NORMAL – Spring sports teams representing Normal’s high schools have demonstrated they have a checkered history this year. It all depends on whose team you’re rooting for and how well they have done this season. Normal Community High School’s baseball team has shown a steady ability to handle it Big 12 opponents as the season progressed. Head Coach Al Toliver’s Softball team at University High could make the same claim.

Normal Community High School Baseball: It appears Head Coach Ryan Short has managed to guide his Normal Community High School Ironmen with ease as his team has a 15-1 overall record thus far this season including a perfect 5-0 Big 10 Conference mark, and leading the conference. The only loss the Ironmen have had so far came on the road this past Saturday at non-conference foe Bradley-Bourbonnais. There, the Ironmen jumped out to a fast 3-0 lead in the first inning gaining two runs in the fifth inning for a 3-0 lead until the Boilermakers scored three runs in the home half of fifth inning, closing NCHS’ lead to 5-3. NCHS would only score one more run on the day but then were upstaged by a Boilermaker five-run rout in the home half of the 6th inning which led to Bradley-Bourbonnais winning the game, 8-6.

Normal Community High School Softball: While NCHS’ boys’ team has been riding high thus far this season, NCHS’ girls’ Lady Iron under Head Coach Steve Hassel, has had a challenging season. The Lady Iron won their first game against non-conference Lincoln March 11 but then followed that game up with a 15-5 non-conference loss to Pekin. The loss to Pekin was the first of a 5-game losing streak until Hassel’s troops beat non-conference Tolono Unity, 13-6 March 21. But NCHS then lost their next two games before beating Joliet West, 12-8 April 5. From there, the Lady Iron have been in a win one-lose one cycle, but currently are in a two-game losing streak having lost two straight recently to Pontiac 5-0, and Yorkville, 7-1.

Normal Community West High School Baseball: While NCHS appears to be having little difficulty against opponents, Normal Community West High School Wildcats have struggled since the season began. Head Coach Chris Hawkins’ charges have posted an 8-7 mark thus far including a 4-2 Big 12 Conference record. The Wildcats owned a four-game slump to start their season before winning two straight against non-conference opponents. But after dropping a 13-10 slugfest against East Peoria, the Wildcats played two games March 25 beating Shelby County High School, 7-3 but losing a 7-4 decision that same day to Gibson County. From there, Hawkins’ troops won six straight including two wins each, home and away, over Big 12 Conference foes Bloomington High and Urbana High. But the Wildcats have had to contend with losses to Big 12 opponents recently, losing to Champaign Central twice over a three-day period, losing 11-7 on April 10 and 13-10 April 12.

Normal Community West High School Softball: Normal West’s girls’ Softball team, under Head Coach April Schermann, appears to facing the same issue in terms of when wins come followed by losses before the team gets back into the win column. Currently Schermann’s team is 4-6 and only has one Big 12 Conference victory but seeking more. Normal West’s most recent win was against Big 12 Conference foe Peoria Richwoods, 14-4, a recovery from a stinging 2-0 loss to Normal University High two days prior.

In the coming week, Schermann’s troops will face three Big 12 opponents as they continue to try to better their record against familiar teams. First, they will have faced Danville Tuesday before hosting Peoria Notre Dame Saturday in a 10a.m. contest. They will get in some rest before their next game, at Bloomington on April 25 at 4:30p.m. Normal West will then host a non-conference game April 26 against Stanford Olympia at 4:30p.m.

University High School Baseball: Occasionally, a team on a winning streak hits a bump against opposing teams and loses a game or two before regaining their previous stride. That may be what happened recently to Head Coach Steve Paxson’s University High baseball team. Before the Pioneers went on a recent 9-game winning streak which ended against Springfield Southeast, their last loss happened March 19 at Chatham Glenwood. From there, the Pioneers went on a 9-game winning streak, the last victory was at home against visiting Springfield Southeast.

But U-High’s last two outings, both at home have been losses to St. Joseph Ogden and Chatham Glenwood. Paxson’s team will try regrouping as they prepare to face Jacksonville, Lincoln, Central Catholic, Mahomet-Seymour, and Decatur Eisenhower in the coming week.

