Indians on to Class 1A State Basketball Finals

Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 1:12 PM

By Steve Anderson

For the first time since 1996, the Lawrenceville basketball Indians are headed back to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) State Finals.

They punched their ticket to the "Big Dance" Tuesday night with a convincing win over the LeRoy Panthers 48-26 at the Class 1A Super-Sectional at Groninger Arena on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

The Tribe led 8-5 after one quarter but gradually took control of the game with strong defense that led to offensive opportunities that led to a 26-13 halftime lead and they never looked back. The lead ballooned to 37-17 after three quarters enroute to the victory, their 11th in a row.

Jayden Goff led the way in scoring with 21 points and senior teammate Zander Cessna added 12.

The Indians improved to 34-2 on the season and head to the Class 1A tournament which begins Thursday at the State Farm Center in Champaign. They will face a familiar foe in the first semi-final-the Goreville Blackcats. Goreville handed the Indians one of their two losses in the regular season at Benton. They won the Jacksonville Super-Sectional over Jacksonville Routt 60-43 and are now 33-4.

Tipoff time is 10 a.m. CT and the contest can be heard with Steve Anderson and Bill Richardson on GIANT-FM 103.1 WAKO.