01/23/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - Another week with no changes at the top of the ABV 1A and 2A Rankings.

Effingham St. Anthony and Breese Central continue to command respect in the South and around the state.

Coach Cody Rincker and his club are riding a seven-game winning streak into the 88th annual National Trail Conference Tournament.

St. A only has losses to 4A Belleville East, 3A Champaign Centennial, 3A Champaign Central and 3A Highland.

The have victories over highly regarded 2A St. Joseph-Ogden, 3A Richland County, 3A Mattoon, and 4A Oak Lawn.

They're the odds on favorites to win the National Trail Conference Tournament this week and have a showdown with rival Teutopolis coming up February 2.

Breese Central, ironically, won the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament and didn't face the hosts as they were in different pools.

The North Sider's (as St. Anthony is often times referred as) finished fourth in their rough and tumble event.

Coach Jeremy Shubert and has Cats tamed the Nashville Invitational Tournament field last week, topping Metro-East Lutheran, 3A Marion and St. Louis (MO.) KIPP in the title game, which ended up being a continuous clock rout.

The resume is filled with quality wins and the Cougars have a 12-game winning streak going.

In 1A Tuscola has also faced a challenging schedule as head coach Justin Bozarth is preparing his club for the long haul.

The Warriors survived their five consecutive road games to begin the second half of the season, going 2-3 with a big win at Teutopolis mixed in with losses to Shelbyville, Clinton, and Tolono Unity and also an additional victory over Warrensburg-Latham.

A road game at Bloomington Central Catholic this week leads into the Central Illinois Conference Tournament next week.

Goreville lost to their rivals from Vienna last week in the semifinals of the Metropolis Massac County Superman Classic before defeating Charleston (MO.) in the third place game.

The Blackcats host highly thought of Webber Township this coming Friday.

The Trojans topped Waltonville on Saturday to capture the 93rd annual Midland Trail Conference Tournament while improving to 18-2 for first year head coach Jaxon Helm.

Mounds Meridian took it on the chin last week with losses to 2A Benton and 3A Herrin at the Benton Invitational.

Coach David Davis' Bobcats play at Vienna on Tuesday night and will travel to Indianapolis to play rival Cairo at the home of the Indiana Pacers on Thursday.

Casey-Westfield, after beating Mt. Carmel to open play at the 52nd annual Little Illini Conference Tournament, will get a shot at 3A Richland County on Tuesday.

The Warriors are another of the 1A clubs that play a predominantly 2A schedule for head coach Tom Brannan.

Waltonville finally lost to rival Webber Township after beating their Midland Trail Conference rivals twice.

The mostly young Spartans step into the big leagues with a game versus Triad on Saturday at the Pinckneyville Showcase.

Altamont and Dieterich are the two most likely suitors who will have a shot at St. Anthony this week at the National Trail Conference.

The Indians (12-4) beat the Movin' Maroons (14-5) back on on January 5th and the clubs should 'duke it out' in the NTC semifinals this week with the winner likely getting St. A in the title game on Saturday.

Arcola has won nine-straight games since a first round defeat to the hosts of the Dieterich Holiday Tournament.

Coach Greg Gisinger has a team that is the top-seed and favorites to win the Lincoln Prairie Conference Tournament this week.

In 2A the Benton Rangers continue to impress for head coach Ron Winemiller and a group of veteran players.

Benton has only defeats to 3A Richland County and a pair of Kentucky teams and have won its last five games.

Included in the run is a pair of wins over SIRR rival Pinckneyville.

The conquest of the Panthers on Saturday night gave the Rangers their own Benton Invitational Tournament title.

There is more work to do as they have some tough Karen's (customer) to deal with the rest of the way, including a date with El Paso-Gridley on February 3 at the Rich Herrin Classic.

Tolono Unity sits at 18-1 as they got a severe “wake up call” from 19-1 3A Mt. Zion last week (62-38).

The Rockets, if they advance to the Elite Eight, would travel to SIU Carbondale for the super-sectional in March.

Pinckneyville is hoping that they can get over the hump in their upcoming games as they have some quality wins and a couple of head scratching defeats (Nashville, Breese Mater Dei) for head coach Matt Laur.

The talent is there for a Panthers' run late in the season similar to their super-sectional postseason journey in 2022-23.

St. Joseph-Ogden, another of the northern area clubs who will have to migrate south with their passports in hand should they win a sectional title, found out that Effingham St. Anthony is no slouch (81-75).

The Spartans' schedule doesn't get much easier the rest of the way.

Teutopolis has an independent schedule that has few cupcakes.

A 13-6 won-loss mark looks pretty good considering the gauntlet of games on the schedule.

Columbia has a 12-game win streak going for Coach Mark Sandstrom after losing consecutive games to Breese Central and Teutopolis back in December.

The Eagles have a pair of tournament titles (Columbia/Freeburg and Okawville) during this run and they will get a second crack at the top-ranked Cougars on February 6th on the road.

Wesclin lost to Columbia at Okawville in the semifinals, which was some payback delivered by the Eagles after losing to the Warriors early in the season at the Wesclin Thanksgiving event.

Coach Brent Brede club needs to up their game the rest of the way if they are going to hoist any postseason hardware, considering the quality that surrounds them in their sub-sectional.

Belleville Althoff is a scary club considering they're a 2A team that plays mostly a 3A and 4A schedule.

The Crusaders have been a tough out in the postseason the past few seasons and that will be the case in a few weeks.

Lawrenceville is the second-seed at this week's LIC tournament at Newton for Coach Randy Bishop.

The two defeats for the Indians came against Richland County and Wesclin and this Tribe could get another shot at the Tigers in the LIC title game on Friday night with a win over host Newton on Tuesday.

1. BREESE CENTRAL (21-2)
2. BENTON (19-3)
2. TOLONO UNITY (18-1)
4. PINCKNEYVILLE (13-6)
5. TEUTOPOLIS (13-6)
6. ST. JOSEPH-OGDEN (16-5)
7. COLUMBIA (17-4)
8. WESCLIN (19-4)
9. BELLEVILLE ALTHOFF (11-11)
10. LAWRENCEVILLE (17-2)