University High School Softball: Head Coach Al Toliver’s troops have had a positive week going 4-2 prior to their game Tuesday Central State Eight Conference game scheduled against Jacksonville. Currently, U-High is 10-4 overall including a 2-1 CSE record. And U-High has managed victories on the road with those wins coming in the form of a 21-0 shutout over host Springfield Southeast April 9, and a 3-2 win at Mahomet Seymour April 11. That was followed the next day with a 5-1 loss April 12 at non-conference opponent Seneca. Toliver’s troops did follow that up with a 14-0 win April 13 over host Bloomington Central Catholic.

Cornerstone Christian Academy Baseball: When Head Coach Josh Noffsinger’s team got off to a quick start when the season started March 11 with his team winning its initial victory of the season. But from the team’s second game against the following day against the junior varsity team from Bloomington High School, Noffsinger’s charges have yet to post a victory. Currently 1-9, the Knights will be visiting Bloomington Central Catholic on April 16 and Tremont High School to finish out the season.

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CHAMPAIGN – Going into Saturday night’s Illinois High School Association Class 4A Championship, Normal Community High School and Homewood Flossmoor High School appeared evenly matched before the game started with a jump ball. But by the end of the evening, it was Homewood Flossmoor who had the upper hand, managing to outpace the Ironmen before a near capacity crowd defeating NCHS, 60-48 to earn the title for the season, and putting NCHS in 2nd place to end the season.

Fans may have gotten an idea how the evening would go when Homewood Flossmoor’s Jaylen Tyler and NCHS’ Braylon Roman opened the contest on 3-pointers and were quickly followed by a trey for the Vikings by junior guard Jayden Tyler, putting the Vikings up, 6-3. NCHS’ Noah Cleveland followed scoring two free throws after being fouled and scoring a basket to put NCHS up, 7-6 with 5:29 left in the opening quarter.

A basket by senior guard Carson Brownfield and a trey from teammate Bryce Heard put the Vikings up, 11-7 before a trey from NCHS’ Nico Newsome closed Homewood Flossmoor’s (33-4) lead to 11-10. The teams continued answering score for score until NCHS’ Roman hit a layup tying the game at 16-all. Heard responded with a basket of his own with 49 seconds left in the quarter. That spurred a scoring streak for the Vikings with players scoring five unanswered points until the quarter ended finding NCHS going into the second quarter trailing, 21-16.

A trey from Heard and free throws by spurred the Vikings toward a 29-21 lead highlighted by a trey and deuce from the Vikings’ Brownfield, and Roman, Cleveland, and Kobe Walker scoring baskets for NCHS keeping the Ironmen within eight, 31-23, going into halftime.

Once the third quarter started, NCHS’ defense couldn’t contain 10-0 run Homewood Flossmoor opened the quarter on which began with a defensive rebound followed by an unanswered trey from Jayden Tyler stretching the Vikings’ lead to 16, 39-23 with 4:52 left in the quarter. Only a basket from NCHS’ Roman slowed the action slightly, cutting the Vikings’ lead to 14, 39-25. A combined effort of baskets scored from Roman, Cleveland, and a trey from Conner Smith helped NCHS stay within 12 points but that was as close as Homewood Flossmoor defenders let NCHS come as the third quarter horn sounded with the Vikings leading, 47-39.

The closest NCHS (32-6) came to the Vikings was within seven with 70 seconds left in the contest. Up until that point, the Ironmen remained in chase mode until the final buzzer.

Heard lead scoring for the Vikings with 21 points. He was followed by 15 by Tyler and 12 from Brownfield. Roman led NCHS’ scoring with 18 points followed by 13 from Cleveland.

The win gave the Vikings their very first State title. The first word that came to mind for Homewood Flossmoor head coach Jamere Dismukes was “Wow.” He explained achieving this “means everything to us. These kids have now marked their names in the history book.” Dismukes added, “I can’t take credit for this because I didn’t shoot one basket this year. It’s a great thing.”

