MAHOMET – Champaign Central earned a third meeting against rival Centennial with a 51-34 victory against Kankakee on Monday in the Class 3A Mahomet-Seymour Regional.

The Maroons will take on top-seeded Centennial at 7:30 tonight in one semifinal. Wednesday's semifinal matches second-seeded Mahomet-Seymour and third-seeded Urbana.

Clayton Jones had 17 points to lead the Maroons, but it was a mixture of defenses that fueled Central's effort. Jay Simpson had eight points.

"We came out the first quarter in a 2-3 zone and played pretty well," Central coach Scott Davis said. "We mixed it up in the second quarter and went with a fullcourt man-to-man, went smaller and used a different look, and I think the pressure hurt them."

Kankakee made a run in the third quarter but the Maroons held off the charge.

"We've had a problem in the past where teams make a run and we hurried," Davis said. "But tonight we settled down and got the ball where it needed to go. We got the ball into Simpson, and they didn't have an answer for him.

"We got big efforts from a lot of kids," Davis said, referencing Andrew Miller and Clark Browning.

Centennial won both regular season meetings against Central.

"We feel we've been playing pretty well," Davis said. "Simpson's been playing better the last few games. He's been more assertive. We feel we can compete with Centennial. They have a good team, and Josh Piper is an outstanding player. The key is to keep them off the boards. Piper and (Corvon) Butler are two big bodies. We have one big body."

Tiger trio uncertain. The playing status of three Urbana starters for Wednesday's regional semifinal game remains uncertain, according to Tigers coach Vashoune Russell.

Guards Deonta Jones and P.J. Blissit missed the last two games while serving suspensions for violation of team rules. Forward Devin Carter sat out Urbana's regular season finale on Friday for the same reason, according to Russell.

The Tigers coach indicated Monday that no decision has yet been made on whether any of the three will be on the court for Urbana's postseason opener against host Mahomet-Seymour.

"I'm not sure if he'll play Wednesday," Russell said of Carter. "I'm trying to figure out how many games to keep him out. It will be a game-time decision on the other two."