Winter Sports 2019 Season A guide to all the winter sports action around Iroquois County
A special supplement to the Times-Republic
Iroquois County
Iroquois County High School Winter Sports 2019
Cissna Park
Timberwolves Clifton Central Comets Donovan Wildcats Iroquois West Raiders
Milford Bearcats
Watseka Warriors
November 2019 Page 1
Page 2 November 2019
Iroquois County High School Winter Sports 2019
Big shoes to fill as Timberwolves look to regroup By ZACK WATERS sports@intranix.com The Cissna Park Timberwolves’ basketball program is heading for some major changes this season. Losing five seniors, all of which were starting members of last seasons’ team, is never easy. Couple that with the fact that last season the Timberwolves’ had one of the most successful seasons in the history of the school and earned themselves the number two spot in the state, it’s easy to see that Cissna Park’s new head coach, Seth Johnson, has same big shoes to fill after the retirement of long time coach Kevin Long. But, Johnson is optimistic on the outlook of of his team. “We are very excited and really looking forward to the upcoming season. We had a very productive off-season where we focused on finding our strengths and weaknesses with a young and inexperienced group of guys,” he said. Johnson is looking to his upperclassmen to lead the charge this season and step up to provide assistance to the younger athletes on the team. “Going in to this season, we feel like we have a solid, young core, with some very valuable upperclassman leaders in Keegan Boyle, Penn Stoller and Ian Rogers,” said Johnson. “With all five of our starters graduating last year, we have to have different guys step up because we are only returning 25% of our scoring and 15% of our rebounding. Our returning lettermen, two seniors and one junior and have a solid supporting cast that has had to face our well decorated varsity team the last couple of years.” Another issue the team will have to overcome this season is the loss of their two 6’7 seniors, Christian and Julian Stadeli. The team’s absence of size is something Johnson plans to adjust for, however. “We may have lost a lot of physical size since last year, but the size of our hearts have stayed the same. With our lack of size, we will have to change the whole dynamic of our offense and defense,” he said. “Knowing that we have the capability of having 8-10 players that will be fighting for playing time at the varsity level, we are going to turn up the tempo on both offense and defense.” Johnson also made it clear that his team has the
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED The 2019 Cissna Park Timberwolves pose for their photo. Front row, left to right: Assistant coach Jim Rogers, Gavin Savoree, Bryce Sluis, Devin Hull, Keegan Boyle, Ian Rogers, Brendan Trumann, Sam Kaeb. Back row: James Yergler, Penn Stoller, Malaki Verkler, Ryan King, Gavin Speirs, Tanner Garrison, Harrison Young and head coach Seth Johnson. drive and passion for the game and is set out for create their own legacy. If we have all our guys another successful season and are not to be misgiving 110% day in and day out, we just might judged or written off. “These guys will give everything they have to surprise some people.” No. Name Year 5 Devin Hull Jr. 10 Gavin Savoree So. 11 Keegan Boyle Sr. 14 Bryce Sluis So. 20 Penn Stoller Sr. 22 Sam Kaeb So. 24 Ian Rogers Jr. 25 Malaki Verkler So. 30 Gavin Speirs Sr. 31 Brendan Trumann Jr. 35 Tanner Garrison So. 55 Ryan King Jr.
Date 11/26 12/3-12/7 12/10 12/12-12/17 12/21 1/03 1/10 1/11 1/14 1/17 1/18 1/24 1/25 1/28 1/31 2/04-2/08 2/14 2/15 2/18 2/21 2/24-2/28 3/03-3/-06 3/10 3/13-3/14
Opponent Illinois Lutheran SJO Leader Classic Armstrong Watseka Hol Tourn Bismarck-Henning St. Joseph-Ogden Iroquois West SJO Shootout South Newton Clifton Central St. Anne Dwight Bishop McNamara GCMS Watseka Milford Momence Arcola Tri-Point PBL Class A Regional Class A Sectional Class A Super-Sectional Class A State
Time Place 5:30 p.m. Home TBA SJO 5:30 p.m. Home TBA Watseka TBA Away 6 p.m. Away 6 p.m. Away TBA SJO 7 p.m. Home 5:30 p.m. Home 1 p.m. Away 5:30 p.m. Away 1 p.m. Away 5:30 p.m. Away 5:30 p.m. Home 1:00 p.m. Home 6 p.m. Away 1 p.m. Away 5:30 p.m. Home 5:30 p.m. Home TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA Peoria
Work ethic key as Lady Timberwolves look to young leadership Photo by ZACK WATERS The Cissna Park Lady Timberwolves’ basketball team stand in front of the school’s trophy case. Front row, left to right: Allison Wessels, Tricia Karas, Riley Maul, Sarah Hardison, Kenadee Edelman. Back row: Lauren Kaeb, Emma Morrical, Mikayla Knake, Bonnie Russell, Alexis Seggebruch, Kristen Walder. By ZACK WATERS sports@intranix.com With just five wins on the season last year, the Cissna Park Lady Timberwolves’ girls basketball team is looking to make some improvements to their program this season. With no juniors on the team last season and the loss of five seniors to graduation, the team is now looking to last year’s sophomores to step up as upperclassmen this year and take charge of the team. “We did lose a lot from last year’s graduation class. With those girls gone, we are looking to fill their shoes as a team. We cannot replace one girl with another. Each girl has their own set of skills that we can use for our team to be successful. We are working on finding out which girl can provide what skills to our team this season,” said head coach Anthony Videka. “Our leadership usually comes from the seniors but we do not have that luxury this season. What we do have are juniors with some experience. Two girls, Kenadee Edelman and Lauren Kaeb gave us significant minutes last season and we have been leaning on them for our leadership. Other girls have stepped up too. Our vocal leadership is being taken care of by three other juniors in Bonnie Russell, Sarah Hardison, and Kristen Walder. Our
leaders by example have been Allison Wessels and two other juniors mentioned before in Kenadee Edelman and Lauren Kaeb. After such a drastic change in personnel and with the season quickly approaching, the Lady Timberwolves’ have created goals for themselves they intend to accomplish as they season progresses. “Each year we ask the girls to write their goals out. All of them at some point wrote to get better as an individual and as a team. We had an uncharacteristic year last year, in terms of wins for a Cissna Park team. Our work ethic last season was great, but we could not get as many wins as we wanted,” Videka said. “This season, our girls have had a great mindset. They want to get better and better every day. The girls have pushed and challenged the coaching staff to find ways to keep improving them.” With such a hardworking team, Videka said he is eager to see it all put in to motion and show what they can achieve as a unit. “We had a productive summer and a great first week of practice. Although we are young this season, we have one of the hardest working groups I have had the opportunity to coach,” he said. The dedication these girls have given is wonderful.”