Despite how the season ended for the Ironmen Saturday night, Ironmen head coach Dave Witzig still sounded upbeat about the season he and his team experienced. “We had so much this year from the first game of the year ‘til now,” Witzig told reporters afterward. “We traveled all over the State playing the best teams and I think we ran into the best team in the State tonight.”

“We just had so much fun, so much community support,” Witzig said, explaining the team went to a couple Unit 5 grade schools before heading to Champaign. At the grade schools, Witzig said, the youngsters had posters to wish the Ironmen go luck. Of the support they received as they got to the playoffs, Witzig said, “It was just great. And like I told the guys, Normal Community can play for State championships. We were right there and Homewood Flossmoor played a great game.”

Witzig said what spurred his team toward finishing the season with hopes of getting into the playoffs was a 47-38 loss NCHS sustained against Metamora Feb. 3. The loss to Metamora “took it to us and kind of embarrassed us, “Witzig said. After assessing what the team needed to do to improve, he said, “We came together better as a team and did a great job.”

“Homewood Flossmoor did a good job of forcing us out from being close to the basket, so I just give them all the credit tonight,” Witzig said.

NCHS Beats Palatine In Semi-Final To Advance: NCHS struggled with Palatine in a semi-final game to get to Saturday’s championship contest. Two straight threes by Tyler opened the contest for Palatine in NCHS’ semi-final Friday and were quickly countered by a trey by Roman and two free throws by Cleveland after he was fouled cutting the lead to 6-5. A layup by Cleveland put NCHS up 6-5 but a deuce by Brownfield and unanswered trey from Heard gave Palatine an 11-7 lead en route to a 21-16 first quarter lead.

Heard opened the second quarter with a trey followed by NCHS fouls that sent Heard and Brownfield to the free throw line, each man hitting one, putting Palatine up, 25-16 with 5:23 left until halftime. A trey by Smith followed by quickly followed by Palatine’s Brownfield hitting a deuce, increasing the Pirates’ lead to 27-19. A jumper from Heard put Palatine up, 29-19 and another basket from Gianni Cobb put the Pirates up, 31-19. Back-to-back unanswered Ironmen baskets from Cobb and Kobe Walker trimmed Palatine’s lead to 31-23 at halftime.

Palatine players Tyler and Heard continued hitting treys in the third quarter boosting the Pirates effort while NCHS’ Cleveland hit a deuce followed Roman hitting a three, but that still had NCHS trailing 44-31. The third quarter ended with Palatine holding an 11-point advantage, 47-36, going into the fourth quarter.

Heard was fouled by NCHS to open the fourth quarter and hit two free throws, and after Newsome missed a jumper, Heard hit a layup in the paint to increase Palatine’s lead, 51-39 with seven minutes left in the game. Webber hit a jumper for NCHS and was followed by Roman hitting a dunk shot on a fast break to cut Palatine’s lead, 51-43 with 5:20 remaining. Brownfield hit a layup putting Palatine up by 10, 53-43. An NCHS foul sent Cobb to the free throw line where he hit one shot, putting Palatine up, 54-43.

A fouled Roman added two free throws cutting Palatine’s lead to 10, 55-45 with 1:28 left and was followed by a 3-pointer for NCHS by Cleveland cutting the Pirates’ lead to 55-48. Hagemaster and Heard will each fouled by NCHS and each went 2-for-2 resulting in the final score.

Five NCHS players hit double-figures in the semi-final with Roman’s 16 points leading the way. Niekamp and Webber each had 15 points, Newsome had 14 points, and Cleveland’s 12 completed the Ironmen’s double-digit scoring. Connor May’s 17 points led the way for Palatine followed by 10 from Elter on the night.

Brownfield led Homewood Flossmoor with 13 points followed by 12 by Heard and 11 from Tyler. Roman led all scorers for NCHS with 18 and was followed in double-figures by Cleveland’s 13.

