Boys bowling

Rockford East Sectional: At The Cherry Bowl, Sycamore was second with 6,118 pins to earn a trip to state.

Junior Brian Weigel led the Spartans with a 1,324 to take ninth overall, starting the day off with two 235 games. Senior Spencer Malloy was 13th overall for the Spartans with a 1,281, including a 258 in his second game.

DeKalb was 12th as a team with a 5,259. Sophomore Clark Storey led the Barbs with a 1,182. The final of the five individual qualifying spots went to South Beloit senior James Strong and his 1,294.

Kaneland sophomore Gianni Middona competed as an individual and rolled a 1,126. Hononegah had the top team score (6,529) and Harlem sophomore Benjamin Dahle had the top individual score (1,474).

Girls wrestling

Interstate 8 Conference Championship: At Ottawa, Kaneland and Sycamore had three champions each as the Knights were third and Spartans fourth.

For Sycamore, Ema Durst (140), Frankie McMurtry (170) and Winter Beard won titles. Beard was down 11-2 in the second period after giving up eight back points in the first, but rode a reversal to the victory.

Ella West (105) and Jasmine Enriquez took second for the Spartans.

For Kaneland, Angelina Gochis (120), Chloe Cervantes (130) and Sadie Kinsella (190) won titles. Amadahy Torres (100), Caitlyn Manier (145) and Alexis Zahlit (170) took second.

Competitive dance

Class 2A Geneva Sectional: At Geneva, Sycamore finished with a 90.57, taking third and advancing to state Friday and Saturday in Bloomington.

Geneva won the sectional with 95.13, with Burlington Central second with a 91.3. Glenbard South was fourth with a 90.22.

Class 3A-2 Dundee-Crown Sectional: At Carpentersville, DeKalb took ninth with 79.3 points, missing the final qualifying spot by 3.6 points.

Hampshire took the sixth and final spot with 82.9 points, with Lake Park winning the sectional with 93.37 points.

Women’s basketball

Eastern Michigan 72, NIU 62: At Ypsilanti, Michigan, the Huskies (4-15, 2-6 Mid-American Conference) pulled to within four in the fourth quarter on a free throw by Nadechka Laccen and had a chance to cut it to two after a steal by Nevaeh Wingate.

But the layup missed with 2:57 left, and the Eagles (9-9, 3-5) scored the next eight points to secure the win.

“This game had a lot of would’ve, could’ve, should’ve,” NIU head coach Jacey Brooks said. “The fact we shot better from the field than the free-throw line is disappointing. Eastern Michigan just made the plays down the stretch to win the game.”

Laccen led the Huskies with 18 points while Wingate had a team-best nine rebounds and four steals.

Sa’Mahn Johnson had 16 points off the bench and Emilie Sorenson added 14 points for NIU.

Men’s basketball

Ball State 58, NIU 53: At Muncie, Indiana, the Huskies shot 14.3% from 3-point range, going 4 for 28.

Dylan Ducommun hit his first 3 of the game after seven misses with six seconds left, pulling the Huskies (6-13, 2-6) to within three points. But the Cardinals (7-13, 3-5) converted their free throws to preserve the win.

Makhai Valentine was 1 for 11 on 3s and finished with 10 points. Gianni Cobb had a team-best 11 points. Taj Walters had nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.