Peoria Notre Dame, Illini Bluffs and St. Bede girls basketball advance to 2024 IHSA Elite Eight

CANTON — Peoria Notre Dame is celebrating like it's 1999.

The top-ranked Irish cruised to a 59-37 win over eighth-ranked Deer Creek-Mackinaw on Thursday night in the Class 2A Canton Sectional title game. PND (31-4) heads to the Bureau Valley Supersectional and will face No. 5 Rock Island Alleman (30-4) at 7 p.m. Monday.

This was PND's first sectional title since a 1999 Class AA Elite Eight appearance.

Mya Wardle set the tone early, scoring 18 of her game-high 26 points in the first half. Kaitlin Cassidy chipped 16 points and six rebounds for the Irish, who forced Dee-Mack into 27 turnovers.

Lexi Cottingham scored 12 for the Chiefs (32-3), which also got 11 points from Dalia DeJesus.

IHSA GIRLS BASKETBALL Peoria-area postseason schedules, scores and pairings

CLASS 3A

Lincoln 61, Morton 40

EAST PEORIA — No. 1 versus No. 2 turned out to be a blowout.

Top-ranked Lincoln beat the No. 2 Potters in a meeting of the Class 3A's top teams at the title game of the East Peoria Sectional. The 2023 3A state runner-up Railsplitters (35-0) head to the LaSalle-Peru Supersectional and face Dixon (27-6) at 7 p.m. Monday.

Addy Engel shot 7-for-11 with a team-high 19 points to lead the Potters (26-6), who trailed 30-14 at halftime. Colorado State commit Kloe Frobee paced Lincoln with 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.

CLASS 1A

Illini Bluffs 44, Abingdon-Avon 37

BUSHNELL — Illini Bluffs ended its 12-year wait.

The eighth-ranked Tigers avenged an earlier season loss to Abingdon-Avon with a victory in the Bushnell-Prairie City Sectional title game. IB (30-4) is in the Elite Eight for the first time since a 2012 Class 1A state third-place finish, now facing No. 1 Galena (31-1) at 7 p.m. Monday in the Brimfield Supersectional.

Illini Bluffs extends its winning streak to 10 in row, getting 20 points by Annabelle Fortin and 12 from Lily Luczkawiak.

Peoria basketball renaissance? This generation's elite talent makes the case

Kennedy Quinn (12 points), Kaydyn Quinn (10 points) and Hailey Redding (10 points) scored all but five points for Abingdon-Avon (26-8), playing in just its second sectional final.

Galena, which is on a 17-game win streak, has a pair of state trophies in the last two years, finishing runner-up to Brimfield in 2022 before a state third-place finish last season.

St. Bede 50, Serena 48

GARDNER — Nearly two-and-half decades have passed since St. Bede has been to this point.

Unranked St. Bede beat Serena in the Gardner-South Wilmington Sectional final. The Bruins (28-7) make their first Elite Eight appearance in 24 years, facing Skokie Ida Crown (20-3) at 7 p.m. Monday in the Elgin Harvest Christian Academy Supersectional.

This is just St. Bede's second sectional title in program history since a 2000 Class A one.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA girls basketball roundup of sectional final scores around Peoria