Date 12/03 12/07 12/09 12/14 12/17 12/21 12/26 1/04 1/09 1/11 1/14 1/16 1/18 1/20-25 1/27 1/30 2/01 2/03 2/06 2/10-2/13 2/17-2/20
Opponent Unity High School Ridgeview Iroquois West Fisher Grant Park Judah Christian Bismarck-Henning GCMS Clifton Central Hoopeston South Newton Watseka Milford SVC Tournament LeRoy Momence IL Lutheran Dwight PBL IHSA Regionals IHSA Sectionals
Time 5:30 p.m. 10 a.m. 5:30 p.m. 10 a.m. 5:30 p.m. 10 a.m. TBA 10 a.m. 5:30 p.m. 10 a.m. 5:30 p.m. 6 p.m. 5:30 p.m. TBA 5:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 2 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 6 p.m. TBA TBA
Place Home Away Home Away Home Away Away Home Away Away Home Away Home Away Home Home Away Home Away TBA TBA
No. Name Year 1 Bonnie Russell Jr. 2 Alexis Seggeburch So. 3 Kenadee Edelman Jr. 4 Mikayla Knake Fr. 5 Kristen Walder Jr. 10 Sarah Hardison Jr. 11 Emma Morrical So. 14 Tricia Karas Fr. 15 Allison Wessels Jr. 21 Lauren Kaeb Jr. 32 Riley Maul Fr.
Iroquois County High School Winter Sports 2019
November 2019 Page 3
Central wrestling falls back to 1A, hopes for another successful season
By ZACK WATERS sports@intranix.com After finishing with a the season with 22 total wins, the Clifton Central Wrestling team will now be heading back down to 1A. The team had a successful season last year, even harboring a second place state qualifier in now graduate, Thomas Konetski. The team will return a total of 11 starting wrestlers from last season as well as adding a number of competitive freshman athletes to the roster. “We hope to continue the streak of placers now at six seasons in a row with a strong mix of experience and youthful talent,” said head coach, Travis Williams. The tribe is led by two senior sectional qualifiers, Dane Thorne and Nick Panozzo. Sitting at 132 and 220, respectively, Williams said the two will be worth keeping an eye out for this upcoming season. “Both (Thorne) and (Panozzo) are multiple time Photo by STEVE SCOGGANS sectional qualifiers and are coming back strong The Clifton Central varsity wrestling team, in no particular order: Brayden Morris, Gage focused for more success and building on last years Poyner, Harrison Kent, Tyler Morris, Masen Hess, Dane Thorne, Jimmy Peters, Nick Pansuccess,” said Williams. ozzo, Garron Perzee, Bryan Winkel, Auston Miller, Cade Alexander , Trystan Schacht, Nate “Dane is just a handful of wins from 100 with a Kuntz, Giacomo Panozzo, Seth Mcdivitt. career record of 86-22. With double digit returnees we are looking forward on building toward a successful campaign.” The team kicked off their season on Nov. 26 hosting Rantoul and BBCHS. Date Opponent Time Place 12/03 Coal City and Pontiac 5:30 p.m. Away 12/07 Seneca Invite 9 a.m. Away 12/10 St. Joe-Ogden and Oakwood 5:30 p.m. Away Weight Name 12/14 Quad 9 a.m. Home 106 Brayden Morris 12/16 Manteno 5 p.m. Home 113 Gage Poyner 12/19 Reed Custer and 120 Harrison Kent GCMS Triangular 5:30 p.m. Away 126 Tyler Morris 12/27-12/28 Abe’s Rumble TBA Away 132 Masen Hess 1/07 Herscher and 138 Dane Thorne Bishop Mac 5 p.m. Home 145 Jimmy Peters 1/10-1/11 Princeton Invitational TBA Away 152 Nick Panozzo 1/18 Reed Custer Comet 160 Garron Perzee Classic 9 a.m. Away Bryan Winkel 1/21 Wilmington 5:30 p.m. Away 170 Auston Miller 1/25 TVC Meet 9 a.m. Away 182 Cade Alexander 1/28 Peotone 5:30 p.m. Home Trystan Schacht 1/29 Ottawa Township 5:30 p.m. Home 195 Nate Kuntz 2/08 IHSA Individual 285 Giacomo Panozzo Regionals TBA Away Seth Mcdivitt 2/14-2/15 IHSA Individual Sectionals TBA Away 2/20-2/22 IHSA Individual State Finals TBA Away
BEST OF LUCK TO ALL TEAMS!
