Coal City advances to Class 1A sectional final after thrilling win over Herscher

Coal City coach Steven McCleary didn’t even know their match against Herscher would be played Monday until after their regional championship win over Beecher on Saturday.Perhaps an understandable quirk after such a short turnaround. “It sucks,” McCleary said. “I try not to look ahead too much because I’m superstitious, I guess. ... We had a little walkthrough yesterday, nothing too much, just tried to get the scouting report out and work on everything we needed to work on.”It seems Coal City understood the balance it needed as the Coalers rattled off a high-octane win over an ascending Herscher program 3-1. Coal City advances to face Manteno at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the Class 1A Manteno Sectional final. It’s a chance to clinch its second-consecutive sectional title after last year’s third-place finish in the state finals. Coal City and Manteno also played last year for a sectional title.“It never gets old. It always feels good to take big wins like this, especially against good programs