(ROBINSON) — After a couple of days off due to weather, it was back to business as usual for the top seeds at the Little Illini Conference Tournament Wednesday. In the semifinals at Robinson, higher seeds cruised to victories, as top-seeded Lawrenceville rolled past fifth-seeded Marshall, 65-37 and second-seeded Casey-Westfield handled sixth-seeded Mt. Carmel, 68-53.

In the first semifinal, Lawrenceville held a slim 11-10 lead after one quarter, then extended their advantage to 24-17 at halftime before turning things up a couple notches in the second half. The Indians pulled away after halftime, outscoring Marshall 19-7 in the third period to make the score 43-24 and winning the fourth quarter 22-13 to reach the final margin.

Zander Cessna led Lawrenceville with 16 points, while Noah Wilson and Jayden Goff were also in double figures for the Indians with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Bryce Griguhn led Marshall with 14 points, while Tucker Osborn scored 12.

In the second semifinal, the Warriors had little trouble with the Golden Aces, leading 15-7 after one quarter, then extending their advantage to 36-17 by halftime. Casey-Westfield still led 47-32 after three quarters, then each team scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to reach the final totals.

Only five players scored for Casey-Westfield, but nearly all of them reached double figures. Leighton Jones led the balanced attack with 23 points, while Jackson Julius posted 16 points, Jackson High contributed 11 and Nolan Clement and Fred Thomas each scored nine.
Shain Meador led Mt. Carmel with 26 points, while Owen Blake contributed 12.

Lawrenceville and Casey-Westfield will meet in the championship game Friday at 8 p.m., while Marshall and Mt. Carmel will play for third place at 6:30 p.m. Friday.