Altamont to Play For Third Place at State

Altamont went up against Arcola and won 37-22.

LEWISTOWN -- Altamont Junior High School will play for third place at the Class 8-2A State Girls Basketball Tournament at Lewistown High School.

Altamont won its opening game Saturday over Arcola. The Wildcats edged out to a 10-6 opening quarter lead on Arcola before pushing that to 20-14 at halftime. Altamont then came out in the second half and put the contest away with a 14-5 third period for a 37-22 win.

Brooke Runge tallied 22 points to guide the Wildcats to the win. She connected on three two-pointers, five three-pointers and was one of two at the line.

That win pushed Altamont into a semifinal round game against Winchester. The Wildcats again took the early lead going out to an 11-8 opening quarter. But Winchester started a comeback in the second period to pull within 18-17 at halftime then had a 21-13 second half run to win 38-31.

Ellie McManaway was the leading scorer for the Wildcats with 19. She hit nine baskets, one a three-pointer.

Altamont now sports a 26-1 record and will meet Bloomington Corpus Christi (22-4) at 6 p.m. Thursday for third place. Bloomington Corpus Christi opened the state tournament with a 37-25 win over Kankakee Bishop McNamara but fell to Decatur Hope 44-29.

Decatur Hope will meet Winchester for the state title at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Class 8-2A State Tournament

Game Two

Arcola                  6       8      5    3    --    22

Altamont           10    10    14    3    --    37

Arcola -- Budd 3, Warren 4, Hopkins 5, Hohlbauch 8, Gauna 2

Altamont -- Mette 5, Goeckner 2, Runge 22, Walker 2, McManaway 6

Game Five

Winchester             8    9    11    10    --    38

Altamont              11    7     8       5    --    31

Winchester -- Fox 9, Elliott 13, Slagle 7, Za. Evans 4, Zo. Evans 4, R. Evans 1

Altamont -- Mette 2, Pemberton 2, Goeckner 2, Runge 6, McManaway 19

The Wildcats come out of time out to meet Winchester at the Class 8-2A State Tournament Saturday.

                                                                                                                                               Scott Beal photos

Class 8-1A State Tournament

Sigel St. Michael saw its season come to a close in the Class 8-1A State Tournament at Clinton Junior High School.

The Sharpshooters took the early lead but Carthage came back with a big fourth quarter for a 32-27 victory.

St. Michael tallied an 8-6 opening quarter lead and led 12-9 at halftime and 21-18 going into the final quarter. But Carthage mounted a comeback with a 14-6 run.

The Sharpshooters were led by Hope Bueker with 12 points. St. Michael finished the season with a 19-5 record.

Carthage moved on to face Springfield Christian and won 26-21 to move into the championship game against Normal Epiphany. Carthage is 25-0 on the season and will play for the state title at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. In the third place game will be Springfield Chrisdtian against Hume Shiloh at 6.

Class 8-1A State Tournament

Sigel St. Michael             8    4    9      6    --    27

Carthage                        6    3    9    14    --    32

Sigel St. Michael -- Budde 4, Niebrugge 4, Ramert 1, Cremens 6, Bueker 12

Carthage -- Artman 6, Kirkham 4, Wood 2, Smith 4, Harrell 16