Central Girls Basketball Schedule (see page 4 for story) Date Opponent Time Place 12/03 Milford 7 p.m. Home 12/05 Watseka 7:30 p.m. Away 12/07 Wilmington 10 a.m. Away 12/09 Prairie Central 7 p.m. Home 12/10 St. Anne 7 p.m. Away 12/12 PBL 7 p.m. Away 12/14, 16, 18 IW Holiday Hoops TBA Away 12/19 Dwight 5:30 p.m. Home 12/21 Peotone 12:30 p.m. Home 1/03 Gardner-South Wil 5 p.m. Away 1/07 Beecher 7 p.m. Away 1/09 Cissna Park 5:30 p.m. Home 1/13 Urbana 7 p.m. Away 1/14 Manteno 7 p.m. Home 1/16 Momence 7:30 p.m. Away 1/20-1/25 SVC Tournament TBA Away 1/27 Donovan 5:30 p.m. Away 1/29 Herscher 7 p.m. Away 1/30 South Newton 7 p.m. Home 2/04 Tri-Point 7 p.m. Home 2/06 Iroquois West 7 p.m. Home 2/10 IHSA TBA Away
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Page 4 November 2019
Iroquois County High School Winter Sports 2019
Photo by STEVE SCOGGANS The Central Comets’ boys basketball team get their team photo taken. Front row, left to right: Miles Price, Jacob Shoven, Kyle Peters, Nathan Gray, Trevor Meier, Jayson Harris. Back row: Carson Turner, Caden Perry, Nick Krueger, Caleb Toberman, Jay Lemenager, Riley Meier.
Date 11/25 11/30 12/06 12/13 12/16 12/17 12/18 12/26-28 1/03 1/07 1/09 1/10 1/17 1/18 1/21 1/22 1/27 1/31 2/1 2/4, 2/7-8 2/12 2/14 2/17 2/21 2/24
Opponent Wilmington Watseka Gardner-S Wil Paxton-Buckley-Loda Wilmington Wilmington Wilmington Kankakee Hol. Tourn, Herscher Grant Park St. Anne Dwight Cissna Park Peotone Rich South Beecher Tri-Point Momence Beecher shootout SVC Tournament Manteno South Newton Reed-Custer Iroquois West IHSA Regional
Time 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. TBA 7:30 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. TBA TBA 7:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. TBA
Place Home Home Away Home Away Away Away Away Home Away Away Away Away Home Away Home Home Home Away Away Home Away Home Away Away
Offill back as Central Comets head coach Clifton Central head coach Brent Offill is returning in his second year as the head coach of the Clifton Central boys basketball team. “When I started a year ago my goal was to create sustainability in the program,” said Offill. “Losing leaders like a Darryl Harris or Ben Robison is difficult but I’m hoping the culture
will sustain without them and the next group of leaders will emerge.” In terms of leadership, it’s anyones ball game as far as Offill is concerned. “I’m hoping some seniors step up to that role but we have juniors and sophs that can take the reigns if needed in the leadership role,” he said. “I’m really looking for seniors Kyle Peters,
Nathan Gray and Caleb Toberman to step up this season as well as juniors Jacob Shoven and Jay Lemenager to continue to be vital contributors through out the season.” The team will be looking to improve on their record of 15-10 last season and their first game was against Wilmington at home on Nov. 25.
Clifton Central Lady Comets aspire to realize full potential By ZACK WATERS sports@intranix.com The Clifton Central Lady Comets’ basketball team have spent the first week of the season participating in the Beecher tournament and set out to try and establish roles for each player. “I’m not going to lie, the Beecher tournament is a tough tournament,” said head coach Rebecca Swigert-Fenton. Swigert-Fenton, who is now in her fifth season as coach of the girls’ varsity team at Central, said that though their team is in a bit of a learning curve this season, the potential of their team is apparent. “This season, I have more post players than guards which is very unusual in my world. So, we’re just getting each other comfortable in their roles and staying healthy,” she said. “We definitely are a scrappy, rebounding team. We excel at boxing out and all of the little fundamentals that won’t necessarily pop up in the stats but are going to help keep up with some other competitive teams. Now, we just need to get better at scoring because that will make our lives a lot easier.” The team also faces a challenging schedule in the coming weeks, which the Lady Comets will need to be prepared for. “Last year was probably the toughest schedule we’ve had in a while. So, the goal this year was to make it at least a little bit easier on us and that didn’t really happen so we have our work cut out for us,” said Swigert-Fenton. Returning for a third year this season is Riley Thompson. “Riley Thompson is a three year starter for us and is returning, so we have high expectations from her as a captain. Hallie Wilken does such a
Photo by STEVE SCOGGANS The Central Lady Comets, not in order: Jillian Baker, Riley Thompson, Hanna Offerman, Madison Kleinert, Kaitlyne Beherns, Kaylie Warpet and Ilana Von Hoveln. Back row: Coach Rebecca Swigert-Fenton, Allison Cox, Laney Bottorff, Kamryn Grice, Sarah Gigl, Kendall Antons, Hallie Wilken and coach Ashley Morris. good job rebounding for us and Kamryn Grice is another one to watch for down in the post as well. The Lady Comets will take on Wilmington on the road on Dec. 7.
No. 1 2 4 5 10 11 12
Name Jillian Baker Hanna Offerman Kamryn Grice Kaylie Warpet Allison Cox Kendall Antons Hallie Wilken
Year Jr. Sr. Jr. Jr. So. Jr. Jr.
No. 13 14 15 21 22 30 32
Name Kaitlyne Beherns Laney Bottorff Riley Thompson Sarah Gigl Natalie Prairie Madison Kleinert Ilana Von Hoveln
Year Sr. So. Sr. Jr. Fr. Sr. Jr.
See page 3 for Central Girls Basketball Schedule
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Let’s Hear It for Our Student Athletes!