CHAMPAIGN – Going into Saturday night’s Illinois High School Association Class 4A Championship, Normal Community High School and Homewood Flossmoor High School appeared evenly matched before the game started with a jump ball. But by the end of the evening, it was Homewood Flossmoor who had the upper hand, managing to outpace the Ironmen before a near capacity crowd defeating NCHS, 60-48 to earn the title for the season, and putting NCHS in 2nd place to end the season.

Fans may have gotten an idea how the evening would go when Homewood Flossmoor’s Jaylen Tyler and NCHS’ Braylon Roman opened the contest on 3-pointers and were quickly followed by a trey for the Vikings by junior guard Jayden Tyler, putting the Vikings up, 6-3. NCHS’ Noah Cleveland followed scoring two free throws after being fouled and scoring a basket to put NCHS up, 7-6 with 5:29 left in the opening quarter.

A basket by senior guard Carson Brownfield and a trey from teammate Bryce Heard put the Vikings up, 11-7 before a trey from NCHS’ Nico Newsome closed Homewood Flossmoor’s (33-4) lead to 11-10. The teams continued answering score for score until NCHS’ Roman hit a layup tying the game at 16-all. Heard responded with a basket of his own with 49 seconds left in the quarter. That spurred a scoring streak for the Vikings with players scoring five unanswered points until the quarter ended finding NCHS going into the second quarter trailing, 21-16.

A trey from Heard and free throws by spurred the Vikings toward a 29-21 lead highlighted by a trey and deuce from the Vikings’ Brownfield, and Roman, Cleveland, and Kobe Walker scoring baskets for NCHS keeping the Ironmen within eight, 31-23, going into halftime.

Once the third quarter started, NCHS’ defense couldn’t contain 10-0 run Homewood Flossmoor opened the quarter on which began with a defensive rebound followed by an unanswered trey from Jayden Tyler stretching the Vikings’ lead to 16, 39-23 with 4:52 left in the quarter. Only a basket from NCHS’ Roman slowed the action slightly, cutting the Vikings’ lead to 14, 39-25. A combined effort of baskets scored from Roman, Cleveland, and a trey from Conner Smith helped NCHS stay within 12 points but that was as close as Homewood Flossmoor defenders let NCHS come as the third quarter horn sounded with the Vikings leading, 47-39.

The closest NCHS (32-6) came to the Vikings was within seven with 70 seconds left in the contest. Up until that point, the Ironmen remained in chase mode until the final buzzer.

Heard lead scoring for the Vikings with 21 points. He was followed by 15 by Tyler and 12 from Brownfield. Roman led NCHS’ scoring with 18 points followed by 13 from Cleveland.

The win gave the Vikings their very first State title. The first word that came to mind for Homewood Flossmoor head coach Jamere Dismukes was “Wow.” He explained achieving this “means everything to us. These kids have now marked their names in the history book.” Dismukes added, “I can’t take credit for this because I didn’t shoot one basket this year. It’s a great thing.”

Despite how the season ended for the Ironmen Saturday night, Ironmen head coach Dave Witzig still sounded upbeat about the season he and his team experienced. “We had so much this year from the first game of the year ‘til now,” Witzig told reporters afterward. “We traveled all over the State playing the best teams and I think we ran into the best team in the State tonight.”

“We just had so much fun, so much community support,” Witzig said, explaining the team went to a couple Unit 5 grade schools before heading to Champaign. At the grade schools, Witzig said, the youngsters had posters to wish the Ironmen go luck. Of the support they received as they got to the playoffs, Witzig said, “It was just great. And like I told the guys, Normal Community can play for State championships. We were right there and Homewood Flossmoor played a great game.”

Witzig said what spurred his team toward finishing the season with hopes of getting into the playoffs was a 47-38 loss NCHS sustained against Metamora Feb. 3. The loss to Metamora “took it to us and kind of embarrassed us, “Witzig said. After assessing what the team needed to do to improve, he said, “We came together better as a team and did a great job.”

“Homewood Flossmoor did a good job of forcing us out from being close to the basket, so I just give them all the credit tonight,” Witzig said.

