25 Sports High School Friday - March 3, 2023

(25 News Now) - Friday was sectional championship night in boys high school basketball and we have five Central Illinois teams moving onto the State Elite 8 and Super-Sectionals.

In Class 3A, Metamora is headed back to Super-Sectionals for the second straight season after a 65-50 win over Central Illinois rival Peoria Richwoods. The Redbirds who will play in Monday’s Ottawa Super-Sectional against Burlington Central.

In Class 2A, a pair of rivalry matchups took center stage. At the Pleasant Plains Sectional, Bloomington Central Catholic rallied from down as many as 10 to knock off crosstown rival Normal U-High 72-69. Cole Certa scored 27 points for the Saints. They will play Pontiac at Monday’s Springfield Super-Sectional. Pontiac beat No. 1 Prairie Central 53-48 to win the Herscher sectional. The win is the first sectional title since 1962.

In Class 1A, Illini Bluffs is a sectional champ for just the second time ever and the first time since 1981. The No. 2 Tigers beat Camp Point Central 54-46 to claim the 1A Bushnell-Prairie City sectional championship. They will play Gibault Catholic in the Jacksonville Super-Sectional on Monday. Elsewhere in Class 1A, Bloomington Cornerstone Christian claimed the first sectional title in school history with a 46-33 win over Lexington. The Cyclones Chicago St. Francis de Sales at the Illinois State Super-Sectional on Monday.

In girls basketball, Peoria High’s terrific season wrapped up with the program’s first-ever state trophy. The Lions fell 48-35 to Nazareth Academy in their state semifinal matchup but rallied to beat Deerfield 86-67 for third place later in the evening.

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