Civic Memorial concluded one of its best seasons in the past 22 years this week with a 79-54 loss in the IHSA Class 3A Carbondale Sectional to Belleville Althoff.

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The Eagles’ Jersey Regional championship win over the host Panthers was the first triumph in 22 years.

“One of our two goals for the season was to win the regional and conference and we did one of the two,” Civic Memorial coach Doug Carey said. “We won 18 games last year and 19 this year. I am hoping we can win 20 next year and have a chance at winning the regional and conference.”

CM loses senior center Jakob Lowrance, the fourth leading scorer in Eagles’ history and it will be a significant loss, Carey said. Lowrance averaged 19.5 points a game this season.

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“He is also the all-time leader in rebounds,” he added. “I think he will have a great college career at Central Missouri.”

The Eagles will have several people returning next year, Carey said.

One returnee is freshman JaQuan Adams, who averaged about nine points a game after Christmas. Carey said he has big hopes for Adams as he continues to develop over the next three years.

Also key retunees will be guards Adam Hill and Brett Lane. The CM junior varsity boys basketball team was 13-4 this year and should add to the Eagles’ varsity talent next year.

Carey said he was proud of his team’s effort against Belleville Althoff, even with the defeat.

“Belleville Althoff was ranked fourth in the state and has three potential Division I kids,” he said. “I thought our kids played like they wanted to win through the season. It was a good year.”

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