Litchfield High Sports | The Journal-News

LHS Nearly Knocks Off Mt. Pulaski

It may not be a check in the win column, but Litchfield’s 55-53 loss to Mt. Pulaski on Monday, Dec. 29, was a moral victory for the Lady Panthers at the Riverton Christmas Classic. The … more

12/31/25

Litchfield's Landon Wernsing looks for a way around Staunton defender Luke Moore during the championship semifinal game of the Carlinville Holiday Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 27. Wernsing tied Sam Schwab for the team lead in points with eight, but Moore and the Bulldogs were a menace on the defensive end all night as they held the Panthers to single digits in all four quarters in a 69-31 victory.

Staunton Shackles Panthers In Semifinal

On day two of the 2025 Carlinville Holiday tournament the Litchfield Purple Panthers had a tall test ahead of them, as they squared off against the Staunton Bulldogs in the semifinals on Dec. 27. … more

12/29/25

Rockets Rally To Beat Litchfield At Riverton

Litchfield’s opening game at the Riverton Girls Christmas Classic went down to the wire as the Lady Panthers nearly upended Tolono Unity before falling by a 42-39 final score. The Rockets held … more

12/29/25

Panthers Get Past Redskins In OT

The Litchfield and Nokomis boys basketball teams turned in an instant classic in their final game before Christmas on Tuesday, Dec. 23, with the Purple Panthers handing the Redskins a 58-55 overtime … more

12/29/25

Purple Panthers Outlast Bunker Hill

The 2025 version of the Carlinville Holiday Tournament tipped off Friday, Dec. 26, as the Litchfield Purple Panthers looked to travel through the bracket to the championship game. The Purple … more

12/29/25

2025-26 Holiday Basketball Tournaments

Below are the schedules for the holiday basketball tournaments involving the boys and girls basketball teams from Hillsboro, Litchfield, Nokomis and Lincolnwood. Carlinville Holiday Boys … more

12/28/25

Strong Start Pushes Shells Past Panthers

The Roxana Shells had a strong start and finished on a high note to beat Litchfield on Monday, Dec. 22, in Roxana. Hoping to enter the holidays on a high note, Litchfield had a two-game win … more

12/24/25

Litchfield High School senior Alli Frerichs, seated, center, made her decision to continue her athletic and academic career at Lake Land College official on Sunday, Dec. 21, in front of her friends, family and coaches. Seated with Frerichs are her parents, Jessica and Andrew Frerichs. In the back, from the left, are Frerichs’ sister, Amy, Litchfield Head Volleyball Coach Mallory Beechler and Frerichs’ brother, Jacob.

Frerichs Ready To Hit The Ground Running At Lake Land

If you’ve watched Litchfield volleyball any time in the last four years, Alli Frerichs is easy to spot, and not just because of her libero jersey. Frerichs, a senior at Litchfield High School, is … more

12/24/25

The Litchfield-Mt. Olive wrestling team took fifth place at the Skull and Crossbones Tournament at Cumberland High School on Saturday, Dec. 20, with four wrestlers finishing on the podium and a fifth earning consolation championship honors. In front, from the left, are Head Coach Chance Davidson, Tristan Staggs, Jayden Ellinger, Braxton Kieffer, Nicholas Adam and Assistant Coach Art FullerDee. In the middle row are Rilynn Younker, Vincent Moore, Draven Jones and Thayden Bailey. In the back row are Tommi Law, Kaleigh Morgan and Liana Braisse.

Panthers Fifth At Cumberland

Four of the nine Litchfield wrestlers who competed in this year’s Skull and Crossbones Tournament at Cumberland High School made the podium, with a fifth earning consolation champion honors at the … more

12/22/25

Litchfield Boys Return From North Mac With A Win

Litchfield silenced the home crowd in Virden on Friday night, Dec. 19, using a massive 23-0 run that spanned from the second quarter into the third quarter to erase an early North Mac lead and secure … more

12/22/25

Purple Panthers Hang On At Jerseyville

The Litchfield Purple Panthers and the Jersey Panthers tipped off in a rare Wednesday night non-conference match-up at Havens Gymnasium in Jerseyville on Dec. 17. In a close battle, the Purple … more

