Benton, West Frankfort, Illinois News | Franklin County News
Newspaper covering Franklin County, Illinois
Three Franklin County seniors will get to slip on their uniforms one more time shooting in the sectional finials of the Country Financial Three Point Showdown.
West Frankfort Seniors Lucas Wolfe and Brendan Russell will represent the Redbirds at the Trenton-Wesclin Class 2A Sectional.
Jared Curry, along with freshman Kye Garver, will be shooting for the Christopher Bearcats at the Hardin County Class 1A Sectional.
The contest starts at 5:00 p.m. state-wide -sd
Spring Catch-and-Release Fly Fishing Season Opens March 24 at select sites
SPRINGFIELD, IL – The 2018 Illinois Spring Trout fishing season is just a few weeks away. Anglers will need both a fishing license and an Inland Trout Stamp to participate, unless they are under the age of 16, blind, disabled, or are an Illinois resident on leave from active duty in the Armed Forces.
Licenses and trout stamps will be available for purchase on the Illinois Department of Resources (IDNR) website and at DNR Direct license and permit locations, including many bait shops, sporting goods stores and other retail outlets, starting Thursday, March 1.
The Spring Catch-and-Release Fly Fishing season opens at nine sites on March 24. Anglers can use fly fishing gear to catch trout at that time, but they cannot keep the fish. All trout must be released until after the opening of the regular spring trout season, which begins at 5 a.m. on April 7. Anyone attempting to take trout before the legal harvest season opening will be issued citations.
The IDNR stocks more than 80,000 rainbow trout each year, with 54 ponds, lakes and streams throughout the state being stocked for the spring season, and an additional 80,000 trout stocked for the fall season.
For more information on trout seasons and other Illinois fishing opportunities, check the website at www.ifishillinois.org.
For more information about all site regulations, anglers should contact individual sites that will be stocked with catchable-size trout. Not all sites open at 5 a.m. on opening day. Anglers are reminded to check the opening time of their favorite sites prior to the opening date.
For those sites in the southern end of the state.
South — Jefferson County — Mount Vernon Game Farm Pond
South — Johnson County — Ferne Clyffe State Park Lake
South — Marion County — Boston Pond, Stephen A. Forbes State Recreation Area
South — Massac County — Fairgrounds Pond, Fort Massac State Park
South — Randolph County — Derby Lake, Sparta (World Shooting and Recreational Complex)
South — St. Clair County — Frank Holten State Park Main Lake
South — St. Clair County — Jones Park Lake, East St. Louis
South — St. Claire County — Willow Lake at Peabody River King State Fish and Wildlife Area **
South — Wabash County — Beall Woods Lake, Beall Woods State Park
South — Wayne County — Sam Dale Trout Pond, Sam Dale Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area
TALLAHASSEE, FL – After a rain delay today, Southern Illinois shot a 296 in the final round of the Seminole Intercollegiate to place eighth place out of 14 teams. SIU was 16-over par for the tournament and finished 36 strokes behind host and tournament champion Florida State.
The Salukis were led by Peyton Wilhoit (73-68-74), who was 1-under par and tied for 15th place. As a team, Southern had 31 birdies this weekend. Nine of those birdies were recorded by Wilhoit and eight came from Dirk Kuehler. Dean Harpe played as an individual and also had eight birdies.
The Salukis head back to Carbondale for a few weeks to prep for the South Florida Invitational on March 12-13.
TEAM SCORES
1. Florida State 287 270 287 = 844 -20
2. Jacksonville 278 287 288 = 853 -11
3. James Madison 282 284 289 = 855 -9
4. Cincinnati 290 284 286 = 860 -4
5. Arkansas State 287 285 294 = 866 +2
6. Illinois State 290 290 292 = 872 +8
7. Kansas State 286 295 294 = 875 +11
8. Southern Illinois 297 287 296 +16
9. West Virginia 291 289 303 = 880 +19
10. Troy 299 298 299 = 896 +32
11. Western Carolina 296 300 303 = 899 +35
12. Nicholls State 295 299 309 = 903 +39
13. Western Kentucky 296 302 306 = 904 +40
14. Winthrop 312 300 303 = 915 +51
SIU SCORES
T15. Peyton Wilhoit 73 68 74 = 215 -1
T32. Luke Gannon 71 74 75 = 220 +4
T41. Dirk Kuehler 78 73 73 = 224 +8
T55. Hunter York 83 72 74 = 229 +13
T62. Frankie Thomas 75 79 78 = 232 +16
*Individual 66. Dean Harpe 80 73 80 = 233 +17
By John Lock siusalukis.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Southern Illinois baseball team battled back from a 5-1 deficit to take a 6-5 lead, but North Florida answered with four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the game 9-6 and the series 2-1.
