Heading into the holiday break, Moraine Valley’s women’s basketball team had a 10-3 record after starting the season losing three of its first four games.
The recovery from that rough start had veteran coach Delwyn Jones thinking big.
“This is one of the best teams we have had at the school,” Jones said at the time.
He was right.
For just the fifth time in program history, and first since 2019, the Cyclones qualified for the NJCAA Divison II National Tournament.
The Cyclones (30-6) went 1-2 at the tourney in Hickory, North Carolina.
They opened with a 55-46 loss to Cleveland (N.C.) on March 16, beat Lincoln Land 77-69 on March 18 and were eliminated on March 20 with a 77-60 loss to Schoolcraft (Mich.).
Jadea Johnson, a Romeoville grad, scored 28 points in the Lincoln Land win, helping her team stage a big comeback after trailing 22-12 after the first quarter. She also led the team with 11 points against Cleveland and tied with Laila Houseworth, also from Romeoville, to lead the Cyclones with 12 each against Schoolcraft.
Area players on the Cyclones roster were Lily Hernandez (Reavis), Miracle Shelton (Richards), Isabel Lopez (Reavis), Danelle Dempsey (Oak Lawn), Mikayla Summey (Andrew), Apple Guerrero (Argo) and Kyziah Lewis (Evergreen Park).
Lyons roar in Special Olympics
Lyons won the Illinois Special Olympics basketball state championship March 14 in Normal.
It was the Lions’ first gold medal in 21 years and third overall. They were celebrated during the week with assemblies at both campuses.
Members of the team are Tyler Deck, Andrew Delao, Julian Jasso, Dillon Pusatera, Josiah Santana, Tommy Van Eekeren, Conor Mulcahy, Iqui Balam Nogueda-Nunez and Ryan Schwartz. Emma Dominelli is the head coach.
Fire report
Hugo Cuypers stayed hot as he scored a goal in his fourth consecutive game and the Chicago Fire topped Philadelphia 2-1 on March 21 on the the road.
Jonathan Bamba scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the 58th minute for the Fire (2-2-1).
Philadelphia (0-5-0) knocked the Fire out of the best-of-three first round of the MLS playoffs last season.
After a week off for the international break, the Fire host Nashville at 7:30 p.m. April 4 at Soldier Field.
The Fire II and Carolina Core battle to a 0-0 tie in an MLS NEXT Pro battle March 22 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.
But the Fire (1-1-2) picked up an extra point via winning a shootout. Goalie Owen Pratt picked up the first clean sheet of his career.
The Fire II next plays April 11 at Huntsville.