Paris girls win sectional championship at Pana

The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
Updated ·5 min read

Feb. 24—Paris notched a convincing 42-28 victory over host Pana in the Illinois Class 2A Pana Sectional championship game for girls high school basketball Thursday night.

The Tigers raised their season record to 30-3. Paris' Kaitlyn Coombes led all scorers with 21 points, including 12 free throws, 10 of those coming in the fourth quarter.

Paris led 18-9 at halftime. The Tigers hit six 3-pointers and shot 36% from the field.

Paris now faces Breese Mater Dei on Monday at 7 p.m. in the Salem Super-Sectional. Breese Mater Dei won its DuQuoin Sectional championship by a 40-38 margin Thursday.

College softball

—ISU splits — At Tuscaloosa, Ala., Indiana State split a pair of games on Day 1 of the Easton Bama Bash, falling to Southeastern Louisiana 1-0 and defeating Kennesaw State 1-0 in 10 innings Friday.

The Sycamores (4-3) will play two Saturday, starting at noon against No. 6-ranked Alabama and closing with a 7:30 matchup against Kennesaw State.

The Sycamores once again got strong outings from the pitching staff as Cassi Newbanks and Lexi Benko both threw complete games and gave up a combined one run. Indiana State is now 4-3 on the season.

Game One

After a leadoff walk from Southeastern, the Lions were able to get one the board first in the opening frame on an RBI groundout after a stolen base and a wild pitch. Sycamore starter Cassi Newbanks was able to get a ground ball to strand runners on second and third to limit the damage.

Olivia Patton led off the bottom of the first with a leadoff single but ISU couldn't get her home, keeping Southeastern's one run lead in tact after the opening frame. The Sycamores went down in order in the second in and third inning. Cassi Newbanks worked a 1-2-3 second inning and struck out her second batter of the afternoon in a scoreless third inning.

Southeastern threatened again in the fourth inning with a one-out double but Newbanks got the next two batters to keep it a one run ballgame. SLU starter Cera Blanchard continued her strong outing with a third consecutive 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the frame.

Both teams went down in order in the fifth inning as the game remained 1-0 in favor of the Lions. Cassi Newbanks stranded a runner in the top of the sixth, picking up her third strikeout of the game. Indiana State would go down in order in the bottom of the inning.

In the game's final inning, Newbanks picked up her fourth strikeout en route to another 1-2-3 inning. Isabella Henning got aboard with a two-out single to center followed by a TeAnn Bringle walk but the Sycamores could not cash in, falling 1-0 to Southeastern Louisiana in the opening game of the day.

Olivia Patton and Isabella Henning had the lone hits for the Sycamores while SLU finished with four.

Cassi Newbanks finished with a complete game, allowing just four hits while striking out four.

Game Two

It was another pitcher's duel in the second game of the day for ISU as neither team recorded a hit until the sixth inning.

Game two starter Lexi Benko was in command out of the gates, striking out three Owl hitters in the first inning.

Benko surrendered her first hit of the evening in the bottom of the sixth on an infield single. Kennedy Shade would give the Sycamores their first hit in the top of the seventh with a line drive single to right field.

With the game still tied 0-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Benko worked around a leadoff single and induced three-straight groundouts to send the game into extra innings.

In the top of the eighth inning, Isabella Henning got on with a two-out single to left center but that would be it for the Sycamores in the inning. Benko worked a quick 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half to extend the game into the ninth inning.

Kennedy Shade started the inning with her second hit of the game, an infield single, but ISU could not bring her around to score. In the bottom of the ninth, Benko once again set the Owls down in order, bringing on the 10th inning.

Olivia Patton doubled down the left field line with one away in the 10th to bring up Annie Tokarek who doubled off the base of the wall in right field to give Indiana State a 1-0 lead.

Benko would strike out a pair in the 10th to close out the victory, finishing with a 10 inning complete game. She struck out eight while allowing just four hits and zero walks to improve to 2-0 on the year.

Indiana State finished with five hits while Kennesaw State had four on the evening. The Sycamores 1-0 win is the first victory over the Owls in program history.

Luci Kapelka made her first collegiate start behind the plate, drawing two walks in her debut.

Up Next

The Sycamores are back in action on Saturday, beginning the day with a noon ET matchup with No. 6 ranked Alabama and closing out the day with a 7:30 ET nightcap against Kennesaw State.