Saluki Slugger Logan Blackfan (SIU Salukis photo)
SIU (2-5) trailed 5-1 after four innings. The Salukis scored two 2-out runs in the fifth to get within 5-3. With two outs and nobody on in the seventh, Nikola Vasicdrew a walk; Alex Lyon and Logan Blackfan followed with back-to-back home runs to center field to give SIU a 6-5 lead.
“That’s why those guys are sitting there in the 3- and 4-hole,” SIU head coach Ken Henderson said of Lyon and Blackfan. “Once we got through the first few innings, we put a lot of good ABs together. Those were quality ABs, and it was a great job by Niko to get on in front of them. Those were clutch.”
The bottom of the seventh inning started with what appeared to be a routine ground ball to Blackfan at first base. The ball caught a bad hop and jumped over Blackfan’s head to give North Florida (3-4) the leadoff man on first base. SIU made a throwing error on the next hitter; and two batters later, right fielder Kenton Crawford made a sprinting attempt at a ball deep in the right-center gap, but the ball bounced out of his glove. By the end of the inning, UNF had four runs to re-take a sizable 9-6 lead.
“We got a bad break with the bad-hop single, but that can’t lead to four runs,” Henderson said. “We have to do a better job minimizing and making sure it doesn’t lead to a big inning. It might lead to one run, but then you’re still tied. We didn’t control what we could control, and we didn’t minimize it in that inning.”
Nine of the game’s first 11 runs came with two outs. With the game tied, 1-1, in the bottom of the fourth, SIU starter Mason Hiser got two quick outs. The Ospreys followed with back-to-back doubles and then back-to-back homers to take a 5-1 lead.
In the next half-inning, Connor Kopach drew a two-out walk, and Vasic followed with a double. Lyon then scored Vasic on a play where the UNF shortstop made a diving stop, then threw wide of home when Vasic turned to score from second base. Then in the seventh, Vasic drew the two-out walk before the back-to-back homers by Lyon and Blackfan.
“We competed. We had the right guys up, and they had quality ABs,” Henderson said. “We just need to have better ABs up-and-down the lineup, and we will. We gave away some ABs early, but again, we competed extremely hard. There’s a lot to build on.”
SIU walked just four batters during the three-game series.
“We talk about throwing strikes, making routine plays, and grinding out ABs,” Henderson said. “We threw a ton of strikes this weekend. When you only walk three or four guys in a weekend, you’re going to come out ahead most of the time. We have to make routine plays; we need to clean that up because we haven’t done that well enough. We’re grinding out ABs, but not up and down the lineup. If we do that, we will win because our talent level is good enough.”
UP NEXT: Southern Illinois faces Belmont on Tuesday at 4 p.m. CT.
From the Missouri Valley Conference
ST. LOUIS — Loyola (25-5, 15-3 MVC) is the State Farm MVC Tournament top seed after securing the league’s regular-season title with a gap of four games between it and second-seeded Southern Illinois. The regular-season title is the first for the Ramblers as an MVC member, having joined the Conference for the 2013-14 season.
In their previous four MVC seasons, Loyola has been seeded 10th (2014), 6th (2015), 8th (2016) and 5th (last year). The Feb. 24 victory against Illinois State extended Loyola’s winning streak to seven games and gives the Ramblers their most wins since 1984-85, when that squad went 27-6 and reached the NCAA Sweet 16.