As we kick off a new school year, we’d like to take time out to salute the dedicated students who go the extra mile in the classroom, on the court and in the field to reach their goals. Their determination and hard work set a great example, and we wish all of our student athletes much success in the new school year and beyond. Keep up the great work!
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Iroquois County High School Winter Sports 2019
November 2019 Page 5
Lady Wildcats young but look to compete with balanced schedule By ZACK WATERS sports@intranix.com The Donovan Lady Wildcats are in the process of rebuiliding their program this season. Coaching the Lady Wildcats is Lane Walters. Walters said that all though things did not go as they hoped last season, the team’s growth over the last year has really proven they have the ability to compete. ”We’re doing well so far. We are basically the same team as we had last year, so we are still young. This year, we have one senior, two juniors and our core sophomores that we had last year as freshman as well as one freshman. So, we are still low in numbers but I really think we are going to surprise some people this year,” she said. “We had a really tough season last year but not for lack of trying or lack of positive attitudes on their part. We just were young and inexperienced. Now, we are a little older, a little bit more experienced, but we are still in a rebuild year just like we were last year.” Photo contributed Leading the Lady Wildcats this season is the The Donovan Lady Wildcats are looking to improve on last years season. Front row, left to right: team’s lone senior, Jerzie Waltz. Emalee McManaway, Samantha Souligne, Kayden Stahlschmidt, Jerzie Waltz. Back row: Claire “She used to take care of the ball for us last year, Miller, Paiton Lareau, Claudia Kilgore, Sophie O’Brien and Rhianna Norder. but I have switched things up this year and put her under the basket,” said Walters. Date Opponent Time Place “She gets those rebounds and has some power behind her so I like her 12/05 St. Anne 5:30 p.m. Home down low. Kayden Stahlschmidt is running the point for us this year which 12/06 Tri-Point 5:30 p.m. Away is freeing her up as well.” 12/09 Gardner South Wil 5:30 p.m. Away Being such a young team, adjustments needed to be made to the Lady 12/12 Illinois Lutheran 5:30 p.m. Home Wildcats were able to compete at a more balanced level. 12/17 South Newton 5:30 p.m. Home “Our AD worked really hard getting us some JV games this year, because 12/21 Iroquois West 9 a.m. Home I mean, for all intents and purposes we are a JV team playing against var12/27-28 TBD-Momence Holiday TBA Away sity teams,” Walters said. 1/06 Beecher 5:30 p.m. Away “So, I’m very excited 1/09 Grant Park 5:30 p.m. Home No. Name Year about those just so we 1/11 Gardner South Wil 10:15 a.m. Away can play some teams that 3 Kayden Stahlschmidt So. 1/11 Tri-Point 11:30 a.m. Away are more our fit and a 11/13 Momence 5:30 p.m. Home 4 Rhianna Norder So. better match for us. I’m 1/15 Watseka 5:30 p.m. Away Claire Miller So. hoping those games will 5 1/16 St. Anne 5:30 p.m. Away give us a little bit more 10 Emalee Mcmanaway So. 1/17 Beecher 5:30 p.m. Away of an understanding of 1/18 Kankakee Trin Acad 10 a.m. Away 11 Sophie O’Brien Jr. where we are as far as 1/23 Kankakee Trin Acad 6 p.m. Home So. our age and experience 20 Claudia Kilgore 1/24 Tri-Point 6 p.m. Home goes. 23 Jerzie Waltz Sr. 1/27 Illinois Lutheran 5:30 p.m. Away The Donovan Lady 1/29 Grace Christian Acad 6 p.m. Home 40 Paiton Lareau Fr. Wildcats are 1-1 so far 1/31 Gardner South Wil 5:45 p.m. Away this season and will host 2/03 Beecher 5:30 p.m. Home St. Anne on Dec. 5.
Page 6 November 2019
Iroquois County High School Winter Sports 2019
Donovan Wildcats eager to turn over new leaf this season By ZACK WATERS sports@intranix.com Donovan Wildcats’ head coach Mason Parks is adamant about his team’s ability to turn over a new leaf this upcoming season. The team struggled last year, with their only win taking place early on in the season against Calvary Christian Academy. The basketball program itself is small in numbers, with only 13 players total. But Parks said that is a situation his team is willing to work around. “I really do think we are going to be better than we were last year,” he said. “With this same group of kids on the JV team last year, they did really well. So this team compliments each other really well and play extremely hard and enjoy laying together.” The team was set to take part in a tournament by this point in the season, but it was canceled. So, the Wildcats have used this time to focus at practice. “Normally we have four or five games under our belt right now, so we are going to be a step or two behind going into the season. But, as long as everyone can stay healthy I think we are going to be okay,” he said. “We’re more athletic than in years past and this team really wants to win. They’ve put a lot of work in. It’s just about growing as a team right now.” Taking up the leadership roles this year are Brodi Winge and Andy Onnen who both have several years of varsity experience between them.” “Those guys have really taken up the leadership role with them having the most varsity experience. That is something that we are really growing into. They really have to kind of take charge and hopefully we have one or two more of those juniors come along and help them out. “ The team’s first game will be on the road against Tri-Point on Dec. 6 and Parks said his team is eager to get things started. “They’re definitely hungry and chomping at the bit to play and are more excited to start the season than I’ve had in years past.”
