Courtney Mathew's 20 Lifts Rensselaer Central; McCutcheon Girls Capture Sectional Titles

Mathew, the senior point guard, scored 20 and went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line in the Class 2A final at Benton Central High School, lifting a Rensselaer Central squad that entered the game 21-3. Kamri Rowland, a Southern Connecticut signee, chipped in five points and eight rebounds. Benton Central, 18-6 on the season, forced a low-efficiency outing early with a man-to-man defense that Jconline reported “forced Rowland and Mathew into traps,” and Rensselaer shot just 21.7 percent in the first half. Courtney Mathew said, “We needed some motivation and we needed to get going. My mindset was to go get us one and that's what happened.” Kamri Rowland added, “We were told that if we don't start picking it up that this was it for us. That was enough motivation for everyone.” A photo from the game showed Rensselaer guard Courtney Mathew driving through Benton Central’s McKenna Yadon.

At McCutcheon, offense was the story as the Bombers sped away from Harrison in the second quarter. Jconline summarized the victory: “McCutcheon sped away from Harrison in the second quarter and six players finished in double figures to capture the program's third consecutive IHSAA sectional title with an 82-37 win Saturday, Feb. 7.” Senior Chloe Finney led with 16 points, junior Lillie Graves scored 15, senior Trinity Wilburn and senior Braelyn Williams each had 14, junior Keara Lipscomb-Allen added 12 and junior Ameria Gibson finished with 11. Jconline noted that “McCutcheon (21-5) had its offense flourish a night after overcoming a 33-point performance by Lafayette Jeff guard Maya Layton in the semifinals.” The same account included a vivid, if fragmentary, game image: “The captain slashed against two defenders and scored through a foul before the buzzer sounded at the end of the third quarter while the Bombers' road faithful thrilled and screamed at the layup after tying the score at 20-20.”