Mac On Sports

  Macon–At Monday night’s Meridian school board meeting, the board voted 4-3 not to rehire Jay Driscoll as the boys basketball head coach. Board member Tony Etherton made the motion that Marie Jagger Taylor seconded to rehire Coach Driscoll which failed on a 4-3 vote with Vicki Carr joining them. Those members voting against rehiring…

  Jacardia Wright is taking his game to Manhattan as in Kansas, not New York. Wright, one of the best ever running backs to play for St. Teresa and in Decatur and Macon County, will sign next Wednesday, April 24, at 2:15 to play for Kansas State. The highly-talented athlete received offers from numerous schools,…

  By J. Thomas McNamara, Sports Editor      Has anyone stopped to think that without George Halas’ vision back in 1919 there may not be either the Chicago Bears or the National Football League. That year, a century ago, Halas convinced A.E. Staley of the A.E. Staley Manfuacturing Company (now Tate & Lyle) to allow him…

  Pre-Game Fun—At last Wednesday night’s 32nd annual Heart of Illinois/Warrensburg Lions Club All-Star game, five Decatur and Macon County 1,000 point scorers were teammates on their South squad that defeated the North, 135-122. From the left are LSA’s Grant Karsten, Meridian’s Garrett Meisenhelter, Warrensburg-Latham’s Jarius Ingram, MacArthur’s Keon Jones and LSA’s Michael Fiala. (Photo…

       Aaron Ennis is the new Maroa-Forsyth basketball head coach after the school board Monday night approved the administration’s recommendation.      Ennis comes to the Trojans from Tolono Unity where he has been an assistant coach. He assisted Bill Ipsen for three years before Ipsen retired from coaching the Rockets. Ennis continued assisting there and now…

         While the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) landed three number one seeds–top overall seed Duke, Virginia and North Carolina, the Big Ten landed a record setting eight teams. Gonzaga is the other number one seed.      Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin will all be taking part in this year’s…

     St. Louis–Down 18, the Bradley Braves rallied to beat Northern Iowa, 57-54, Sunday afternoon in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship.      Although Armon Brummett did not see action, he and his Braves teammates are going to the big dance as the win gives Bradley the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament that will…

        Peoria–“I’m glad we got to show the state what we are,” said Central A&M head coach Rob Smith in his opening statement following Saturday’s 70-39 rout of Concord Triopia to finish third in Class 1A.         “We weren’t who we are in the first half yesterday, but we certainly were today.  I couldn’t be…

  Peoria–Central A&M fell to Cissna Park, 56-44, this morning (Friday) in the first of two Class 1A semi-final games which was its first loss to a Class 1A team this season.      Raiders head coach, Rob Smith offered these thoughts his team’s play in their post-game press conference, “We left it all out there, that’s…

Peoria–With its 79-69 win over Sesser-Valier last Tuesday night in the SIU Carbondale super-sectional, Central A&M became the fifth team from the Decatur and Macon County area to reach Carver Arena.         For the first time in its history, Central A&M is headed to Peoria for the state tournament finals to play Cissna Park Friday morning at…