Photo by ZACK WATERS The Donovan Wildcats basketball team pose for their photo. Front row: Caleb Klecan, Dalton Anderson, Tate Caposieno, Darrien Pocius. Back row: Head coach Mason Parks, Jonathan Themer, Andy Onnen, Brodi Winge and Weston Lareau. Date 12/05 12/06 12/10 12/12 12/13 12/14 12/20 12/21 1/10 1/17 1/18 1/21 1/23 1/24 1/28 1/31 2/07 2/10 2/14 2/18 2/21
Opponent Christian Academy Tri-Point St. Anne Prairie Central Momence TBD-Watseka Hol Tourn Gardner South Wilmington Iroquois West Illinois Lutheran Beecher Kankakee Trinity Academy Grant Park Kankakee Trinity Academy Tri-Point St. Anne Gardner South Wilmington Illinois Lutheran Grace Christian Academy Beecher Watseka Grant Park
Time 5:30 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 4:30 p.m. 7 p.m. TBA 6:30 p.m. 12 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 1 p.m. 7 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7 p.m.
Place Away Away Home Away Away TBD Home Home Home Away Away Home Home Home Away Away Away Away Home Away Away
No. Names Year 1 Michael Paris Jr 5 Tate Caposieno Jr 10 Brodi Winge Jr 13 Caleb Klecan Jr 22 Andy Onnen Jr 25 Darrien Pocius Jr 32 Weston Lareau So 33 Jonathan Themer So 44 Dalton Anderson So
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November 2019 Page 7
Iroquois County High School Winter Sports 2019
Arie returns, eyes new beginnings for Lady Raiders By ZACK WATERS sports@intranix.com The Iroquois West Lady Raiders girls basketball team welcomed back a familiar face this season as Kristy Arie made her return to the coaches position. Arie, who stepped away as head coach in 2017 to take on the Athletic Director position, is excited to be back in the role and is looking forward to taking on the challenges that lay ahead. “It’s one of those deals where when I stopped doing it, I didn’t want to stop doing it. It’s one thing I just had to do to get comfortable with my AD job and all of the things that came with that,” said Arie. “One reason part of me thinks I needed to step away is because now coming back it’s like I have this renewed excitement for the game again and wanting to approach it differently. More than anything, I’m just excited to be around competition again and the atmosphere. I’m looking forward to it.” Things are different this time around for Arie, as this time she is dealing with a much younger team than she is used to. But that won’t stop them from competing and getting better as they go. “As far as the style of basketball I like to play, I’ve always just been the team that is out there hustling and scrappy. With this particular group, we’re young in a lot of ways and I don’t have a lot of varsity experience so it’s a learning experience for me,” she said. “Before I stopped coaching, I had some pretty good groups. With this group, there is a lot of potential and that is the fun part for me and that’s how I am approaching it. I’m just looking at where we’re at now and how much fun it’s going to be to see them progress and see where they’re at even a month from now as opposed to where we started.” One thing Arie is focused on is bringing back the fire and competitiveness of years prior. “I didn’t know what to expect going in to the season. Watching them play the last couple of years, there hasn’t been a lot of excitement and emotion,” she said. “So for me, just trying to draw that part of it out of them is one of the things I’ve been pushing. I’ve really been getting after them and not settling for average but really pushing to get the most out
Photo contributed The Lady Raiders are ready to play. Front row: Ashton Miller, Chloe Baker, Emma Lopez, Anahi Munoz, Olivia Gaytan, Kayla Hartke, Aliyah Regan. Back row: Coach Amy Miller, Lesly Andrade, Taylor Talbert, Shelby Johnson, McKinley Tilstra, Abby Kocher, Shea Small, Nini Papunashvili and head coach Kristy Arie. Date 12/02 12/03 12/05 12/09 12/10 12/14 12/16 12/18 12/20 12/21 1/04 1/09 1/11 11/13 11/14 11/16 11/21 11/23 11/25 1/27 1/29 1/30 2/05 2/06
Opponent Champaign Centennial Peotone Momence Cissna Park Herscher IW Holiday Hoops IW Holiday Hoops IW Holiday Hoops Prairie Central Donovan II Lutheran Watseka GCMS Milford Urbana Paxton-Buckley-Loda SVC SVC SVC South Newton Beecher Dwight Tri-Point Central
Time 7:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7 p.m. 7:30 p.m. TBA TBA TBA 7:30 p.m. 9 a.m. 11 a.m. 6 p.m. 12:30 p.m. 6 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7 p.m. TBA TBA TBA 7 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m.
of them.” The Lady Raiders have a full plate this year in terms of competition and Arie is looking to crack down and take it all head on. “ I think we play a minimum of three nights a week every night until the end of the season
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so I think competitively over the course of the regular season I see us being able to compete,” she said.
No. 1 3 5 11 13 14 15 20 21 22 23 30 31 44 50
Place Home Home Home Away Home Home Home Home Home Away Away Home Away Home Away Away Away Away Away Away Home Home Away Away
Name Chloe Baker Shelby Johnson Aliyah Regan Giselle Lopez Olivia Gaytan Anahi Munoz Nini Papunashvili Lesly Andrade Abby Kocher Ashton Miller Kayla Hartke Shea Small Taylor Talbert McKinley Tilstra Destiny Thomas Kynnedi Kanosky
“To me, conference wise, it’s fair game. We just want to be out there competing and hopefully we have a shot.”
