Girls sectional roundup: Pleasant Plains weaves past Gillespie, Staunton falls to CSE

Here are the girls basketball sectional semifinal results around Springfield:

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Class 2A

At Beardstown

PLEASANT PLAINS 51, GILLESPIE 37: Freshman guard Jada Leach scored all of her seven points in the third quarter to help put away Gillespie and advance to the sectional finals.

The Cardinals (25-7) will meet Camp Point Central/Southeastern (28-2) at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Plains led 34-29 late in the third until Leach drained her only 3-pointer of the game. The Miners (26-8) never managed to claw back within two possessions the rest of the way.

“Jada came in and hit a couple of big layups and a 3 — good spark,” Plains coach T.J. Fraase said. “We’ve got to do a better job though of making both free throws instead of splitting them.”

Plains shot just 7 of 16 from the free-throw line, including 6 of 12 in the final frame.

Sophomore forward Anna Weber commanded the paint with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Bailey Leach, Jada’s older sister, had 12 points with two 3-pointers. Grace Sabatka also had two 3s and finished with nine points.

“That was a physical team, so we knew we had to be strong with the ball, be smart with our passing and find the openings,” Weber said. “We knew we had to take care of the ball to get the job done.”

Junior guard Delaney Taylor delivered three 3s and team-best 11 points for Gillespie, which won its first regional title since 2012. Freshman guard Amari Vickery chipped in eight points.

Junior forward Mia Brawner only tallied four points but set the school record for most points in a season with 501.

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CAMP POINT CENTRAL/SOUTHEASTERN 56, STAUNTON 50: Staunton threatened at the start of the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run.

The Bulldogs (27-6) eventually reached as close as 49-47 with 1 minute, 33 seconds left. But Karly Peters converted 5 of 6 free throw attempts down the stretch and CSE, ranked No. 6 statewide in 2A by the Associated Press, escaped with the win.

A pair of Peters free throws lifted the Panthers ahead 51-47 with just over a minute left before junior teammate Lauren Miller furnished a steal and assisted to Agnes Genenbacher for the easy layup.

Miller wreaked havoc at the onset and finished with a game-high 23 points. Brilyn Lantz had 16 points.

Staunton, which won its first ever regional title last year, still set a school record for most wins in a season and put up a better fight against CSE in its return to the sectional semifinals. The Panthers thumped Staunton 62-26 in last year’s sectional semis.

Junior guard Ele Feldmann posted 15 points while junior teammate Grace Bekeske had 14. Freshman Jenna Staggs had nine points

“They did a fantastic job,” Staunton coach Corrie Allan said. “They played hard — huge improvement from last year. I hope that we continue to move in the right direction.”

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Class 3A

At Decatur MacArthur

CHATHAM GLENWOOD 51, MOUNT ZION 34: The Titans jumped to a 26-17 halftime lead and dominated the third quarter for a 39-21 advantage en route to the sectional finals.

Glenwood (25-7) will vie for its first sectional title since 2003 against Quincy Notre Dame at 6 p.m. on Thursday. QND finished last year’s 2A state finals in third place after taking first place the previous season.

Sage Stratton led the Raiders with 21 points while Tristan Pieper and Ari Buehler had 17 and 15 points, respectively, in a 63-46 sectional semifinal win over Mahomet-Seymour.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: 2024 girls basketball sectional semifinal results around Springfield