BLOOMINGTON — Senior Samantha Nguyen and junior Jessi Sullivan are one round away from qualifying for state in the IHSA Class 2A Three-Point Showdown.

Last year Sullivan made it to the state prelims, becoming the first Uni player to make it that far since Rebecca Murphy took over as varsity coach in 1994. (Sullivan competed in Class A last year, because at that time IHSA girls basketball was still divided into two classes; the sport is now divided into four classes.)

A total of 32 girls from eight Class 2A sectional sites will compete next week in the 3-point shooting contest at Illinois State University's Redbird Arena as part of the 1A and 2A girls state basketball tournaments. The preliminaries will begin at 5 p.m. Feb. 21, with the 2A shooting finals scheduled for Feb. 22 in between the Class 2A semifinal games.

Sullivan and Nguyen have already made it through four rounds of the Showdown. They began their trek by ranking among the top four shooters before the Uni vs. Georgetown-Ridge Farm regional quarterfinal game on Feb. 6. Sullivan made 7 treys, and Nguyen 6.

Then they finished in the top four the next night prior to the regional semifinal between Georgetown-Ridge Farm and Monticello. Nguyen made 7 treys, while Sullivan won in a shoot-off, finishing with 6.

The pair concluded their week on Friday, shooting before the Monticello vs. Unity regional final. They again placed in the top four, with Nguyen making 7 shots and Sullivan needing another shoot-off to end with 6.

All three regional games took place at St. Thomas More High School in Champaign.

The action this week shifted to Bloomington Central Catholic, site of sectional play. On Monday night, Sullivan and Nguyen finished in the top four again, this time before the Unity vs. Bloomington Central Catholic sectional semifinal.

Thursday night the pair will compete against six other athletes before the 7:30 p.m. sectional final match between BCC and Prairie Central. The top four shooters will advance to the state prelims next week.

Nguyen and Sullivan will go up against:

• Kenber Galloway — Prairie Central
• Erin Henk — Hoopeston Area
• Allie Norton — Bloomington Central Catholic
• Jenna Richard — Fieldcrest
• Jackie Sheppard — Prairie Central
• Tamera Waugh — El Paso-Gridley