Nashville and Breese Central win and advance to the Sectional Championship game Thursday Feb. 26
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – Tuesday February 24, Chester High School hosted the 2026 IHSA Girls’ Class 2A Sectional Basketball Tournament. The 21-team event started last week with four regional tournaments that feed into the Chester Sectional Tournament.
From the Herrin Regional (1) Benton advanced. From the Breese Central Regional (2) Breese Central advanced. From the Freeburg Regional (1) Nashville advanced. From the Vienna Regional (3) Massac County advanced. Those four regional Champions met in Chester Tuesday February 24 for the Sectional Semi-Finals.
Game 1 featured (1) Benton and (2) Breese Central at 6:00 p.m. and Game 2 featured (1) Nashville and (3) Massac County at 7:30 p.m. The winners of those Semi-Final games advanced to the 2026 IHSA Class 2A Girls’ Sectional Championship game which will take place Thursday February 26 at 6:00 p.m.
Game 1: Breese Central 70-Benton 35
After commanding the Herrin Regional with wins over DuQuoin, 67-37 and West Frankfort, 49-21, to win the Herrin Regional title, (1) Benton faced (2) Breese Central in Game 1 of the Sectional Semi-Finals.
(2) Breese Central blew through the Breese Central Regional with wins over (10) Columbia, 55-19, and (3) Breese Mater-Dei, 54-25, to claim the Regional Championship. The two Regional winners faced-off in Game 1 of the Chester Semi-Final.
(2) Breese Central came into the game with a record of 27-3 overall and an undefeated conference record of 10-0 to finish 1st in Place in the Cahokia Conference, Mississippi Division. Their Rank in Illinois Class 2A was 6th.
Benton came into the game with an overall record of 26-7, and a River-to-River Conference, Mississippi Division record of 8-2 to finish 2nd. The Benton Rangerettes were ranked 73rd in Class 2A.
After one quarter of play it was a very tight game with Breese Central leading by one point, 13-12. In the second quarter the Breese Central Lady Cougars outscored Benton, 19-7, to take a 32-19 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was a bit closer with the Lady Cougars outscoring the Lady Rangers, 18-11, but led by 20 points, 50-30. Down the stretch, Breese Central blew the Rangers away outscoring them, 20-5, to win the game by 35 points, 70-35. The 4th quarter was played with a continuous clock.
Breese Central was led by three players who scored in double figures including Taylor Trame (21), Lexy Santel (18), and Ella Nettemeier (14). Benton was led by Kinley Glover who scored 13 points.
With the win, (2) Breese Central advanced to the Chester Sectional Championship game Thursday February 26 at 6:00 p.m. with an overall record of 28-3.
Game 2: (1) Nashville 54-(3) Massac County 26
(3) Massac County defeated Carterville, 50-39, in the Vienna Regional Semi-Finals, and beat (2) Vienna, 43-37, in the Championship game. With the win they advanced to the Chester Sectional Semi-Finals to match-up with (1) Nashville Lady Hornettes.
(1) Nashville beat (9) Belleville Althoff, 64-21, in the Freeburg Regional, then defeated (4) Freeburg, 40-28, to win the Freeburg Regional. They also advanced to the Chester Sectional. The Lady Hornettes faced (3) Massac County Lady Patriots in the Semi-Finals of the Chester Sectional in Game 2.
(1) Nashville came into Game 2 with an overall record of 30-2 and an undefeated River-to-River Conference record of 10-0 to win the Mississippi Division title. The Hornettes were ranked 7th in the State of Illinois in Class 2A.
(3) Massac County came into the Sectional Semi-Final with an overall record of 17-12, and a River-to-River, Ohio Division Conference record of 6-2 to finish 2nd. They were ranked 253 in the State of Illinois in Class 2A.
Game 2 of the Chester Class 2A Sectional mirrored Game 1 in several ways. After one quarter of play, (1) Nashville led (3) Massac County by just five points, 12-7. In the second quarter, however, the Hornettes outscored the Lady Patriots by 16 points, 19-3, to lead at halftime by 21 points, 31-10.
In the third quarter, Nashville outscored Massac County, 17-6, to extend the Lady Hornettes lead to 32 points, 48-16. Down the stretch in the 4th quarter, there was a continuous clock as the Hornettes led the Lady Patriots by more than 30 points. Both teams played their benches much of the very quick period as Nashville won the game by 28 points, 54-26.
In the win, the Hornettes had just one player score in double figures. Samantha Brinkmann scored 21 points. Massac County’s Kenna Hight scored 12 points for the Lady Patriots.
With the win, (1) Nashville advanced to the Chester Sectional Championship game Thursday February 26 at 6:00 pm. with an overall record of 31-2.
2026 Chester Class 2A Girls’ Sectional Championship game:
Chester High School will host the Championship game of the 2026 IHSA Class 2A Girls’ Sectional Tournament Thursday February 26 at 6:00 p.m. The title game will take place in CHS Colbert Memorial Gymnasium on Rocky Bridges Court.
- Nashville Hornettes will face off with the (2) Breese Central Lady Cougars to determine the 2026 Chester Class 2A Sectional Champion.
(2) Breese Central and (1) Benton congratulates each other following the conclusion of Game 1 of the 2026 IHSA Class 2A Girls’ Sectional Basketball Tournament. Chester High School hosted the event Tuesday February 24 at CHS Colbert Gymnasium on Rocky Bridges Court. The Breese Central Lady Cougars soundly defeated the Benton Rangerettes, 70-35, to advance to the Sectional Championship game Thursday February 26 at 6:00 p.m. (2) Breese Central will face-off with (1) Nashville Hornettes to determine the Sectional Champion. Jim Beers Photo