The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors met for its regularly scheduled meeting at the IHSA office in Bloomington on Monday, June 15, 2026, where the Board finalized expectations for the 35-second shot clock, which will be required for varsity boys and girls basketball contests beginning with the 2026-27 IHSA season.

The Board voted to accept the recommendation of the IHSA Basketball Advisory Committee by adding State Association Adoption #4, which reads “A school may not host a varsity contest if a shot clock is not installed or is not properly mounted on the backboard in the primary gym in accordance with NFHS rules. The host school must secure an alternate facility or allow the opponent to host the contest. If the host school is unable to secure a gym with functioning shot clocks and the opposing school cannot host, the game shall be forfeited by the home team.”

The shot clock is optional for lower-level games (junior varsity, sophomore, freshman, etc.).

The Board allowed for experimental use of the shot clock in 2022-23 and 2023-24, providing teams the option to use it in tournaments and shootouts. In June of 2024, the IHSA Board voted to implement a 35-second shot clock for all varsity games beginning with the 2026-27 season in order to provide schools with time to plan and install the devices. At the same meeting, the Board made the shot clock an option for regular-season games in 2024-25 and 2025-26 when mutually agreed upon by the competing teams.

A statewide survey of high school coaches in Illinois conducted by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) in 2020 revealed that 75% of the boys head coaches in the state supported the implementation of the shot clock, while 68% percent of the girls coaches who responded were in favor.
 

Three Lexington pitchers combined to hold Mt. Pulaski to just one run as the Minute Men defeated the Hilltoppers 3-1 in a high school baseball sectional semifinal matchup on Wednesday at Illinois Wesleyan. 

Jack Miller got the start and pitched five innings, allowing five hits, one run, and striking out four. The Mt. Pulaski bats were only further limited from there as Drake Powell and Blaine Friedmansky combined for two innings of shutout relief. 

Mt. Pulaski got on the board first after a leadoff single in the top of the third from Carter Clark. After a sac bunt moved Clark to second, Chase Roberts singled in Clark to make it 1-0. 

Lexington answered back when Powell led off the bottom of the fourth with a triple and then scored on a wild pitch during the next at-bat to even the game at 1-1. They added another two runs in the fifth, highlighted by RBI singles from Powell and Braeden Barber to take the 3-1 win. 

Powell led the Minute Men with a 2-for-3 day at the plate, scoring once and driving in a run. Friedmansky was also 2-for-3 and came home once. Barber was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored as well. 

Preston Cowan led the Mt. Pulaski bats with a 2-for-3 performance. Clark was 1-for-3 with the lone run for the Hilltoppers. Aaron Volle, Luke Martin, and Tyler Cross also had hits. 

Clark started on the mound for Mt. Pulaski, pitching 3.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits, striking out five, and permitting two walks. Volle allowed two runs and three hits over 1 and ? innings while striking out two. Jaeden Jackson struck out two in a shutout inning of relief. 

Lexington improves to 23-11 and advances to the Sectional Championship against Tremont at Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday at 11 AM. Mt. Pulaski finishes the campaign 22-12. 
 

Dane Eisenmenger went the distance and drove in two runs in a four-run first inning, propelling Tolono Unity past Maroa-Forsty 4-1 in a Class 2A high school baseball Sectional semifinal on Wednesday from the Monticello Sectional.

Eisenmenger drove in two runs with a triple to put the Rockets up 3-0 in the top of the first. He would strike out nine across seven innings of one-run ball.

Brayden Henry and Ryan Cunningham had RBIs for Tolono Unity.

Gunner Larner had the only RBI for the Trojans in the bottom half of the first inning. Camden Trendler was 2-for-3 with a double for Maroa-Forsyth, who finishes its campaign 24-10-1. 

It will be an Illini Prairie Conference Sectional Championship on Saturday when Tolono Unity battles St. Joseph-Ogden at 11 am in Monticello.