Indians win fifth straight contest; Dwight prevails in overtime; EPG triumphs
COAL CITY — Pontiac was overwhelmed in its first game of a Martin Luther King Day doubleheader Saturday, but bounced back to defeat the hosts Saturday.
Marian Catholic 51, Pontiac 14
The Indians could not must much offense against Marian Catholic as the Tribe fell 51-14. PTHS scored four points in the first period, five in the secnd and four in the third to trail 45-13 by the start of the final frame.
Sam Johns had 5 points to pace Pontiac.
Pontiac slipped past Coal City in the second game, 42-40. Bailey Masching had eight points as PTHS took a 14-9 lead in the first quarter. Masching added seven in the second as the lead was trimmed to 24-21 by halftime. A 6-5 difference in the third gave the Indians a 30-26 lead. The Coalers made it close but Pontiac was able to fend off the host down the stretch for the two-point win.
Masching finished with 16 points for Pontiac and Mikayla Fisher had 10 points. Mackenzie Coates scored 7 points.
Prairie Central 51, Grace Academy 24
KANKAKEE — Chloe Sisco's hot shooting continued Saturday as the sharpshooting junior paced Prairie Central in its 51-24 girls' basketball victory over host Grace Christian Academy.
Sisco scored more points than the Hawks' opponent as she poured in 26. This came a couple days after she scored 29 against Rantoul. Katy Curl added 12 points while Gracie Edelman collected 7 points and 5 rebounds. Gyllian Davies added 4 points and Clare Strong scored 2 points.
Sisco hit a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Hawks led by a scant 12-10 margin. Prairie Central chalked up 12 more in the second while the defense held Grace in check as the margin grew to 24-12. A 20-point third made it a 44-17 difference by the start of the final frame.
EPG 41, GCMS 15
EL PASO — A home game for El Paso-Gridley in the opening round of the McLean County Tournament was good as the Titans topped Gibson City-Melvi-Sibley 41-15 in the event that doubles as the Heart of Illinois Conference tournament.
Michaela Kelly lead the Titans (9-10) with 11 points and 5 rebounds as EPG advanced to the quarterfinal round. Madi Ehrhardt added 9 points.
The Titans took control early by building a 10-2 lead after one quarter and 25-4 by halftime. It was a 35-9 difference through three periods. GCMS managed just one field goal in the game's first 26 minutes.
The quarterfinal round took place Monday at Eureka College.
IN OTHER first round McLean County play from Saturday, Lexington, Dee-Mack, Tri-Valley and Ridgeview joined EPG as winners in the girls' tournament. Lexington defeated LeRoy 35-28 and Dee-Mack handled Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland 54-24. Tri-Valley edged Heyworth 46-44 and Ridgeview rolled past Fisher 49-21.
Monday's games had top-seed Fieldcrest meeting Lexington, then Dee-Mack and EPG with No. 2 Tremont and Tri-Valley facing off. No. 3 Eureka took on Ridgeview in the finale.
On the boys' side, the top three seeds — El Paso-Gridley, Eureka and Flanagan-Cornell got the day off. Meanwhile, Heyworth defeated Tri-Valley 48-36, LeRoy handled Fisher 48-31, Lexington disposed of Ridgeview 59-40, Tremont took care of GCMS 53-48 and Fieldcrest topped Dee-Mack 49-28.
Monday's quarterfinal games at the Shirk Center in Bloomington opened with top-seed EPG meeting No. 9 Heyworth and then No. 4 LeRoy and No. 5 Lexington.
The Tuesday slate has No. 2 Eureka meeting No. 10 Tremont and No. 3 Flanagan-Cornell taking on No. 11 Fieldcrest.
Pontiac 58, St. Joe-Ogden 44
ST. JOSEPH — Ty Pence is considered one of, if not the best basketball player in the Illini Prairie Conference. He showed his scoring prowess Friday night against Pontiac. But the Indians have been hot lately and allowed the Spartans' sharpshooter to get his points while limiting the rest of the team in claiming a 58-44 road victory.
“We played very well defensively,” said PTHS head coach Matt Kelley.
Pontiac won for the fifth straight times since the Pontiac Holiday Tournament and improved to 2-0 in the IPC and 9-8 on the season.
“Riley Weber led a very balance scoring attack for us,” Kelley said. “We did a good job attacking the rim versus their pressure and moving the ball inside out.”
The balance was evident in the key second quarter when the Indians outscored SJO 20-6 to take a 35-18 lead into the locker room at the break. Five different players scored with Michael Kuska and Kodi Davis leading the way with six points each. Aithen Sullivan and Weber each hit 3-pointers and Logan Barnett scored inside.
Pontiac, who led 15-12 after the opening period, did not come out so well in the second half as the Spartans outscored the Tribe 12-6, making it a 41-30 game heading into the final frame.
If there is something Kelley will be emphasizing at practice it will be free throw shooting. The Indians made just 10 of 17 tosses in the fourth period. Still, it was enough to put the game away.
Weber finished with 12 points while Barnett garnered 11 and Kuska and Davis each chalked up 10 markers. Kerr Bauman scored 9 points with Sullivan and Henry Brummel netting 3 points apiece.
Pence led St. Joseph-Ogden with 30 points while the rest of the team managed just 14.
Dwight 54, Morris 52, OT
DWIGHT — Dwight head coach Jermey Connor said that Wyatt Thompson and Jeremy Kapper both played huge games as the Trojans edged Morris 54-52 in overtime in a rare nonconference Friday night game.
The win pushes Dwight to 8-8 on the season.
After drilling a 3-pointer with three seconds to go in regulation, Thompson made two field goals in the extra period and Gavin Wykes added a free throw as the Trojans outscored Morris 5-3. The difference was a continuation from the fourth quarter where DTHS overcame a five-point deficit by outscoring the visitors 16-11 to force overtime.
Dwight fell behind early and had to play catch-up the rest of the way Morris was a up 15-7 after one quarter and but just 22-18 at the intermission. It was a 38-33 game through three periods. Kapper had 10 points for DTHS in the middle frames.
Kapper then scored eight in the fourth to augment Thompson's seven as the pair led the final comeback charge.
Kapper finished with 23 points and Thompson tallied 21 points. Connor Telford scored 7 and Wykes had 4 points.
“Our entire team stepped up tonight, playing a big role in winning this game,” Connor said. “Our guards did a good job of taking better care of the ball tonight, and it showed.”
El Paso-Gridley 61, Fieldcrest 28
EL PASO — Asa Smith and Jake Funk guided El Paso-Gridley to a 61-28 victory over Fieldcrest in a Heart of Illinois Conference battle between Route 251 rivals Friday.
Smith scored 17 points and Funk registered another double double with 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Titans remained unbeaten in HOIC play at 7-0. EPG is 16-2 heading into McLean County Tournament play.
The Titans jumped on the Knights early with a 19-point first quarter. The 14-point lead grew to 33-16 by halftime 52-23 through three periods.
Landon Modro led Fieldcrest (2-8, 0-4) with 10 points and 7 rebounds.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: area basketball from the weekend with Pontiac, Dwight, EPG
