The Monday Morning Wrap Up – High School Sports – March 6, 2023

The Mid-States Club Hockey Association crowned a pair of new champions Friday evening while three metro-east girls basketball teams claimed state titles in the Illinois High School Association championships Saturday afternoon. The Principia and Lutheran North boys’ basketball teams also advanced to the Missouri State High School Activities Association state semifinals next weekend.

Let’s get caught up on a huge weekend of playoff action in the week’s edition of the Monday Morning Wrap-Up sponsored by Triad Bank.

Let’s start things off at the Centene Ice Center as the Mid-States Club Hockey Association wrapped up their season with the finals of the Challenge Cup and the Wickenheiser Cup Friday evening.

In the Challenge Cup final, De Smet won their 15th title and first since 2010 with a 2-1 overtime victory over defending champion St. Louis University High.

In a tightly defended game, neither team was able to find the net in the first 15 minutes as the Spartans held a 6-1 advantage in shots. De Smet finally broke through at the 8:51 mark of the second period as Mitch Geiser scored on a power play as he collected a pass from Thomas Ruder and found the back of the net to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. The score remained that until the Jr. Bills scored with 31 seconds remaining in regulation as Patrick Vogl found Logan Petlansky in front of the net to send the game to an extra session tied at 1-1. It did not take long for De Smet to avenge their title game loss to the Jr. Bills last year as Geiser scored his second goal of the night at the 1:39 mark to send De Smet home with the title. Brady Govero earned the win after making 26 saves on the night.

 

In the Wickenheiser Cup final, Fort Zumwalt West claimed their championship in school history as the Jaguars needed a goal midway through the final stanza to earn a 2-1 win over Lafayette. Aaron Hemmer got the Jaguars going at the 11:29 mark of the first quarter as he scored an even-strength goal off a pass from Anthony Tinsley to put Zumwalt West on top 1-0. The Lancers drew even in the second period as Kyle Kraft scored off a pass from Sam Mossengren at the 9:09 mark of the period to even the contest at 1-1. Aiden Duepner scored the game-winner at the 8:50 mark of the period as he took a pass from TJ Steinman and found the upper left corner of the net to give the Jaguars a 2-1 lead. Jackson Winkles stopped eight Lafayette shots in the final period to aid the Jaguars in winning their first Cup title.

Over in Normal, Ill. at the CEFCU Arena, Okawville, and Breese Mater Dei came back to the metro-east with state championship trophies as the Rockets won the Class 1A title with the Lady Knights winning the Class 2A championship. 56-35 victory over Christopher Saturday morning.

The Rockets won their first state championship since 2000 and the third title in school history while the Lady Knights grabbed their first-ever state girls’ basketball championship.

In the Class 1A title clash, The Rockets raced out to a 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and extended the advantage to 27-20 at the break. Okawville then leaned on their defense in the second half as they allowed only 15 points in the final 16 minutes while adding on 19 markers to claim the title and finish the season with a record of 34-4. Alayna Kraus paced the Rockets’ offense with a game-high 21 points and five rebounds while Megan Rennegarbe chipped in with 17 points and five more rebounds in the state championship victory.

In the Class 2A final, sophomore Alyssa Koerkenmeier put together the first triple-double in the girls’ state tournament to lead Mater Dei to a 62-46 victory over Byron Saturday afternoon. The Lady Knights grabbed a 16-8 lead after the first quarter before Byron cut their deficit to 30-24 heading into the halftime locker room. Mater Dei shot 50 percent from the field in the third quarter to push their advantage to 47-34. That is all the Lady Knights needed as they held Byron to 2-of-14 shooting in the final stanza to claim the title. Koerkenmeier scored 23 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and added 10 blocks to complete the rare high school triple-double while Julia Korte added 11 markers in the victory for Mater Dei.

The final game of the IHSA championships did not disappoint as O’Fallon need a pair of extra sessions to win their first state girls’ basketball championship with a 62-57 victory over Benet Academy. The Panthers’ offense was outstanding early as O’Fallon grabbed a 15-4 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Benet Academy chipped away at the lead and trailed the Panthers 30-27 at the break. Benet then took the lead midway through the third quarter and held on to take a 37-34 advantage into the fourth quarter. The teams went back and forth in the final stanza as Benet had a 50-48 lead until Shannon Powell hit a pair of free throws with 17 seconds remaining to tie the contest at 50-50 heading into overtime. Each team scored four points in the first extra session, but O’Fallon outscored Benet 6-1 in the final 2:26 of the game to earn the victory. Dowell paced the Panthers with 25 points while Jailah Pelly added 16 points and seven boards to aid O’Fallon in the win.

On the boy’s side of things in the metro area, Principia and Lutheran North advanced to the State Semifinals Friday night as the Panthers defeated Cooter 46-43 in a Class 2 quarterfinal while Lutheran North advanced to the Class 3 semifinals with a 41-28 victory over Cole Camp. East St. Louis remained alive in the IHSA Class 3A boys’ basketball tournament as the Flyers defeated Triad 53-38 as they move on to the Super-Sectional against sacred Heart-Griffin Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield, Ill.

District boys’ championship action in Classes 5 and 6 will take place Monday while the Class 4 sectionals are on tap as well. Below is a listing of the Monday evening matchups.

Class 6:

• Kirkwood vs Jackson – 6:30 p.m. at Kirkwood
• Lafayette vs Eureka – 6 p.m. at Eureka
• CBC vs Chaminade – 6:30 p.m. at SLUH
• Troy vs Howell – 6 p.m. at Howell

 

Class 5:

• Cardinal Ritter vs Vianney – 6 p.m. at Vianney
• De Smet vs Ladue – 6 p.m. at Ladue
• Westminster vs Parkway Central – 7 p.m. at Parkway Central

 

Class 4 sectionals:

• Sullivan vs MICDS – 7:45 p.m. at Farmington Civic Center
• Vashon vs Soldan – 6 p.m. at Troy
• Lutheran St. Charles vs Kirksville – 7:45 p.m. at Troy