Carl Sandburg College
Women’s basketball: Hot start propels Chargers to victory (Nov. 13)
The Sandburg women’s basketball team got off to a blazing start and ran away from Spoon River 79–60 Nov. 13 in Canton.
The Chargers scored 31 first-quarter points — their most in any period this season — as they built an early 31–11 lead over the host Snappers. Sandburg (2–1) went into halftime with a 43–31 advantage.
Sophomore Antonia Kisler led four Chargers in double figures, scoring 19 points. Kisler did all her scoring in the first three quarters and had three 3-pointers on the night.
Hailey Redding turned in her second straight double-digit outing, finishing with a season-best 15 points. The freshman from Abingdon-Avon High School had 11 in the third quarter alone, including both of her 3-point baskets, as Sandburg pushed its lead to 66–43.
Janessa Wallace contributed 11 points for the Chargers, and Lajaya Angel added 10. Seven of Angel’s points came in the opening period. It was the first time reaching double figures for both Wallace and Angel.
The Chargers host Madison at 1 p.m. Nov. 15 in a game that features the Basketball Alumni Reunion and Paint the House Red Day.
Men’s basketball: Spoon River hands Chargers their first loss (Nov. 13)
Ashton Grieves tallied 20 points, but a strong shooting night from 3-point range lifted Spoon River past the Sandburg men’s basketball team 74–61 Nov. 13 in Canton.
Grieves led the Chargers in scoring, with 11 of his 20 coming in the second half. The freshman from Metamora connected on five 3s, including three after intermission. It marked the first 20-point game of his college career.
Keauntrey Barnes had 14 points for Sandburg (3–1), which dropped its first contest of the season. His evening included a highlight-reel breakaway slam in the final minute of the first half.
Sophomore point guard Ralph Wires added 11 points for the Chargers, collecting all of them in the second half.
Sandburg led 18–13 in the first half, but the host Snappers went into the locker room up 36–25. Spoon River finished with 13 3-pointers in the contest. Seven of those were made by Eli Pace, who led all players with 27 points.
The Chargers host Madison at 3 p.m. Nov. 15 in a game that features the Basketball Alumni Reunion and Paint the House Red Day.
Knox College
Men’s basketball: Prairie Fire notch second win (Nov. 11)
Entering the second half tied at 35, the Knox College men’s basketball team rattled off the first nine points of the half and never let host Blackburn College recover as the Prairie Fire handed the Battlin’ Beavers an 82–67 defeat Nov. 11 in Carlinville.
Sophomore Ryan Erdos scored a career-high 19 points, while classmate Willie Rogers III added 16 — both coming off the bench — to lead Knox to its first 2–0 start to a season in four years. Blackburn dropped to 0–2.
Senior Russell Wright provided the first three buckets of the second half — six of his nine points on the night — to jump-start the Knox offense after intermission. A few minutes later, Erdos hit one of his three 3-pointers of the game that extended the Prairie Fire lead to double digits for the first time at 49–38.
Knox shot 55.3% (26 of 47) from the floor, 46.2% (6 of 13) from the perimeter and 77.4% (24 of 31) at the free-throw line, while holding Blackburn to 32.2% (19 of 59) on field goals.
This is just the fourth time this century that Knox has opened a season 2–0 — 2003–04, 2019–20 and 2021–22. The Prairie Fire have not started a season with three consecutive victories since the 1999–2000 team opened with six straight wins.
Knox returns to Galesburg to host Franklin College (2–0) at 3 p.m. Nov. 15.
Volleyball: Blakemore selected for NCAA Women Coaches Academy
Knox College volleyball head coach Maliah Blakemore is among 78 coaches nationwide who will attend the NCAA Women Coaches Academy and Conference Nov. 16–18 in Indianapolis.
The 78 coaches represent 18 sports and a combined 679 years of coaching experience. Participants come from institutions across NCAA Divisions I, II and III, as well as the NAIA and NJCAA.
“I look forward to the opportunity to build bridges across conferences and divisions to increase the visibility of Division III volleyball and athletics,” Blakemore said. “I’m really excited for the opportunity to learn and be part of a community that fosters strong women leaders in athletics.”
Women’s basketball: Prairie Fire fall to Aurora (Nov. 12)
The Knox College women’s basketball team was within one point of host Aurora University at the half, but the second half proved difficult as the Prairie Fire could not keep up with the Spartans in an 89–65 defeat Nov. 12 in Aurora.
Dani Antione led Aurora (3–0) with 21 points and got plenty of support to counter the 26 points by junior Bria Medina of Knox (0–3).
The Prairie Fire led for the first six minutes of the game, with Medina scoring the first four points en route to an 11–6 lead. But the Spartans strung together the next 10 points to go up five themselves, a lead they would never relinquish, though Medina added two more buckets to keep Knox within three after the first quarter.
Kylee Callahan (12 points) and Izzy Robinson (11) joined Medina in double figures. Medina is now 10 points shy of reaching 1,000 points in her career.
Turnovers were the biggest factor in the outcome, with Aurora forcing 25 turnovers that led to 35 points. Knox forced 12 turnovers and converted them into only two points.
The Prairie Fire will return to action at 7 p.m. Nov. 18 when they play at Benedictine University (3–0).
Men’s soccer: Thomas named second-team all-conference
The Midwest Conference released its all-conference teams in men’s soccer, with Knox College defender Ethan Thomas earning a spot on the second team.
A sophomore from St. Johns, Antigua, Thomas provided big plays from one end of the pitch to the other. He started all 16 games for the Prairie Fire and led the team with six goals despite attempting only 11 shots, nine of which were on goal.
Thomas also provided the game-winner in a 3–1 win over Monmouth College in the first home night game in program history and scored twice in a 4–0 shutout of Lawrence in the penultimate match.
On the defensive end, he was a key cog in a Knox unit that ranked third in the conference in fewest goals allowed (1.13 per game).
The league also announced its major awards, with Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year honors going to Peter Cirbo and Alexis Flores of Lake Forest College, respectively. Lake Forest also received Coaching Staff of the Year after going undefeated in conference play and winning both the regular-season and tournament titles. The Newcomer of the Year honor went to Eziah Hernandez of Beloit College.
The Prairie Fire finished the season 7–5–4 overall and 3–4–1 in the Midwest Conference, placing seventh.
On the Schedule
Friday, Nov. 14, 2025
• IHSA state swimming finals, Westmont
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025
• IHSA state swimming finals, Westmont
• Knox cross country at NCAA Division III Midwest Regional, 11 a.m.
• Knox football at Monmouth College, noon
• Carl Sandburg women’s basketball vs. Madison College, 1 p.m.
• Carl Sandburg men’s basketball vs. Madison College, 3 p.m.
• Knox men’s basketball vs. Franklin College, 3 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025
• GHS girls basketball vs. Central, 7 p.m.
• Knox women’s basketball at Benedictine, 7 p.m.
• Carl Sandburg women’s basketball at Lincoln Land, 5:30 p.m.
• Carl Sandburg men’s basketball at Lincoln Land, 7:30 p.m.
• Knox men’s basketball vs. Eureka, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025
• Carl Sandburg men’s basketball at St. Ambrose JV, TBA
Friday, Nov. 21, 2025
• GHS girls basketball Thanksgiving Tournament vs. Robinson, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025
• GHS girls basketball Thanksgiving Tournament vs. Metamora, noon
• GHS girls basketball Thanksgiving Tournament vs. Springfield, 7:30 p.m.