Friday night the Monticello Sages boy's basketball team will host rival St. Joseph-Ogden in an Illini Prairie Conference matchup but taking a back seat to the game for a short time will be the communities coming together to honor the late Natalie McDowell who tragically passed away this fall in an automobile accident in rural Piatt County.
Monticello Athletic Director Dan Sheehan anticipates a sellout crowd of the newly minted Sievers Center at Monticello High School for the honoring of Mrs. McDowell who was a longtime teacher in the district.
According to Sheehan, the proceeds from admissions will go to St. Jude Children's hospital and there will be St. Jude runners collecting donations during mask timeouts during the varsity game.
Sheehan anticipates the atmosphere of the game to be great. In addition to honoring McDowell Friday, Monticello basketball coach Kevin Roy is still seeking his 300th career win at Monticello High School. Monticello picked up the 299th career win for Coach Roy last week against PBL but the Sages have since lost two in a row and Friday could be the milestone for the 16th year man at Monticello High School.
Game time Friday is 7 pm. Hear all the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com.
