(CHARLESTON) — Lawrenceville unleashed the perfect combination of power and finesse on Monday night at the IHSA Class 1A Super Sectional game played at Groninger Arena on the campus of Eastern Illinois University. The Indians simply overwhelmed LeRoy, 48-26, to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 1996.

Next up for coach Tad Shick’s 34-2 club: a Final Four rematch with Goreville (33-4) on Thursday at 10 a.m. at State Farm Center in Champaign. The Blackcats won the first game, 50-45, in Benton on Feb. 7.

Given the magnitude of the Super Sectional matchup of two Top Five teams, any one sustained run of points could have been enough to put one team over the top. Second-ranked Lawrenceville and its’ long all-senior lineup instead engineered four separate runs of seven or more points. The rout took shape early in the second quarter, when seven unanswered points put the Indians ahead to stay, 15-8. One LeRoy basket later, a nine-point surge made it 24-11, and there was no turning back. Jayden Goff put up 10 of his game-high total of 21 points in the decisive frame, including two 3-point field goals.

Ahead 26-13 at the half, Lawrenceville did not take its’ foot off the gas, outscoring LeRoy, 11-4 in the third frame for a commanding 20-point lead, 37-17, at the last quarter break.

Zander Cessna added 12 points for the winners. Fourth-ranked LeRoy, which bows out of the state tourney with a final mark of 33-3, was led by junior Brycen Umstattd’s eight points.

Shick, in comments made on his post-game radio interview on Giant FM (WAKO), attributed the Lawrenceville victory to “our athleticism, quickness and heart.

“You know, we’re playing on a bigger college floor. But it looked like it was six of us out there.”

—

Amidst the post-game celebration, Lawrenceville players displayed the ‘0’ jersey worn by senior Aiden Winningham, who was injured in an automobile accident over the weekend and is now recovering at an Indianapolis hospital.

—

Lawrenceville’s total of 34 wins matches the school record set by the back-to-back state championship teams of 1981-82 and 1982-83, both finishing 34-0 for an unprecedented 68-game winning streak.

—

This will also be Lawrenceville’s first trip to Champaign since those Ron Felling-coached teams. The Indians’ last trip to state came in 1996, when the finals were played at Carver Arena in Peoria.