Wildcats close regular season play with win

The Anna-Jonesboro Community High School boys’ basketball team pulled ahead early in a 54-45 win over host Sparta in the final Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference Mississippi Division regular season game Friday, Feb. 17.

“We got a road win and that’s always good,” A-J boys’ basketball coach Mike Chamness said. “I felt like we played pretty well. We were able to get up by 10 or 12 and kept the lead.”

The Bulldogs scored a 3-pointer early and the Wildcats bounced back with a pair of 3-pointers and never trailed.

Jake Parr had 17 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Wildcats.

Sheldon McGrath added 9 points and 6 rebounds. Jacob Zimmerman had 7 points and 2 rebounds.

Logan Sawyer had 6 points and 6 rebounds. Ross Pinnon had 5 points and a rebound.

Jade Gillis had 4 points and 10 rebounds. Carson Reynolds had 3 points. Blake Pena had 3 points and 2 rebounds.

The Wildcats were 16 of 36 in shot attempts from the floor, 5 of 12 from 3-point range and 7 of 16 from the free throw line.

The Bulldogs were 16 of 42 in shot attempts from the floor, 1 of 10 from 3-point range and 10 of 20 from the charity stripe.

The Wildcats finished the regular season at 10-18 overall and 2-8 in the conference.

A-J was scheduled to open Trico Class 2A regional tournament play earlier this week against Vienna.

“They beat us in the first round last year,” Chamness said. “We hope it’s a little payback this year. We’ve got to take care of business.”

The winner of the A-J-Vienna game was scheduled to play top-seeded Pinckneyville.