It was a record-breaking regular season for Loyola, which established a new school standard with 15 conference wins, claimed its first outright conference title since 1984-85, and won its most overall games since that magical 1984-85 campaign.
Southern Illinois (19-12, 11-7 MVC) is the tournament’s No. 2 seed after finishing the season in sole possession of second place. The Salukis haven’t been as high as a No. 2 seed in the State Farm MVC Tournament since winning the league in 2007.
Meanwhile, Drake (16-15, 10-8 MVC) and Bradley (19-12, 9-9 MVC) will play one another in the first round again, having played against one another in the Opening Round in five of the past six seasons. This time, they will play as a No. 4 seed (Drake) and No. 5 seed (Bradley). Bradley was last seeded as high as No. 5 in 2010, while Drake hasn’t been better than a No. 4 since it won the regular-season title and the tournament in 2008.
Illinois State (16-14, 10-8 MVC) is the No. 3 seed by virtue of a tiebreaker (better RPI: 84) than Drake (162). Indiana State (13-17, 8-10 MVC) is the No. 6 seed; Valparaiso (15-16, 6-12 MVC) is the No. 10 seed; and seeds 7-8-9 were determined using the league’s final tiebreaker (adjusted RPI from the Sunday, Feb. 25, report of The RPI Report/Collegiate Basketball News).
Missouri State (RPI of 133), Evansville (137) and UNI (141) all tied for 7th place with identical 7-11 records and all split with one another during MVC play. MSU was awarded the No. 7 seed by virtue of a better RPI. Last year, RPI was used to break three ties in the standings (for No. 1/2 seed; for 6/7 seed and for 9/10 seed).
This year’s tournament is the 42nd MVC post-season tourney and 28th-straight in St. Louis.
The top seed has won the title eight times in St. Louis, but just five times in the past 11 tries (Drake-2008, UNI2009, UNI-2010, Creighton-2013, Wichita State-2014). Notably, only three times has a seed worse than No. 3 won the tournament (No. 4 Creighton in 2000, No. 5 Indiana State in 2001, and No. 4 UNI in 2016). And the tourney’s top two seeds are a combined 53-1 in their first games in the 27 years in St. Louis. Of current members, Southern Illinois and UNI own the most tournament titles, with five each. Other current members who have won an MVC Tournament title include Bradley (2), Drake (1), Illinois State (4), Indiana State (3) and Missouri State (1).
The tournament features nine games in four days and ends Sunday, March 4. For the 13th-straight year, CBS Sports will carry the title game, while the first six games will air on the MVC Television Network. CBS Sports Network will the two semifinal games on Saturday for the second-straight year. All nine games will air in the St. Louis metro area. KTRS Radio 550 AM will carry all games but the semifinals (Saturday), which will air on either WSDZ Radio 1260 AM (if Missouri State plays) or KXFN Radio 1380 AM (if Missouri State is eliminated). MSU games will air on KXFN Radio 1380 AM and will co-exist on KTRS Radio 550 AM for any Bears’ games on Thursday, Friday or Sunday.
In 2011, Missouri State became the first No. 1 MVC Tournament seed and regular-season champ in 18 years not selected for the NCAA Tournament. Notably, only six top-seeded teams in 40 MVC tournaments have failed to reach the NCAAs (Bradley-1982, Southern Illinois-1990, Southern Illinois-1992, Illinois State-1993, Missouri State-2011, and Illinois State-2017).
Thirty-eight of 41 previous tournament champions were seeded 1, 2, or 3. The top two seeds have had the most success, winning a combined 31 times, and the top two seeds have won 18 titles in St. Louis (in 27 total tries). The last 12 MVC tournament champions have consisted of five top seeds, five No. 2 seeds, a No. 3 seed, and a No. 4 seed.
Since the league expanded to its current 10-team format in 1997, only one team that has played in the opening round has reached the semifinals (won twice). Bradley, seeded No. 7 in 1998 (with a 9-9 league record), beat No. 10 Drake and then upset No. 2 Creighton, before falling in the semifinals to Missouri State. Notably, the sixth-seeded teams have recorded a combined 7-27 mark in tourney games played in St. Louis, although Missouri State won its first game as a No. 6 seed in 2017
ZEIGLER – The Sesser-Valier Red Devils punch their ticket to head to the Hardin County sectional as they defeated the Woodlawn Cardinals in a more than packed house at Art Brandon Gym tonight.