NCHS Beats Palatine In Semi-Final To Advance: NCHS struggled with Palatine in a semi-final game to get to Saturday’s championship contest. Two straight threes by Tyler opened the contest for Palatine in NCHS’ semi-final Friday and were quickly countered by a trey by Roman and two free throws by Cleveland after he was fouled cutting the lead to 6-5. A layup by Cleveland put NCHS up 6-5 but a deuce by Brownfield and unanswered trey from Heard gave Palatine an 11-7 lead en route to a 21-16 first quarter lead.

Heard opened the second quarter with a trey followed by NCHS fouls that sent Heard and Brownfield to the free throw line, each man hitting one, putting Palatine up, 25-16 with 5:23 left until halftime. A trey by Smith followed by quickly followed by Palatine’s Brownfield hitting a deuce, increasing the Pirates’ lead to 27-19. A jumper from Heard put Palatine up, 29-19 and another basket from Gianni Cobb put the Pirates up, 31-19. Back-to-back unanswered Ironmen baskets from Cobb and Kobe Walker trimmed Palatine’s lead to 31-23 at halftime.

Palatine players Tyler and Heard continued hitting treys in the third quarter boosting the Pirates effort while NCHS’ Cleveland hit a deuce followed Roman hitting a three, but that still had NCHS trailing 44-31. The third quarter ended with Palatine holding an 11-point advantage, 47-36, going into the fourth quarter.

Heard was fouled by NCHS to open the fourth quarter and hit two free throws, and after Newsome missed a jumper, Heard hit a layup in the paint to increase Palatine’s lead, 51-39 with seven minutes left in the game. Webber hit a jumper for NCHS and was followed by Roman hitting a dunk shot on a fast break to cut Palatine’s lead, 51-43 with 5:20 remaining. Brownfield hit a layup putting Palatine up by 10, 53-43. An NCHS foul sent Cobb to the free throw line where he hit one shot, putting Palatine up, 54-43.

A fouled Roman added two free throws cutting Palatine’s lead to 10, 55-45 with 1:28 left and was followed by a 3-pointer for NCHS by Cleveland cutting the Pirates’ lead to 55-48. Hagemaster and Heard will each fouled by NCHS and each went 2-for-2 resulting in the final score.

Five NCHS players hit double-figures in the semi-final with Roman’s 16 points leading the way. Niekamp and Webber each had 15 points, Newsome had 14 points, and Cleveland’s 12 completed the Ironmen’s double-digit scoring. Connor May’s 17 points led the way for Palatine followed by 10 from Elter on the night.

Brownfield led Homewood Flossmoor with 13 points followed by 12 by Heard and 11 from Tyler. Roman led all scorers for NCHS with 18 and was followed in double-figures by Cleveland’s 13.

NORMAL – Normal Community High School’s girls’ basketball team had lost in the previous two years at the Sectional level and when Alton came to town March 22, NCHS players were determined to not let such a defeat happen a third straight time as they hoped to advance toward a turn at Class 4A State Finals.

But Although NCHS tried keeping pace with the visiting team with a familiar nickname, Redbirds, the Lady Ironmen spent the majority of the evening chasing their opponents, losing the Sectional Championship to Alton, 66-56 before a packed crowd in NCHS’ large gym.

Alton jumped out to a fast 4-0 lead on baskets from junior forward Jarius Powers and senor guard Alyssa Lewis before NCHS’ sophomore forward Kyridas Orr dodged defenders to score a trey, cutting Alton’s lead, 4-3 at 6:24 in the opening quarter. But Powers and Lewis replied hitting back-to-back unanswered threes putting Alton up, 10-3, and causing NCHS to call time with 5:10 left in the opening quarter. Coming out of the timeout, Powers sank another trey giving Alton a 13-3 lead.

Two free throws from NCHS’ senior guard Ali Ince cut Alton’s lead to 13-5 before a trey from Alton senior guard Alyssa Lewis followed by a deuce from teammate sophomore guard Kiyoko Proctor stretched Alton’s lead to 18-5 prompting NCHS’ Head Coach Feeney to call time again at 3:23 in the opening quarter. Coming from that timeout, NCHS senior forward Olivia Corson hit a trey at 2:53 to cut Alton’s lead to 10, 18-8. An Alton deuce from Proctor followed by a trey for NCHS by junior guard Kenna Malinowski allowed NCHS to reduce Alton’s lead to nine, 20-11, prompting Alton’s Coach Howard to call time with 1:19 remaining in the quarter.