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Family success owned both on& the court and in the classroom. operated since 1043 S. Crescent St. 1967 Gilman, IL 60938 815-265-7310 1043 S. Crescent St. Gilman, IL 60938 H OMEMADE 815-265-7310 Family owned &
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Page 8 November 2019
Iroquois County High School Winter Sports 2019
Raiders hope to establish winning culture By ZACK WATERS sports@intranix.com With a record of 4-25 last season, the Iroquois West Raiders’ basketball team will be looking to make improvements with this years team. To do so, the team will lean on their returning varsity players to help guide them along the right path. “The loss of Max Grant will definitely be an adjustment we have to make in the early part of the season; however this year’s team does return 4 players that started at some point last year on varsity. The incoming juniors also did some really nice things last season on JV, and we believe that some of those successes will result in a more competitive balance moving forward,” said head coach Zach Monk. “The most important thing for this team is finding new vocal leadership on the floor. Although leadership is a difficult thing to establish in a winning culture, this group of young men is the ultimate example of what a student-athlete should represent. Every player on the team is an honor roll student and they all are involved in many facets of student life at IWHS,” he said. “We believe that some of these traits will filter onto the basketball court as the players start to hold themselves more accountable.” Monk is pleased with what he has seen from his team so far in the pre-season and is looking forward to putting to use much of what they have learned on the court in the off-season. “We started to see some small successes during the past summer in some of our shootouts. Practices so far this season have been very productive, and we believe that this competitive nature will translate to our games throughout the season.” According to Monk, the team’s main focus for the long run will be to push themselves when they are down and learning how to thrive under pressure and establish a winning culture. “Our ultimate goal is to learn how to win. Last season, we lost eight games by four points or less for a variety of reasons. I truly believe that winning is a habit and that teams that aren’t willing to make the small sacrifices in every aspect of the Date 11/30 12/03 12/06 12/10 12/12 12/13 12/14 12/16-12/17 12/21 1/03 1/10 1/13 1/14 1/17 1/18 1/21 1/24 1/28 2/01 2/04 2/07 2/08 2/13 2/14 2/18 2/21 2/24-26 and 2/28
Photo contributed The 2019 Iroquois West Raiders want to establish a winning culture this seaason. Front row: Peyton Rhodes, Tibaldo Alvarez, Kade Kimmel, Connor Price, Jack Pree and Mario Salazar. Back row: Jack McMillan, Landon Davis, Zach Rice, Cannon Leonard, Ty Pankey, Ryan Tilstra, Lucas Frank and Zach Gerling. game will not come out on top in times of adver- No. Name Year sity,” said Monk. 4 Jack McMillan Jr. “To establish a winning culture, our practices 5 Kade Kimmel Jr. have been more geared towards competitions and 10 Jack Pree Jr. many other goal oriented drills that forces us to 15 Ryan Tilstra Jr. understand the importance of the little things.” 20 Connor Price Jr. 21 22 23 24 25 32 33 34 43
Opponent Time GCMS Turkey Tourn TBA Armstrong 7:30 p.m. Momence 6 p.m. Milford 7:30 p.m. Bishop Mac 4:30 p.m. Hoopeston 8:15 p.m. TBD-Watseka Hol Tourn TBA TBD-Watseka Hol Tourn TBA Donovan 12 p.m. Blue Ridge 7:30 p.m. Cissna Park 7:30 p.m. Tri-Point 7 p.m. Prairie Central 7 p.m. Watseka 7:30 p.m. Herscher 7:30 p.m. Paxton-Buckley-Loda 6 p.m. Gardner South Wil 7 p.m. South Newton 6 p.m. TBA-Beecher Shootout TBA SVC Tournament TBA SVC Tournament TBA SVC Tournament TBA II Lutheran 7:30 p.m. Dwight 7 p.m. Ridgeview 7:30 p.m. Central 7:30 p.m. TBD-Boys Regional TBA
Place Away Away Away Away Away Away Away Away Away Away Home Away Away Away Home Home Home Home Away Home Home Home Home Away Home Home Home
WE SUPPORT OUR STUDENT ATHLETES
Zach Gerling Mario Salazar Landon Davis Peyton Rhodes Ty Pankey Lucas Frank Tibaldo Alvarez Cannon Leonard Zach Rice
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November 2019 Page 9
Iroquois County High School Winter Sports 2019
Young Lady Cats team looks to improve record By ZACK WATERS sports@intranix.com The Milford Lady Bearcats’ girls basketball team will be looking to improve on their 16-12 regular season record last season. The team graduated a total of seven seniors last season. Compare that to the three seniors on the team this year, it’s easy to see that the Lady Cats are lacking in the experience department. But, make no mistake about it, the three seniors on the team pack a powerful punch. Kaylee Warren, Jakki Mowrey and Maya McEwen all three saw a significant amount of floor time last year as Warren led the team with a total of 278 points to end the season. Mowrey also racked up a fair amount of points last season for the Lady Cats as well, ending her season with 111 all while leading the team in assists with 59. The team will turn to Maya McEwen for their height. Standing at 5’9, McEwen will certainly see the ball a fair number of times under the hoop. The team also boasts a total of six sophomores as well as one junior to round out the roster. The Lady Cats’ young age coupled with the leadership provided by their upperclassmen will set the team on a course for success in the coming years. The Lady Cats already have several games under their belt this season after participating in the Cissna Park Tip-Off tournament. Their next game will on the road against Schlarman on Nov. 30.
No. 15 23 4 11 14 33 12 35 30 31
Name Year Emmaleah Marshino So. Anna Hagan So. Jakki Mowrey Sr. Jordin Lucht Jr. Kaylee Warren Sr. Brynlee Wright So. Maya McEwen Sr. Tiffany Schroeder So. Abby Tovey So. Reyse Mussard So.
Photo contributed The Milford Lady Cats basketball team pose for their photo. Front row, left to right: Emmaleah Marshino, Anna Hagan, Jakki Mowrey, Jordin Lucht and Kaylee Warren. Back row: Brynlee Wright, Maya McEwen, Tiffany Schroeder, Abby Tovey and Reyse Mussard. Date 11/18-11/23 12/02 12/03 12/05 12/09 12/12 12/14 12/19 1/04 1/06 1/09 1/13 1/16 1/18 1/18 1/23 1/27 1/28 1/30 2/03 2/06
Opponent Tip Off Classic Schlarman Central Armstrong-Potomac Georgetown-Ridgefarm Bismarck-Henning IW Holiday Hoopla Hoopeston Watseka Salt Fork Oakwood Iroquois West Armstrong-Potomac Chrisman Cissna Park Judah Christian Westville South Newton Bismarck-Henning Schlarman Hoopeston
Time TBA 6 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. TBA 6 p.m. 10 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 1 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m.
