02/21/2026
BY JACK BULLOCK
WOLF LAKE – It had been a long dry spell since the Carrier Mills-Stonefort Wildcats had won a boy's varsity basketball game.

You would have to turn back the calendar to February 8, 2025; a 62-56 triumph over Cobden, to find the last victory.

The final four games of last season were defeats and the first 28 contests this winter were also losses.

Carrier Mills-Stonefort had lost its two previous meetings with Shawnee this season; a 58-41 defeat November 28th at the Cobden Thanksgiving Tournament and a 57-51 regular season loss at Shawnee on February 6th.

Saturday turned out to be the game where the Wildcats made enough plays to hold off a late rally by Shawnee to post the win and extend the season.

This was the program's first regional win since 2021-22.

After a loss on Friday night against Galatia, in which head coach Drake Patton was ejected from the junior varsity contest and suspended for the first round regional game, it didn't look like the Wildcats were going to be able to break the losing skid.

But assistant head coach Noah Boon got his kids together and they showed up ready.

Six-three junior forward Cainaan Sumner provided nearly half of the offense.

Sumner cleaned up a bunch of missed shots on the offensive glass and got to the rim on his own to rack up 24-points.

He made seven fourth quarter free throws as his club turned the tables on the host Redskins with a 51-42 win.

“They (the players) show up everyday. Even when we were on our losing skid they showed up. I feel like they responded today and got a “W.” I just credit them. They show up everyday with a good attitude, a good effort and ready to go,” said assistant coach Noah Boon. “I give all the credit to them. They did their jobs and got the win.”

The Redskins came in with their own issues.

Coach Trey Pender only had five players suit up and one of them fouled out with just over a minute left, leaving Shawnee with just four kids on the floor.

It turned out to be a tough ending to their 3-25 season as they became the first team eliminated from the state tournament.

Carrier Mills-Stonefort also got double-digit scoring from junior guard Tyler Skaggs and sophomore guard Cody Furlong in the win.

Skaggs netted 11-points while Furlong put in 10.

Shawnee was led by junior Kyler Jewell with 23-points, 13 of which came in the second half.

Sophomore forward Conner Wilson added 11-points as he made a trio of 3-point shots.

Freshman guard Jacob Pickel scored six-points before fouling out with 1:04 remaining.

Carrier Mills-Stonefort took an early lead off of a couple of Shawnee's seven first quarter turnovers producing points on fast break scores by Furlong and Skaggs.

But the Redskins rallied to take the first quarter lead.

Jewell hit his only 3-pointer of the game during a 9-0 run to close the frame.

Pickle also hit a long range shot and then scored on a steal and fast break for a 14-8 advantage at the end of the quarter.

Carrier Mills-Stonefort, however, responded.

The Wildcats connected on four 3-point shots in the second quarter.

Furlong hit two of the 20-footers with Skaggs and sophomore Chase Dunn adding one each.

The Dunn trifecta was followed by a rebound score by junior TJ Funaro and two free throws by Sumner for a 24-16 Carrier Mills-Stonefort lead with 1:02 left in the half.

After a Jewell score on an offensive rebound tip-in, Skaggs closed the half on a fast break for two and a 26-18 halftime lead.

(CONTINUED)

The Wildcats took their largest advantage of the contest less than three minutes into the second half.

Another score in transition, a steal and lay in by Sumner, followed by a bucket by Skaggs off of a nice assist from Funaro pushed the lead to 30-18 at the 5:16 mark.

Shawnee then made a move to get back into the game.

A drive for points from Jewell was followed by a big 3-point shot by Wilson from the left wing.

Jewell added to his points with another trip to the rim for points and, when Wilson connected from the arc again with :48 left in the third quarter, Shawnee trailed just 33-31 heading to the final eight minutes.

Wilson's third and final 3-point bomb tied the game at 36-all.

After an exchange of baskets by Sumner and Jewell, and then Skaggs and Jewell, Carrier Mills-Stonefort broke away.

The Wildcats scored the next seven points, all by Sumner.

He hit a 3-of-4 free throws and added a drive for a basket in the run.

Sumner cleaned up a missed shot by Skaggs, who missed a lay up off of a fast break, for a 47-40 spread with 1:52 remaining.

“It is something (played well) that he has done all year and it doesn't really shine through because of our losing but he shined through today,” said Coach Boon about Sumner.

Jewell scored his final two-points getting inside for a lay in, which turned out to be the last points of the season for Shawnee.

Sumner hit 4-of-8 free throws in the final 1:20 to erase the zero from the win column by adding a “1.”

Shawnee missed their final five shots and finished 17-of-47 from the field.

The Redskins were just 6-of-18 from the 3-point line and committed 23-turnovers while getting out-rebounded 34-28.

Carrier Mills-Stonefort had their own issues as they didn't hit a great percentage (35.9 percent) but they gathered in 12 of the missed shots, four of which turned into instant points.

The Wildcats outscored Shawnee 12-to-5 from the foul line to advance to play at top-seed and state-ranked Goreville on Monday night.

This was the first ever nine-team regional in the history of the state tournament.

There was a mistake made by the IHSA in having a 17-team sub-sectional after forgetting to put Shawnee and Mounds Meridian in the postseason initially.

Once the adjustment was made, it created a #16 vs. #17 seed game to get a chance to advance.

Carrier Mills-Stonefort made the most of the opportunity to keep its season alive.

Unfortunately because of IHSA suspension rules, Coach Patton won't be back on the bench of Monday.

Since he was ejected from a junior varsity game, he will have to wait until his team plays another JV contest to sit out the suspension.

That will happen next season.

“It was nice for us to turn them over since that has happened to us all season,” said Coach Boon about pressuring Shawnee.