Coming out of the timeout, Lacey sandwiched two baskets around an NCHS bucket by Corson and was followed by a Malinowski free throw for Normal giving Alton a 24-15 lead. But Alton closed out the opening quarter with a trey from freshman forward Madeleine Ducey. As a result, Alton went into the second quarter with a 27-15 lead.

NCHS defenders did manage to slow Alton down in the second quarter although most of Alton’s points were on account of Lady Ironmen fouls. NCHS gained some scoring opportunities in the form of threes provided by senior guard Giana Rawlings, Malinowski, and Ince who provided treys resulting in coming within six at halftime, cutting Alton’s lead to 35-29.

But in the third quarter, it was NCHS that didn’t produce much scoring including a single trey from Rawlings. Going into the fourth quarter, Alton owned a 48-38 lead.

NCHS’ closest margin eight in the fourth quarter, 48-40, courtesy of a basket from Corson just after the fourth quarter began. But Lacey followed with a basket which put Alton up by 10 and got stretched to a 14-point lead. From there, NCHS continued chasing the Redbirds until the final buzzer.

Proctor and Powers let Alton in double-digits with 18 points and 17 points, respectfully. Two other Alton players finished with double digits, with Lewis scoring 14 and Lacey scoring 12. Corson led NCHS with 21 points followed by Rawlings with 12..

Alton Head Coach Deserea Howard admitted Alton High’s girls’ basketball team played in a number of tournaments this season giving them the experience to make fast turnarounds from one event to the other in preparation for IHSA playoffs. In preparation for their game against NCHS, Howard said she and her team saw tape and knew about the Lady Iron’s shooting ability. After seeing newspaper reports of the Lady Iron shooting eight treys against Moline, Howard said her team became aware they would have to show more defense against Feeney’s team.

For NCHS Head Coach Dave Feeney, the loss that ended their season was difficult to accept that their lost meant the end of their season. “Alton is a really good team,” Feeney admitted. He said the thing he was most disappointing to him following the loss was “that I won’t get to go to practice with them tomorrow.” He added he emphasized for his players to stay alert against Alton players when play took place in the paint and specifically against two Alton players, junior guard Kiyoko Proctor, a 5 foot-6 guard, and senior guard Alyssa Lewis.

Feeney said he hoped his team could duplicate the defense his team used against East Moline but his team only had one day to prepare for Alton, not as long as they had to prepare earlier in the post season.

He reminded this team finished the season with a 31-4 record for the second straight season. “This team’s senior class is phenominal,” Feeney said. “We have been to the sectional final three years in a row. It’s just a shame it had to end.”

NORMAL – For Normal Community High School’s boys’ basketball team, the season was a clean sweep against Unit 5 crosstown rival Normal Community West High School following Friday night’s game in rival territory. The Ironmen managed to keep the Wildcats at bay for the majority of the contest en route to a 52-34 win before a packed gym equally divided between the two opposing teams.

A foul right after tipoff sent Dexter Niekamp to the free throw line for Normal Community (26-5, 10-0 Big 12) where he made just 1 of 2 free throws for a quick 1-0 lead and was quickly followed by buckets from teammates Craig Newsome and Jaheem Webber giving the visiting Ironmen a fast 5-0 lead over the host Wildcats. That early lead prompted Normal West Head Coach Ed Hafermann to call for timeout. Coming out of that timeout, a foul against NCHS’ Braylon Roman sent Normal West’s AJ Austin to the free throw line where he hit both shots, cutting NCHS’ lead to 5-2. A foul by West’s C.J. Wilson sent Webber to the free throw line for a single shot, increasing NCHS’ lead, 6-2.

