Ironmen slay Dragons in Regional Semis

Community control early, never let go on the way to a 35-point win over Pekin

Eli Schneider, Senior Staff Reporter • Feb 24, 2022

Normal Community tipped off postseason play versus Pekin High School Wednesday night. The Ironmen defeated the Dragons 60-25 at home.

The top-seeded Community boys basketball team defeated the Pekin Dragons 60-25 in the IHSA State Series opening round at home Wednesday night, advancing to Friday’s Regional Final.
Community jumped out to an early 4-0 lead against the seven-seed Dragons. After a breakaway one-handed dunk from Community forward Zach Cleveland put the Ironmen up 11-2 with 3:46 to play in the first quarter, the Iron never looked back.
“[It] was really important to come out strong on all cylinders…,” Cleveland (’22) said.

Famious French (’22) surveys the floor versus Pekin. French and the Ironmen will face Bradley-Bourbonnais at home Friday in the Regional Final. (Inkspot Staff)

The Iron built on their 23-2 first-quarter lead, keeping the pressure on throughout the first half outscoring Pekin 38-7.
In the third quarter, Community’s role players saw extended playing time and maintained a 30-point advantage going into the fourth period. “Everyone was ready to play,” Cleveland said.
A running clock was instituted as the Ironmen eliminated Pekin from the postseason, scoring 17 more points than their regular season bout with the Dragons.
Despite a strong performance, Cleveland said the team will look to “straighten out” some issues before Friday’s game.
“[There were] a couple of careless turnovers,” Cleveland said.
Friday, the Ironmen host three-seed Bradley-Bourbonnais, tipping-off at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to the Sectional Semifinals to face Moline (2) or Minooka (4).

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About the Contributor

Eli Schneider, Senior Staff Reporter

Eli Schneider is a senior at Normal Community High School and in his third year of working with the Inkspot as a Senior Staff Reporter. Eli plays varsity lacrosse for the B-N Lacrosse co-op and enjoys watching baseball, football, and hockey at both the collegiate and professional levels. Eli plans to attend the University of Mississippi in the fall of 2022 and major in Marketing Strategy and minor in Journalism An all-time dream of mine would be to work in marketing/P.R for an MLB or NHL team My favorite places to travel are Oxford, Mississippi, Dallas, Texas, and Denver, Colorado