals — DACC 5 (Dowers 3); LLCC 10 (Schmidt 3). Turnovers — DACC 26, LLCC 11. Total fouls — DACC 14, LLCC 16. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — none.

PREP TRACK

Danville competes in invite

CHAMPAIGN — Both the Viking boys and girls teams battled some of the best in Saturday's First to the Finish Charger Invite at the University of Illinois.

The girls team took fourth as a team with Nickiya Shields winning the triple jump in an attempt of 11.12 meters and was second in the 60 meter hurdles (9.16 seconds).

Samantha Brown won the pole vault (2.60m) while teammate Abby Decker was second (2.10m). Gabi Huerta was tied for third in the high jump (1.47m), with Caly Billips was fifth (1.37m). Decker was fifth in the long jump (5.12m) with Ramayah Poke was sixth (5.10m) and Ashanti Conaway was sixth in the 200 (27.84).

The 800 relay team of Jhe'Nyi Parker, Shields, Da'Sani Lewis and Conaway was third at 1:48.95, while the 1,600 team of Decker, Huerta, Lewis and Shields took fourth at 4:24.44.

On the boys side, the varsity competition was split into three classes with Danville doing much of its finishes in Varsity A and Varsity B.

In Varsity B, Victor Jones was tied for first in the high jump (1.85m), while D'Mario Jackson was second in the 200 (22.98), Aiden Henderson was second in the long jump (6.45m), Jerry Reed, Jr. was third in the triple jump (12.50m), Jayden Rowell was fourth in the 60 dash (7.32) and Kaden Vance was sixth in the 400 (57.24).

In Varsity A, Jackson was third in the 60 dash (7.22), Davari Boyd was fourth (6.22m), Rowell was fifth in the 200 (23.71) and PerSirus Menifield was seventh in the high jump (1.75m).

In Varsity C, Reed was fifth in the long jump (6.05m) and DeVante Johnson was fourth in the triple jump (11.14m) and Young was sixth in the 60 dash (7.58).

The teams will go to the Rantoul Invite on Saturday.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

DACC wins one at Mattoon

MATTOON — The Jaguars played four games over the weekend at Mattoon and was able to come out with one win.

The win was in the first game of Sunday's action with a 6-1 win over Olive-Harvey. Ryan DeGroot and Brock Bacus each had two hits and a RBI and Nick Krueger got eight strikeouts and gave up only three hits on the mound.

DACC started the weekend with a 5-2 loss to McHenry Community College on Saturday. Kody Morton and Carter Wambach each had an RBI and Bacus and Drew Pinkston each had two hits. The Jaguars then lost to Olive-Harvey 9-2 with Shea Zbrozek getting an RBI.

DACC ended the weekend in Sunday's second game with a 10-0 loss to Olney Central with Pinkston getting two hits.

The Jaguars will be in action on Saturday when they host Illinois Central for a doubleheader.

COLLEGE SOFTBALL

DACC starts 1-3

DANVILLE — The Lady Jaguars had a tough first weekend of action after winning the season opener on Sunday.

Danville Area Community College beat the College of Lake County 9-4 in that opener. Gloria Richardson had two hits and a RBI, while Rylee Richey, Ava Action, Ali Grenzebach and Amaria Wall each had a RBI.

In the second game on Sunday, the Lady Jaguars lost 14-10 as Grenzebach had two hits with a home run and four RBIs, Kaylee Kline had two hits and two RBIs, Richey had two RBIs, Wall had two hits and Kenley VanBibber and Molly Besser each had one RBI.

On Monday, the Lady Jaguars hosted Triton College and lost the first game 10-1 and the second game 11-5.

Kelsey Martledge had two hits in the first game for DACC, while Richardson had three hits and two RBIs, Kennedy Hudson had two RBIs, Pailei Cripe had two hits and Richey had an RBI.

The Lady Jaguars will have games this weekend at Evansville, Ind. over the weekend with six games stretching from Friday through Sunday.