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We Salute Our School Athletes
Wishing all of our school teams a safe and successful season. We hope you’ll experience the thrill of victory, but more importantly, that you’ll enjoy every minute of the fame. We salute your hard work, school spirit and commitment to the team. Good luck!
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Place Away Away Away Away Away Home TBA Away Home Home Away Away Home Home Away Away Away Away Away Home Home
Page 10 November 2019
Iroquois County High School Winter Sports 2019
Photo contributed The Milford Bearcats’ boys basketball team stands center court. Fron row, left to right: Klaytin Hunsinger, Nick Allen, Luke McCabe, Andrew White, Jarid Woodby. Back row: Trey Totheroh, Aaron Banning, Nicholas Warren, Tanner Sobkoviak, William Teig, Trace Flemming, Nicolas McKinley.
Milford aims sights on regional By ZACK WATERS sports@intranix.com Due to the success of the MCP Bearcats’ football team, the Milford boys basketball program has had a few scheduling conflicts to work around to start off the season. The team finished the regular season with a record of 20-12 as well as a conference record of 10-3 to end the 2018-19 season. The team will return three lettermen players this year in Nick Date Opponent 11/30 Schlarman 12/06 Armstrong-Potomac 12/10 Iroquois West 12/12 La Salette 12/12 Cissna Park 12/14 Cross over games Watseka tourney 12/26 Tourney Bismarck (2 games) 12/27 2 games 12/28 1 game 1/02 Grant Park 1/04 Watseka 1/07 Bismarck-Henning 1/10 Schlarman 1/11 Georgetown 1/14 Hoopeston 1/18 Chrisman 1/25 Judah Christian 1/28 Salt Fork 1/31 Oakwood 2/01 Cissna Park 2/07 Armstrong-Potomac 2/11 Westville 2/14 Bismarck-Henning 2/18 Schlarman 2/21 Hoopeston 2/24 Regional TBA
Allen, Klaytin Hunsinger and and Kaleb Harris as well as junior Trey Totheroh. Totheroah led the Champaign area in assists as a sophomore last year,” said head coach David Caldwell. “Nick Allen played a lot last season as well as Tanner Sobkoviak and Klaytin Hunsinger. Those four have a lot of experience and are who we are looking at for our leadership this season.” Once the team can maneuver around the tricky Time 7:30 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 5:45 p.m. 8:15 p.m.
Place Away Away Home Home Home
TBA TBA TBA TBA 11:15 a.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 5 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. TBA
Away Away Away Away Away Home Home Away Away Away Home Away Home Away Away Home Away Away Home Home TBA
GO! FIGHT! WIN!
complicated start to the season, Caldwell said that he’s optimistic about the outcome this year. “We’re hoping as the year goes on we’ll get ourselves figured out,” he said. “We have a pretty tough schedule to start out the year but once we can start getting our game plan together we’ll hopefully be fighting for the regional title and from there the sectional.” The team’s last appearance in the sectional championship game was back in 2014. So far this season, the Bearcats did manage a three point victory over Fountain Central with a score of 41-38 on Nov. 26 to start off their season on the right foot at the Schlarman tournament. The team will take on Donovan next but from there, their schedule only gets more difficult. The Bearcats will take on Bismarck-Henning and Schlarman to end the tournament with both of those teams possible contenders for the top spot. Milford’s first home game of the season will be on Dec. 10 against the Iroquois West Raiders. No. 10 30 15 33 1 11 2 3 5 23 22 25 4
Name Nick Allen Klaytin Hunsinger Tanner Sobkoviak Kaleb Harris Trace Fleming Trey Totheroh Luke McCabe Aaron Banning Jarid Woodby William Teig Nicolas McKinnley Nicholas Warren Andrew White
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November 2019 Page 11
Iroquois County High School Winter Sports 2019
Lady Warriors adapt to new roles By ZACK WATERS sports@intranix.com With a record of 26-4 last year as well as a competing against St. Joseph-Ogden for the sectional title, the Watseka Lady Warriors’ girls basketball team are back and ready for action. The team lost several experience players last season due to graduation and with only one senior on the team this year, the Lady Warriors are now looking to a much younger team to step up and fulfill those key roles. “We’re down a few players from last year,” said head coach, Barry Bauer. “Natalie Schroeder is really our only starting player returning back. We have girls that did get some experience last year but they’ll be in different roles this season. That’s really my biggest concern is people adapting to their roles, but it’s exciting because there is a lot of opportunity for our girls this year.” Apart from what Schroeder brings to the table, Bauer is also optimistic that the players willing to step up and take charge will come out of the woodwork. “I think the girls are excited. We lost so many seniors last season, so there is an excitement in the air because there is a new opportunity for them to get out on the floor. I think there is a lot of girls that are capable of being good leaders. I don’t think you tell them that you want them to step up and be a leader, I think it’s just something that evolves but we definitely have a couple that have No. 1 5 12 13 15 20 21 22 23 25 30 33 34 40
Name Natalie Schroeder Maggie Guimond Baylor Cluver Acelynn Gamino Allie Hoy Raegan Gooding Haley Essington Claire Curry Sydney McTaggart Teagan Cawthon Kennedy McTaggart Raegann Kochel Kadyn Stevens Kinzie Parsons
Year Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. So. So. Jr. So. So. Jr. Jr. So. Sr. Jr.
