Darren Kinnard/River Radio Sports Central

LAKE OF EGYPT — Salem junior Mya Russell hauled in what turned out to be the big bass at the Lake of Egypt Sectional very early in the day, and it turned out to be the start of something big for her and freshman teammate Kai Graham.

Russell’s big bass weighed in slightly more than five pounds (5.04), but the Wildcat duo hauled in the five-fish limit and brought a bag to the scales that weighed more than 19 and a half pounds. That was just shy of three pounds more than Joppa/Maple Grove freshmen Kenley Harris and Preston Jeffers, who wound up second.

The top 10 teams advance to the State Tournament held on Lake Shelbyville June 5-6.

Other qualifiers included two teams from Highland along with teams from Triad, Du Quoin, Waltonville, Herrin, Benton, and Goreville.

State qualifying teams: Salem #1 (Kai Graham/Mya Russell) 19.63, Joppa/Maple Grove #1 (Kenley Harris/Preston Jeffers) 16.15, Highland #1 (Deklyn Potthast/Charlie Krouse/Braiden Diesen) 15.56, Triad #1 (Bryce Cast/Brent Johnson) 14.73, Du Quoin #1 (Briar Crain/Jaystin Scholebo) 14.48, Waltonville #1 (Ryley Stewart/Chase Kujawa) 14.09, Herrin #2 (Drake Haub/Jaxon Hudson) 13.84, Benton #1 (TJ Hamilton/Fender Ely) 13.54, Highland #2 (Landon Keilbach/Chase Wilson/Trevor Warnecke) 12.74, Goreville #1 (Grayson Liefer/Braxton Liefer) 11.31