A trey by West senior guard Nate Moore at 3:50 in the period cut NCHS’ lead to one, 6-5. A basket from NCHS’ Conner Smith followed by a foul shot from teammate Braylon Roman gave NCHS a 9-5 lead with 42.5 seconds left in the quarter. An NCHS foul committed against Moore sent the 6-foot senior to the free throw line where he sank two shots allowing the Wildcats to come within two, 9-7, of NCHS as the first quarter horn sounded.

NCHS (26-5, 10-0 Big 12) extended its lead on a deuce followed by an unanswered trey by Newsome which prompted Normal West Head Coach Ed Hafermann to call time at 5:41 in the quarter to get his team to help put focus back on the Ironmen.

An additional basket by Newsome with 5:03 left in the quarter gave Normal West (11-18 and 4-6 Big 12) a 9-point lead, 16-7. But Normal West quickly followed with five unanswered points starting with hitting 1-of-2 free throws after being fouled. That was followed by a jumper each from teammates Moore and Isaiah Robinson which edged the Wildcats within four, 16-12 with 3:33 until halftime. A Wildcats foul put NCHS senior Noah Cleveland at the free throw line where he hit 1-of-2 stretching NCHS’ lead to 18-12 with 3:15 left until halftime. Roman closed out the half with baskets including a slam on the rim which appeared to delight Ironmen fans. Those buckets gave NCHS a 22-14 halftime advantage.

A deuce and unanswered trey from Roman opened NCHS’ third quarter followed by an unanswered deuce from Jaheem Webber extended NCHS’ lead, 29-14 and prompted Normal West Head Coach Hafermann to call time to get his team to regroup at 5:25 in the quarter. Coming out of the timeout, a foul against West senior Nate Moore sent him to the free throw line where he hit 1-of-2 shots closing NCHS’ lead within 14, 29-15.

But from there, West defenders couldn’t keep NCHS from going for two straight baskets featuring Newsome and Kobe Walker which increased the Ironmen lead to 31-15 with 3:51 left in the quarter. A trey from Isaiah Robinson cut NCHS’ lead to 31-18 but two straight unanswered buckets from Newsome followed by a deuce from junior Connor Smith doubled NCHS’ lead to 37-18 with 2:47 left in the quarter.

West’s Moore ended that Ironmen run with a layup at 1:52 in the quarter cutting West’s lead to 37-20, but Roman replied with a deuce putting NCHS up, 39-20 with 1:23 left in the third quarter. A basket and free throw from Moore followed by a bucket from sophomore guard Maliq Givens-Smith cut NCHS’ lead to 39-25 with 39.2 seconds left in the quarter. A basket for NCHS by junior Owen Osborn and two free throws for Normal West by Robinson had NCHS leading by 14, 41-27.

Two back-to-back buckets for NCHS by Newsome sandwiched a trey from Normal West junior guard Mike Zaleski and closed NCHS’ lead to 15 prompting West’s Hafermann to call timeout with 6:40 left in the game. Coming out of the timeout, Webber hit a deuce and a free throw following a foul increasing NCHS’ lead to 48-30 with 6:13 left in the game. Senior forward Taylor Hafermann hit a jumper at 4:34 in the game cutting NCHS’ lead to 48-32, but back-to-back unanswered deuces from NCHS’ Webber and Roman gave NCHS their final points of the game. Normal West’s Maliq Givens-Smith’s shot sank through the basket before the final buzzer giving the Ironmen their 26th victory of the season.

NCHS Head Coach Dave Witzig said his team was aware Normal West did well shooting threes, adding he said he thought his team did a good job defensively to prevent West from shooting more treys than could have been shot.” He added, “We really worked hard at defending West shooting the three. It wasn’t just being concerned about keeping an eye on one guy, we had to keep track of their shooters, and I thought our guys did a good job. They had a lot of energy.”

Normal West Head Coach Ed Hafermann explained part of his team’s strategy against the Ironmen was to try to limit possessions NCHS got, and at the start of the game, he said, that strategy worked. But he reminded that NCHS “is an explosive team” to be cautious when playing against them. “NCHS got us out of our zone a little bit, especially when we fell behind by double-digits in the second half. Then, NCHS did a real good job of executing back door plays.”