Photo contributed The Watseka Lady Warriors get set to take on the new season. Front row, left to right: Natalie Schroeder, Maggie Guimond, Baylor Cluver, Kadyn Stevens, Raegan Gooding, Sydney McTaggart, Allie Hoy. Back row: Assistant coach Aaron Hilgendorf, Teagan Cawthon, Raegann Kochel, Kennedy McTaggart, head coach Barry Bauer, Kinzie Parsons, Haley Essington, Acelynn Gamino and assistant coach Drew Parsons. that quality in them.” With the addition of several bigger named schools, the Lady Warriors’ schedule has definitely increased in competition. “We added Centennial, Danville and Urbana, so a lot of bigger schools. I would think Paxton is probably the favorite for our conference and the Peotone Holiday tournament has some bigger schools that are very successful too so I think it’s going to be a very challenging
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schedule,” said Bauer. “I think we can compete for the conference again but our schedule really is just getting us prepare for the post
Date 12/02 12/05 12/07 12/10 12/12 12/19 12/20 12/26-12/30 1/04 1/07 1/09 1/11 1/15 1/16 1/18 1/20 1/23 1/25 1/28 1/30 2/04 2/06 2/10-2/14 2/17-2/20
season.” After taking second place at the Cissna Park Tip-Off, losing only to the Bismarck-Henning Blue Devils, the Lady
Opponent Hoopeston Area Central Centennial Peotone Momence St. Anne Urbana Peotone Blue Devil Classic Milford Tri-Point Iroquois West Fisher Donovan Cissna Park South Newton SVC Tournament SVC Tournament SVC Tournament Danville PBL Beecher Dwight IHSA Regional IHSA Sectional
Warriors record so far this season is 4-1. Their next game will be on the road against Centennial on Dec. 7.
Time 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 1 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m.
Place Home Home Away Away Away Home Away
TBA 10 a.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 11 a.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 10 a.m. TBA TBA TBA 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m. TBA TBA
Away Away Home Away Home Home Home Away Home Home Home Home Home Away Away TBA TBA
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Page 12 November 2019
Iroquois County High School Winter Sports 2019
Photo contributed The Watseka Warriors are getting set to take on the upcoming season. Front row: Managers Colin Burdick and Almir Ademi, Garret White, Nick Albright, Bretten Walwer, Caden Giroux, Erik Raymer, and managers Dylan Harris, and Hudson Arseneau. Back row: Jameson Cluver, Jobey Grant, Jordan Schroeder, Maddux Rigsby, Hayden Courville, coach Josh Sertich, head coach Chad Cluver, coach Eric Starkey, Brayden Haines, Drew Wittenborn, Conner Curry, Hunter Meyer and Ethan LaBelle.
Warriors looking to take on challenging schedule By ZACK WATERS The Watseka Warriors basketball team has their eyes set on the horizon this season as they get set to Date 11/30 12/03 12/04 12/06 12/07 12/07 12/12-12/17 12/21 1/04 1/07 1/10 1/11 1/17 1/18 1/24 1/25 1/25 1/28 1/31 2/01 2/03 2/04-2/08 2/11 2/14 2/15 2/18 2/21 2/24-2/28 3/03-3/06
take on what looks to be one of their most challenging schedules in recent years. Head coach Chad Cluver said his
Opponent Central Schlarman Cissna Park G-RF LaSalette SJO Watseka Hol Tourn Eureka Shootout Milford Beecher South Newton St. Anne Iroquois West Grant Park Momence Central Soph Tourney Herscher Danville HS Cissna Park Central Soph Tourney Central Soph Tourney SVC Tournament GCMS PBL Hoopeston Area Donovan Dwight IHSA Regional IHSA Sectional
Time 6 p.m. 8 p.m. 5 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 1 p.m. 7 p.m. TBA TBA 6 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. TBA 5:30 p.m. 7:15 5:30 p.m. TBA TBA TBA 5:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. TBA TBA
Place Away Away Away Away Away Away Home Away Away Away Away Away Home Away Home Away Away Home Away Away Away Away Away Away Away Home Home TBA TBA
team has been working tirelessly to get up to speed and making the adjustments necessary to get themselves at peak performance and is pleased with what he’s been seeing so far this season. “Our very first practice this season was one of the best first practices I’ve had in a very long time,” he said. “Our guys adjusted a lot with our personnel over the summer and really worked on things and fine tuned some other things. When they came in that first practice it was like they remembered everything. It was like we came right from summer to that. The guys were really focused mentally, emotionally and they went hard. It was really nice to see that our basketball IQ has only improved from the summer.” Like last season, the team gets much of their leadership from their five senior members. “Caden Giroux, Bretten Walwer, Nick Albright have all been in the program for four years,” Cluver said. “Garrett White is now back, he moved away for a year and now he’s back and it’s fun to have him back in the program and Erik Raymer played as a freshman and is
now back as a senior for us.” The team will also look to play sophomore prospect, Jordan Schroeder, who Cluver said will see a significant amount of playing time. “We’re looking at (Schroeder) to help us with taking care of the ball. He can score as well so we will be asking a lot of him as a sophomore but he’s a hard worker and we will be looking for big things from him.” The team has their work cut out for them this season as far as their schedule is concerned and will be facing off with some tough competitors. “This is one of our toughest schedules. We play Chicago Carver at the Beaverville shootout and we play Danville at home. They’re a 4A school with division one players so that will be challenging,” said Cluver. “We’ve cranked it up and I think we’re ready for that. The whole thing is to get us ready for what we hope is a nice post season run and we want to keep challenging our kids and try to keep stepping our game up.”