The Seneca Fighting Irish scored five points in the first 32 seconds of the third quarter, breaking a 15-15 tie and sending them past Roanoke-Benson, 36-24, in Thursday’s third-place game of the Tri-County Conference Tournament hosted by Marquette Academy.
After a free throw by Zoe Hougas broke the tie, a steal and layup by Kennedy Hartwig and a Hougas bucket with 7:28 showing suddenly made the score 20-15 Irish. From there, the Rockets never got closer than seven points, thanks to four Hartwig points down the stretch.
Hartwig, an all-tournament choice along with teammate Emma Smith, led all scorers with 17 points, with Hougas adding 10 for the Irish (15-9). Frannie Heckman led R-B with 11 points.
Putnam County 40, Dwight 26: In the Tri-County Tourney’s consolation title game, the Panthers grabbed an 11-5 lead after one quarter and stayed on top.
Serena 47, Earlville 21: In the semifinals of the 41st annual Little Ten Conference Tournament at Serena, the top-seeded Huskers rolled past the No. 5-seeded Red Raiders and into Friday’s 8 p.m. championship game against Somonauk.
Serena (23-2) was led by a game-high 18 points, seven rebounds, four steals and six assists from Katie Baker. Paisley Twait scored 14 points, Makayla McNally had seven points and eight rebounds and Jenna Setchell six points, three rebounds and five steals.
Earlville (11-6), which was scheduled to play Newark for third place at 6:30 p.m. Friday, was paced by eight points, six rebounds and four steals from Madyson Olson and seven points and 11 rebounds from Elizabeth Browder.
Somonauk 49, Newark 48: In the semifinals of the Little Ten Conference Tournament at Serena, the No. 6-seeded Bobcats – down 13 points at halftime – used a 33-19 second-half advantage to advanced to the title game for the second straight season after slipping past the three-time defending champion and No. 2-seeded Norsemen.
Maggie Roberts registered a game-best 15 points, with three rebounds, two blocks, three assists and three steals for Somonauk (10-12). Katelyn Curtis added 11 points, Josie Rader nine points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks, Haley McCoy eight points and three steals and Brynn Pennington six points.
Newark (10-6) was led by double-doubles from KJ Friestad (13 points, 13 rebounds) and Kellie Snyder (10 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three steals), with Lindsey Hatteberg adding 11 points and three steals.
Fieldcrest 44, Dee-Mack 23: In the Heart of Illinois Conference/McLean County Tournament at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Shirk Center, the top-seeded Knights will be looking for their first tournament title after advancing to Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. championship game against No. 3 Eureka (19-5) with the victory over the No. 4-seeded Chiefs.
The Hornets, who handed Fieldcrest its lone loss of the season, advanced to the title game with a 72-54 victory over No. 2 Tremont.
Fieldcrest (22-1) jumped to a 18-6 lead after the opening quarter – with Kaitlin White netting seven of her game-best 13 points and Ashlyn May scoring seven of her eight points – then extended the margin to 26-8 at halftime and 33-16 after three quarters.
Ella Goodrich also posted 11 points and nine rebounds for the Knights.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Illinois Math and Science Academy 58, Earlville 49: At Aurora, the Red Raiders dropped the Little Ten Conference game to the Titans.
Griffin Cook poured in 26 points for Earlville (6-14, 3-4), while Ryan Browder added 16.
Tremont 65, Fieldcrest 52: In the fifth-place bracket semifinals of the HOIC/McLean County Tournament at Tremont, the No. 11-seeded Knights ended the tournament with the road loss to the No. 10-seeded Turks.
WRESTLING
Seneca 49, Byron 27: At Byron, the Fighting Irish captured seven of the 11 contested matches in winning their 20th dual of the season against nine defeats.
Seneca received victories from Kyler Hahn (106 pounds, pinfall in :23 over Damien Palacios), Tommy Milton (113, pinfall in 2:23 over Benjamin Denton), Jaden Casey (120, 11-3 decision over Jackson Norris), Nick Grant (126, pinfall in :45 over Cole Huff), Robbie Nelson (132, pinfall in 2:48 over Jarett Ross), Owen Feiner (145, pinfall in 3:46 over Callum Abbasi) and Nick Grant (160, 8-4 decision over Fynn Remhof)
“[The guys] wrestled very well in an aggressive and attacking style tonight against a quality team,” Seneca coach Todd Yegge said. “Special congratulations to our senior group which has reached 20-plus dual wins in every year of their four-year wrestling careers.”