LOCAL ROUNDUP: Danville boys wrap up tourney
Nov. 29—LINCOLN — The Danville boys basketball team wrapped up action at the Lincoln Thanksgiving Tournament with a 55-50 loss to Belleville-Althoff on Saturday.
Perez Larkin had 19 points for the Vikings, while O'Shawn Jones-Winslow had 14 points and Ja'Vaughn Robinson had 13 points.
The Vikings are 1-3 and will stay on the road on Thursday, when they will take on St. Joseph-Ogden.
Lexington 78, Hoopeston Area 55
GIBSON CITY — The Cornjerkers could not get past Lexington in the third-place game of the Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Thanksgiving Tournament on Saturday.
Owen Root had 13 points for Hoopeston Area, while Trenton Montez and Mason Rush each had nine points and Anthony Zamora had seven assists.
The Cornjerkers will next play Saturday against Clifton Central.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Geo-RF 1-1 in tourney
NEOGA — The Buffaloes beat Arthur Christian 54-51 but lost to host Neoga 59-20 in the Neoga Holiday Tournament.
Kendall Roberts had 23 points in the win for Georgetown-Ridge Farm, while J'Lynn Waltz had eight, Bryleigh Collom had seven and Sydney Spesard added five.
Against Neoga, Collom had eight with Addi Spesard, Peyton McComas and Kaydence Kraus each getting four points.
The Buffaloes will play Chrisman today.
WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Delaware 83, Illinois 80
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Illini battled but took its first loss against the Blue Hens at the Daytona Beach Invitational.
Adalia McKenzie had 22 points, 10 rebounds and five steals for Illinois, while Genesis Bryant had 18 points, Makira cook had 16 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, Jada Peebles had 11 points, Brynn Shoup-Hill had seven points and six assists and Kendall Bostic had six points.
The Illini are 6-1 and will play Pittsburgh on Wednesday as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Guenther to receive award
CHAMPAIGN — Former Illinois athletics director Ron Guenther received the Big Ten's Ford-Kinnick Award, an award that recognize Big Ten football students who have achieved success in leadership following their academic and athletic careers at a Big Ten university.
Guenther played football for the Illini from 1964-66 as an offensive lineman, earning team MVP, second-team All-Big Ten and Academic All-Big Ten honors in 1966. He was interim Athletics Director at Illinois in 1988, then named permanent Athletic Director from 1992 to 2011, when he retired from the University.
Major projects under his watch included the Memorial Stadium renaissance, Eichelberger Field for softball, the Bielfeldt Athletics Administration Building, the Demirjian Golf Facility, the Kahn Outdoor Tennis Complex, the Atkins Tennis Center, the UI Outdoor Track and Field Stadium, the Irwin Indoor Football Practice Facility, the Irwin Academic Center and the Ubben Basketball Practice Facility.
During his tenure, Illinois captured 34 Big Ten Championships, reached a men's basketball Final Four and made six football bowl appearances, including the Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl. Guenther was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and the University of Illinois Hall of Fame in 2022.
Also, former Indiana player Nate Sudfeld won the Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Award.
Brown named Player of the Week
CHAMPAIGN — Illinois safety Sydney Brown was named Big Ten Player of the Week from the conference on Monday.
Brown had two interceptions, a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown and a 53-yard fumble recovery touchdown in a 41-3 win over Northwestern on Saturday. It was the first time a player accomplished that since SMU's Kenneth Acker did that against Stephen F. Austin in 2012.
Brown was also named Reese's Senior Bowl Player of the Week and Walter Camp National Player of the Week honors.
SPHL HOCKEY
Bobcats go 0-3 for weekend
DANVILLE — The Vermilion County Bobcats could not pick up a win during their weekend homestand with the Birmingham Bulls and the Evansville Thunderbolts.
The Bobcats lost to the Bulls 3-2 on Friday. After a scoreless first period, Gianni Vitali scored on an assist from TJ Sneath, but Birmingham scored the next three goals for a 3-1 lead after the second period.
Vadim Vasjonkin scored on assists from Egor Borschev and Aaron Ryback, but Vermilion County could not come back. Brett Epp had 28 saves in goal.
In Saturday's game against the Bulls, Charlie Bedard scored first for the Bobcats and Vasjonkin scored to tie the game at 2-2 in the second period, but Birmingham scored the last five goals for a 7-2 win.
Dave Nicoletti, Justin Portillo, Borschev and Peter DiMartino each had an assist and Epp had 15 saves in goal.
In Sunday's matchup with Evansville, Vasjonkin scored the first goal, but the Thunderbolts scored the next three. Adam Eby scored in the third period, but Evansville got the goal back and would win 4-2. Vasjonkin and Davis Kirkendall each had an assist and Sean Kuhn had 14 saves in goal.
The Bobcats will return to action Friday, when they travel to take on the Peoria Rivermen. They will return to the David S. Palmer Arena on Saturday with a game against the Rivermen and on Sunday against Evansville.
