Can you believe that we haven’t been able to conduct a Performance of the Month since October? Yes, it has been that long but that’s what you get when you try to navigate high school sports through a pandemic. 

After golf and cross country ended at the end of October, there were no winter sports played in November and December. Then, January prolonged basketball season to February. Due to basketball season being the only sport, we decided to furlough basketball performances to March, so we apologize to Charleston’s buzzer-beating win over Mattoon on Feb. 28 for not making the list. 

Last month felt more routine, so let us bring back normalcy to you. Here are the Coles County Sports Performances of March. 

5. Charleston football blows out Lincoln 54-0/Mattoon beats Taylorville 19-14 for first win over Tornadoes in four years

Cory Spour ran for more than 200 yards and four touchdowns to lead Charleston in a season-opening win over Lincoln. Spour had compiled 196 yards at halftime. 

Mattoon senior defensive lineman Hayden Williams came up with the biggest play of the game, returning an interception 70 yards for a touchdown with 6:30 left to play in the third quarter that gave Mattoon a 19-14 it would never relinquish. 

4. Mattoon soccer blows out Charleston twice in a week

Mattoon beat Charleston 4-0 and then defeated the Trojans 6-0 just six days later to take two Apollo boys soccer victories in less than a week. Gavin Gonzalez recorded four goals altogether over the two games. 

3. Charleston girls basketball capture Apollo Conference

Shae Littleford scored 12 of her game-high 29 points in the second half to lead Charleston 54-50 over Teutopolis to claim the conference crown. Charleston led just 27-25 at halftime but used a strong fourth quarter to take the game. Littleford scored eight of her 10 free throws in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Alycia Triplett scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. 

2. Mattoon beats Lincoln in boys basketball

Mattoon started the month of March in the best possible way with a 35-32 win over Lincoln in boys basketball. It was believed to be Mattoon’s first win over Lincoln, a program that has registered over 700 wins in Neil Alexander’s tenure dating back to 1990, since 1982. MHS coach Ryan Ghere was greeted with a water bath by his team in the locker room. 

1. Jeff Miller retired unbeaten

Charleston defeated Mahomet-Seymour in the final game of the COVID-19 shortened girls basketball season, 62-45. The win solidified the undefeated season with a 15-0 record that included a 14-0 mark in the Apollo Conference. The season will go down as the only undefeated basketball season in Charleston’s history. Miller also led the second-best finish in girls’ history during the 2018-2019 season when the team finished 29-1. Miller retired with a 248-120 mark in 14 seasons coaching Charleston girls basketball, finishing as the winningest coach in girls’ history.