Carmi-White County defeated Massac County in Tuesday’s Sectional Semifinal to punch their ticket to a second consecutive Sectional Championship match.
Carmi’s opponent in the sectional final was a team they had faced once this season, the Newton Eagles.
Chris Lucas knew that Newton was going to be scrappy, as they were when the two teams played in the Edwards County tournament last month. Scrappy would be an understatement.
Newton took advantage of some Lady Bulldog miscues early, jumping out to a 3-1 lead in the first set.
The Lady Bulldogs answered back to tie the set up at 3-3, and from that point on it was a back-and-forth heavyweight fight from two of the top teams in Southern Illinois.
Neither team took a lead larger than two until Carmi climbed in front 12-9, and they once again took a 3-point lead at 15-12 and 18-15. The Lady Dogs tried and tried to run away in the first set, but Newton had an answer nearly every time.
The Lady Bulldogs won the race to 20, leading 20-16 and forcing a Newton timeout, and that is when the avalanche began. Carmi ended the first set on a 5-3 run to take the first set, 25-19.
Set 2 was much of the same, punch and counter-punch. Carmi was able to build that lead a little bit earlier, but once again Newton had an answer. The Lady Bulldogs led 9-4, forcing a Newton timeout, but the Eagles then stormed on a 7-0 run to take an 11-9 lead.
Carmi then answered back with a 8-2 run of their own, retaking the lead at 17-13 and forcing another Lady Eagle timeout.
Everytime it appeared that the Lady Dogs were set to run away with it, Newton would fight back. The Lady Eagles once again answered with a 4-0 run to tie it up at 17 each.
A mini 4-0 Lady Bulldog run put them ahead 21-17, and that quickly turned into a 23-18 lead. Newton thought they had one more comeback left in them, but Carmi was able to shut the door on Set 2, winning 25-21 and winning the Sectional Championship.
“It was unbelievable the way we fought tonight,” said CWC head coach Chris Lucas. “They (Newton) play defense better than any team I’ve seen since I’ve been coaching, and our girls were awesome.”
The Lady Bulldogs continue their record-breaking season, as they improve their record to 37-2.
Carmi moves on to the IHSA 2A Super-Sectional at Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond High School on Monday where they will face Bloomington Central Catholic.
Monday’s match is set for 6 PM. Fans who can’t attend will be able to watch the match on the NFHS Network, or they can tune in to 97.3 FM WRUL or the WRUL Sports YouTube Channel for an audio-only broadcast.
