Thursday, February 28, 2008 11:07 PM CST
Olney set to battle Bismarck-Henning in Class 2A sectional championship game tonight
By MIKE MONAHAN, Staff Writer
mmonahan@jg-tc.com
CASEY -- Olney, 28-3, and Bismarck-Henning, 29-2, square off tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the IHSA Class 2A Sectional Championship at Casey-Westfield High School. The winner is to play the victor of the Bloomington Central Catholic-Stanford Olympia game in the super-sectional at Western Illinois University in Macomb at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Bismarck is ranked No. 4, while Olney is No. 6.
Olney, a member of the Apollo Conference, has won seven straight games. The Tigers have are going for their sixth sectional title and first since the 2003-04 season. Two of Olney’s losses were to Mount Zion (60-49) Nov. 30 at Mount Zion and 54-45 Jan. 11 at Olney. The last loss was a 46-44 overtime decision to Effingham, a team that is playing for the Class 3A regional title tonight against Salem.
Bismarck, a member of the Vermillion Valley Conference, has won 18 straight games and is going for its first-ever sectional title. The Blue Devils’ two losses were to Salt Fork (62-58) in the championship game of the Hayden Athletic Tournament and a Nov. 24 loss to Chrisman 65-56 in the championship game of the 41st Annual Topper Classic.
The game features a matchup of two big men in Olney’s Keane Thomann, a 6-foot-11, 255-pound senior, who is headed to Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Mo., a Division II school. Thomann is Olney’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder. Thomann had 13 points and 12 rebounds in the win over the Sages.
Bismarck is led by 6-10 senior Trey McCorkle, who is headed to Division I Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne. McCorkle, who scored 25 points in the win, missed 11 games with a foot injury.
Olney advanced to the championship with a 61-37 win over Monticello as they held the Sages to just 2-of-21 (10 percent) shooting from the field during a span of 14 minutes, 55 seconds as they outscored Monticello 34-7 during that time.
The Blue Devils overcame a 12-point second half deficit against Effingham St. Anthony to win 56-48.
Doors are to open at 6 p.m. and the price of all tickets, both general admission and reserved, are $5 each.
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Cumberland’s Silas Gabel, a sophomore, is among the eight to shoot tonight at 6:50 p.m. prior to the IHSA Class 2A Sectional championship at Casey. The top four advanced to Peoria’s Carver Arena for the state preliminaries Thursday.
Also at Parkland College in Champaign three area players are to compete at 6:50 prior to the IHSA Class 1A Sectional championship game between Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley and Fisher. Arthur’s Wes Dukeman, a senior and junior Tim Wilson along with Sullivan’s Dalton Shasteen, a junior are among the eight competing. The top four advance to the state preliminaries set for Thursday.
Contact Mike Monahan at mmonahan@jg-tc.com or 238-6854.
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