Iron girls stop skid, Big 12 title looks out of reach

Inkspot Staff and Marcus Russell

Jan 25, 2025

While the Ironmen have conference matchups remaining against Bloomington, Danville and Normal West, Peoria Notre Dame looks to repeat at Big 12 champs. The Iron are winless against PND since the 2020 season. Photo Courtesy of: Charles Green

The Ironmen (18-6, 5-2) rebounded with a 53-42 road victory over the Champaign Central Maroons (7-11, 3-5) in a conference matchup on Jan. 24. The win provided a much-needed turnaround for Community, who entered the game having lost four of their previous five contests.

While the Iron endured two back-to-back losses for the first time since the 2020 season, their record doesn’t fully reflect the competitiveness of those games. Two of Community’s recent defeats were decided by just three points: a 44-41 loss to Richwoods on Jan. 9 and a 61-58 setback against Dunlap on Jan. 20.

The other losses came against some of the state’s top teams. Community fell 63-47 to the O’Fallon Panthers and 62-50 to the Peoria Notre Dame Irish, the AP’s 4th-ranked team and defending IHSA 2A State Champions.

With the loss to the Irish on Jan. 22, the Big 12 Conference title appears out of reach for the Ironmen. Peoria Notre Dame (20-4, 7-0) remains undefeated in league play, strengthening their bid to repeat as Big 12 champions with a win over the Bloomington Raiders (13-7, 6-1) on Friday night.

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