For the fifth time this season, Charleston boys’ basketball will face Effingham.

The two teams will play each other in the regional quarterfinal round, or play-in round, of the Marion Sectional in the Illinois High School Association Class 3A bracket. 

The Trojans (11-17, 3-5) are an 8-seed, and Effingham (7-22, 2-7) is a 9-seed, meaning that Charleston will host the game on Feb. 24. Tipoff is set for 6:30.

The play-in game will mark the ninth time in the past two seasons that the Trojans have played Effingham. In their previous four meetings this season, the Trojans are 3-1 against the Flaming Hearts, with the only loss coming when they played in the holiday tournament on Dec. 28.

“We tend to find that happens quite often with us, Effingham, and Mattoon, just because we play in a lot of the same tournaments,” Trojan head coach Brian Dedmond said. “Those tournament directors do a good job of trying to keep us spread out so we don’t play each other, but it just tends to happen sometimes.”

Most recently, Charleston beat Effingham 57-56 on Tuesday. The Trojans had three players score double figures, with senior guard Luke Bonnstetter scoring 21 points and senior forward Burk Anderson and junior guard Tyler Oakley each scoring 12 points 

Last year, the two teams met in a similar situation. 

Charleston, which was designated as a regional host by the IHSA, was an 8-seed who had to host 10-seeded Effingham for a play-in game. Charleston won that game 64-35, marking the Trojans’ first playoff victory since 2018. 

Now, with Effingham designated as a regional host this season, the two will once again play at Baker Gym for the right to play against Centralia in the regional semifinals. 

“We kind of wish we would have got a little bit higher of a seed so we could have had a shot at Herrin and then maybe played in a regional championship, but it doesn’t always work out,” Deadmond said. “We needed to take care of business earlier in the year.”

Effingham just stopped an 11-game losing streak with a 67-43 win over Sullivan in the Teutopolis Shootout on Saturday. Prior to that game, the Flaming Hearts hadn’t won a game in a month. 

The Trojans have three games remaining in the regular season. Charleston will travel to Mt. Zion and Paris Monday and Tuesday before finishing the regular season up against Mattoon. 

“I think we’re playing some of the best basketball right now that we’ve played all year,” Deadmond said. “So, if we can continue playing solid basketball like we’ve been doing, I think we’ll be alright.”

Charleston held its senior night before the Trojans’ game against Marshall Friday evening, honoring the seniors both on the boys’ team and on the girls’ team after the cancellation of the girls’ game on Wednesday due to inclement weather. 

In the game, Bonnstetter scored 22 points, and notched career point 1,000 in his Trojan basketball career. Bonnstetter is the 13th Trojan in program history to score 1,000 points in a career. 

“[Charleston head football coach Brian] Halsey always uses the word unicorn, and I think that’s true of Luke [Bonnstetter],” Deadmond said. “He works hard every single day in the classroom and on the court, or on the field or whatever he’s doing.”

Deadmond says Oakley is 37 points away from the 1,000-point mark. 

It’s well within Oakley’s ability to achieve that before the regular season ends as he’s averaging over 17 points per game. 

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.