12/22/25

Lady Panthers Take Two Over MSM Foes

After losses to Nokomis and Lincolnwood earlier this year, the Litchfield girls basketball team picked up a pair of wins over two MSM Conference teams to end their week. On Wednesday, Dec. 17, … more

12/22/25

Once a year, Montgomery County's two high school wrestling teams lock horns with a year's worth of bragging rights on the line. On Tuesday, Dec. 16, Hillsboro earned those rights with a 45-36 victory over the Purple Panthers at Simmons Gym in Litchfield. Pictured in the top row, from the left, are 138-pounders Thayden Bailey of Litchfield and Briar Kuhl of Hillsboro, 157-pounders Gavin Shomaker of Hillsboro and Nicholas Adam of Litchfield and 190-pounders Jayden Ellinger of Litchfield and Olan Lentz of Hillsboro. In the bottom row are 215-pounders Evan Fricke of Litchfield and Tytin Wells of Hillsboro, 165-pounders Braxton Kieffer of Litchfield and Westin Fenton of Hillsboro and 120-pounders Rilynn Younker of Litchfield and Landon Bandy of Hillsboro.

Hiltoppers, Purple Panthers Go Head-To-Head

It was about as close as it could get in Litchfield on Tuesday, Dec. 16, but in the end, the Hillsboro High School wrestling team scored bragging rights over their rivals to the west as the Toppers … more

12/18/25

With Litchfield's McKenna Harmon (right) blocking her path to the basket, Hillsboro's Kearstynn Davis looks for an another option in the first quarter of the South Central Conference showdown in Litchfield on Dec. 15. Davis had 11 points in Hillsboro's 58-44 victory over the Lady Panthers, which kept the Toppers tied atop the SCC.

Quick Start Pushes Hillsboro Past Litchfield

A 30-13 first half lead was enough to pave the way for a 58-44 victory for the Hillsboro girls basketball team over Litchfield on Monday, Dec. 15, at Simmons Gym. The Lady Hiltoppers scored the … more

12/18/25

The Litchfield boys basketball team picked up a 50-35 victory over Lincolnwood-Morrisonville on Saturday, Dec. 13, at the T. Todt Shootout in Raymond, the 1,500th win in the program's history. From the left are Assistant Coach Kevin Young, Assistant Coach James Bryant, Cooper Martin, Ben Ronco, Max Leitschuh, Landon Wernsing, Ethan Saathoff, Sam Schwab, Titan Hires, Tucker Maguire, Brody Dykema, Chance Holliday, Assistant Coach Rocky Gianuzzi, Assistant Coach Nicholas Todt and Head Coach Daniel Bonnell.

Panthers Win Over Lancers Is #1,500

The Litchfield boys basketball team spoiled Lincolnwood’s first home game and made some history in the process with a win in the finale of the seventh annual T. Todt Shootout vs. Cancer. With … more

12/15/25

Gillespie Holds Off Panthers In SCC Play

The Litchfield girls basketball team kept it close with one of the favorites to win the South Central Conference on Thursday, Dec. 11, but weren’t quite able to pull the upset as Gillespie … more

12/15/25

Lady Lancers Snap Streak Against Panthers

Since the resurrection of the Lincolnwood girls basketball program in 2019, the Lady Lancers had played Litchfield five times going into this year’s meeting at the T. Todt Shootout vs. Cancer … more

12/15/25

Panthers Clip Birds In SCC Opener

After being on the road for their first six games, the Litchfield Purple Panther basketball team would finally get to entertain their fans in Simmons Gym on Dec. 12. Not only was Friday … more

12/15/25

Lincolnwood To Host T. Todt Shootout

Lincolnwood High School will host the seventh annual T. Todt Shootout vs. Cancer on Saturday, Dec. 13, to honor a man who gave so much of his time to the Raymond community and the area as a whole. … more

12/11/25

Litchfield Thumps Hawks For Fourth Victory

The Litchfield girls basketball team moved a step closer to getting back to .500 for the season with a 58-16 victory over Riverton on Monday, Dec. 8. The Lady Panthers started the game on a 16-0 run … more

12/11/25