Preston Launius hit a game tying three with less than :02 on the clock at the end of regulation to tie it at 41.
Lukas Gunter had a game high 19 for the Devils, Tyler Winchester, 13 and Launius added 10.
For Woodlawn Chase Hollenkamp had 14. Something that jumps out at me, Blake McKay was held to 13 and Race Rynski added 10.
Woodlawn ends the 2017-18 campaign with a record of 21-9.
Sesser-Valier improves to 20-11 on the season. They face the Cairo Pilots, 58-42 winners over the hosts at the Gallatin County Pilots. Game time is Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
SESSER-VALIER
Recent Z-R grad Brendan Whiting in the showdown last year at the NCOE Sectional.
Lukas Gunter
Tyler Winchester
Preston Launius
Joshua Gunter
THOMPSONVILLE
Reed Raubach
Trey Bybee
Grady Furlow
Peyton Roberts
ZEIGLER-ROYALTON
Trevor Mills
Landon Bate
Dalton Humphrey
Noah Leeper
WEST FRANKFORT
Ethan Culley
Josh Melvin
Lucas Wolfe
Brendan Russell
CHRISTOPHER
Jared Curry
Gabriel Motsinger
Ty Garver
Braden Ingoldsby
By Tom Weber siusalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois junior guard Marcus Bartley has been named to the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-District team for District 5, which comprises all Division I teams in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
Marcus Bartley has taken over the point guard position since transferring from St. Louis. Congratulations for his honor of a student athlete. (SIU Salukis Photo)
A sport administration major with a 4.00 GPA, Bartley leads Southern Illinois with 84 assists, despite missing the first six games of the season with a broken wrist. He returned in December and has played in 23 games, including 19 starts. The Saint Louis transfer and Decatur, Illinois native averages 6.6 points and ranks second on the team in 3-point shooting percentage at .389. In two games this season against Northern Iowa, he went 8-for-11 from outside the arc.
Bartley is the program’s first Academic All-District pick since Bryan Mullins won the award in 2009. Mullins went on to become a two-time Academic All-American. Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be announced in March.
NCAA DIVISION I – DISTRICT 5 (IL, IN, MI, OH)
FIRST TEAM Name School Yr. GPA Major
Marcus Bartley Southern Illinois University Jr. 4.00 Sport Administration
Clayton Custer Loyola University Chicago Jr. 3.52 Finance
Seth Dugan Western Michigan University Jr. 3.96 Finance
Nate Fowler Butler University Jr. 3.56 Mechanical Engineering / Economics
Sean Sellers Ball State University Gr. 3.64 / 3.67 Secondary Education (UG)
From Len Novara, Murphysboro High School Athletic Director
MUPRHYSBORO – Please be advised, the Murphysboro High School 16th Street Entrance/Exit (Harry Ray Drive) is currently CLOSED! It is expected to be closed during and/or through the upcoming 41st Annual MHS Sophomore Boys Basketball Tournament, in which Sesser-Valier, Thompsonville, and West Frankfort Participate in.
ZEIGLER – Tyler Winchester popped five three pointers in the first ten minutes of the game, scoring a game high 19 points, as Sesser Valier beat Thompsonville 50-44 last night at the Zeigler-Royalton Class 1A Regional.
Sesser-Valier improves to 19-11 on the season, and advances to the championship game to face the Woodlawn Cardinals, winners over the Steeleville, 66-58 last night.
Lukas Gunter also added 15 points, and Peyton Rock added 10.
Anthony Darge had a game high 14 and Cobin Fitch added 12.
The game had a lot of media coverage last night. Below are links to stories from Geary Dentison of the Southern and Jack Bullock of A Baseline View. A box score is included in both stories.
I do not believe in redundancy. I am going to take a different approach. I will be sharing my take shortly.
