BRIDGEPORT — Sawyer Woodard’s 24-point outing and 21 points from Kam Sweetnam helped the Tuscola boys’ basketball team extend its season on Tuesday night.
The Warriors’ 74-65 sectional semifinal win over Dietrich brought Tuscola within one win of its first Class 1A sectional plaque since 2023. That season ended at State Farm Center with a third-place finish.
“Just a really high level 1A basketball game,” Tuscola coach Justin Bozarth said. “Dietrich, extremely well coached and they’ve got so many guys that can put the basketball in the hoop. … It was fun. It was entertaining.”
Tuscola secured a 17-10 lead following the first quarter, with Woodard and Caiden Russo each contributing six early points.
That advantage grew to 34-24 by the end of the first half.
“We just played the game,” Bozarth said. “We did a really good job of getting to the pace that we want to and forcing them into one-shot possessions.”
Woodard added four field goals in the third quarter and the Warriors maintained their lead throughout the fourth frame of their ninth consecutive win.
“Sawyer was a monster around the basket and Kam continues to be electric with the basketball in his hands,” Bozarth said.
Tuscola (29-6) managed the 212-mile round trip to Bridgeport by stopping in Olney for a shootaround before driving the rest of the way to the gym.
And Bozarth doesn’t expect that drive to detract from Friday’s sectional final;, as the Warriors will face Effingham St. Anthony or Bluford Webber with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
“Everything that small school basketball is supposed to be about,” Bozarth said.
Panthers take down Bombers. LeRoy’s pursuit of its first sectional plaque in nearly a decade is alive and well.
The Panthers dominated Argenta-Oreana on Tuesday, claiming a 66-38 Class 1A semifinal win at Ridgeview thanks to 27 points from Sam Edmundson, 15 points from Brycen Umstaddt.
“I was just really happy for the boys, really proud of them,” LeRoy coach Jesse Hawkins said. “I don’t think anybody expected out of this squad this year, and proud of the grind, proud of the toughness and character of these kids.”
The Panthers jetted out to a 17-9 lead following the first quarter and never looked back, leading 30-20 at halftime and 49-27 by the end of the third frame.
Jordan Cox added nine points and Andrew Fleming added seven points to help the Panthers’ cause, while Damian Gude scored 11 points to pace the Bombers.
“(Tuesday night) it was about doing what we do, playing LeRoy basketball,” Hawkins said. “And being disciplined, executing, trusting each other and moving the basketball. Just normal basketball that you want out of your team, and they absolutely did it and more.”
That Argenta-Oreana would have a chance for its first-ever sectional plaque would have been difficult to believe in the season’s opening weeks. The Bombers fell to 3-8 after a 71-47 loss to Meridian on Dec. 17, 2024.
But the Bombers (19-14) rallied to win seven of its next nine games, gaining a winning record with a 66-52 win against Sullivan on Feb. 4.
“They really buckled down there,” Argenta-Oreana coach Clay Haurberg said. “This game didn’t go well, but these kids really left a mark at our school.
“Hopefully, our younger guys realize that we can keep building from there. … I just hope these kids get that kind of hunger and say, ‘let’s get back to the sectional and let’s do better.’”
LeRoy will face the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal game between Schlarman and Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.
“There’s some schematic stuff that we’ve changed throughout the year,” Hawkins said. “We got off to a good start win-loss wise, but schematically it was tough with our football players getting all the way to the semifinal. But now, we’re hitting our groove.”
Sages fall in overtime. Tuscola and Monticello are the only local teams to qualify for the state finals since they returned to Champaign in 2022.
The Sages nearly drew within two wins of another trip on Tuesday night, before Teutopolis made a late surge to end their season with a 53-46 overtime win at Unity.
Tyler Blythe and Matthias Rudolph paced the Sages (18-14) with 10 points apiece, while Grant Gatsby added nine points and Ike Young collected nine rebounds.
Mick Niebrugge and Gavin Addis each scored 10 points for the Wooden Shoes, who won the final period by a 11-4 margin.
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