Sports Zone March 9, 2024: State high school basketball championships; college softball recap

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – In the IHSA Class 1A boys basketball state championship game Saturday morning, the Meridian Bobcats couldn’t overcome 27 points from West Central’s Zack Evans as the Cougars ran away with the state title, 62-43. The Bobcats finish with a 29-9 record.

In the 2A championship game, Benton hung tight with Wendell Phillips Academy, but the Wildcats defeated the Rangers, 54-47. Benton’s 33-4 season ends in a second-place finish.

We now head to the Southeast Softball Complex, where the SEMO Redhawks had won 30 straight games entering their home opening series against Eastern Illinois. 

And SEMO would jump out to a 3-1 lead after three innings in game one, but after the Panthers tied the game in the top of the 4th, the game would turn into a pitcher’s duel. 

Neither team could break through until the 12th inning, with SEMO’s Maddie Carney matching EIU’s McKenzie Oslanzi pitch-for-pitch. 

The Panthers would break through in the top of the 12th with four runs, and after SEMO couldn’t come back in the bottom of the inning, and EIU snapped SEMO’s 30-game home winning streak by a score of 7-4. SEMO would bounce back to win game two, 9-4.

The Southern Illinois University softball team extended its winning streak to six games with wins over Loyola Chicago and Green Bay.