Harold Raymond Stokes, 83, of Litchfield, died on Saturday, May 27, 2023, at his residence. A memorial visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, June 2, at Plummer Funeral Home in …
Two evenly matched area boys’ basketball teams met up in Riverside on Friday to kick off the class 1A districts and WACO did enough to move on with a 55-52 win over Highland.
With the game tied at 31 all after three, the Warriors came out hot in the fourth to build an 11 point lead. The Huskies did battle back to make it a one possession game, but the road Warriors hung on for the playoff victory. WACO Head Coach Paul Kissell credited his team’s ability to handle Highland’s defensive pressure. “We knew it was going to be a tough matchup going into it and a big key was to be able to handle pressure. They came out in a press and were trapping every pass. For our younger players to step up and handle that intensity the entire game was a big reason for our success.”
The Highland boys and girls basketball teams step outside of the Superconference tonight when they travel to North English to meet the English Valleys Bears. The Highland girls come in with an overall record of 1-3. Last time out the Huskies were beaten at Pekin Tuesday 54-33. For the year, Highland is led by Dani Laughlin at 20 points per game. She also leads the team with six steals and three assists per contest. Sarah Burton leads Highland on the boards with nine rebounds per game.
English Valleys is 2-5 overall with a loss to Montezuma 63-27 on Tuesday. For the year, the Bears are led by Mia Ayers at eight points per game. She also has a team best eight rebounds per contest. Ayers, Kaeley Axmear and Carly Stanerson each average two assists and two steals per game to lead the team. These two teams met last season with Highland taking a 44-39 win.