The high school basketball season has opened with girls activity.
Girls high school basketball from Tuesday night included Beecher edging Dwight 44-43. Dwight was led in scoring by Mel Stewart with 12 points and 5 rebounds, Leah Flynn added 10 points and a team high 12 rebounds and Brooklyn Long also chipped in 10 points.
In girls action at Flanagan, Marquette beat Fieldcrest 42-28 and Serena edged Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland 49-46. Mahomet-Seymour won at Prairie Central 51-13.
In the NFL’s Monday night game, the Carolina Panthers trounced the Miami Dolphins 45-21 as Cam Newton threw for four touchdowns and the Panthers rolled up a team-record 548 yards.
On the ice, the Calgary Flames topped the St. Louis Blues 7-5.
Illinois State setter Stef Jankiewicz has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week for the fifth time this season.
Preferred Athlete Scouting Service has ranked the first Illinois State women’s basketball recruiting class for coach Kristen Gillespie as the best in the Missouri Valley Conference and among the top 75 classes in the nation in Division I.
Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge are unanimous winners of the National and American League Rookie of the Year awards. Former Illinois State Redbird Paul DeJong of the Cardinals finished second in Senior Circuit voting. Longballs ruled the top vote-getters as Bellinger hit 39 home runs, Judge smashed 52 homers for a rookie record and DeJong hit 25 taters.
