The Times Area Roundup: Sandwich rallies for I-8 road win over Sycamore

Woodland, Serena and Earlville all roll to wins away from home; Seneca wrestling sweeps past Streator, Prairie Central

Sandwich's Austin Marks goes baseline against Sycamore's Carter York during their game Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, at Sycamore High School.

At Sycamore, the Sandwich boys basketball team defeated Sycamore 52-42 on Tuesday night, scoring 22 of the game’s last 25 points in the Interstate 8 Conference win.

Austin Marks finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five steals. Dom Rome had 12 points and Chance Lange had 11 for the Indians (13-10, 6-3 I-8).

“Great team win tonight as we came from nine points down in the fourth quarter to win on the road,” Sandwich coach Kevin Kozan said. “Winning a conference game is always tough and to do it on the road without our leading scorer [Evan Gottlieb], we still got it done. I was proud of our defensive effort and the way the guys handled themselves.”

Lisle 65, Streator 59 (OT): At Lisle, the Bulldogs (10-9, 6-2) had a big third quarter to hold a 47-39 lead, but the Lions were able to eventually tie the game and then win the Illinois Central Eight Conference contest in overtime.

Woodland 66, Tri-Point 34: At Cullom, the Warriors jumped to a 24-11 first-quarter lead and held a 41-21 margin at halftime in the victory over the Chargers.

Nick Plesko scored a game-high 21 points for Woodland (5-14), while Connor Dodge added 17 and Tucker Hill had 12.

Serena 77, Somonauk 31: At Somonauk, the Huskers ran past the Bobcats in the Little Ten Conference contest to improve to 17-5 overall and 7-0 in league play.

Camden Figgins paced Serena with 19 points, while Richie Armour added 15, Carson Baker had 11, and Hunter Staton scored nine.

Coleton Eade had 11 points to lead Somonauk.

Earlville 83, Leland 20: At Leland, the Red Raiders improved to 11-8 overall and 4-2 in LTC play with the win over the Panthers.

Garett Cook had 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists to lead Earlville. Griffin Cook had 14 points, Ryan Browder provided 13 points and five assists, Easton Fruit had 11 points, and Adam Waite had 11 rebounds.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Serena 2, Indian Creek 0: In the Little Ten Conference Tournament at Hinckley, the No. 2-seeded Huskers advanced to the semifinals after a forfeit victory over the No. 7 Timberwolves.

Serena now plays Hinckley-Big Rock at 7 p.m. Thursday.

WRESTLING

Seneca 73, Prairie Central 6; Seneca 66, Streator 3: At Seneca, the Fighting Irish (19-10) rolled to dual victories over the Hawks and Bulldogs, while 195-pounder Chris Peura captured two triumphs via pinfall (at 1:47; at :42) to give him 100 wins for his career.

Others earning double on-mat wins for Seneca were Ethan Othon at 113 pounds (pinfall at :55; pinfall at 1:33), Tommy Milton at 120 (17-0 technical fall; pinfall at 2:51), Asher Hamby at 160 (4-1 decision; pinfall at 1:43) and Landen Venecia at 182 (pinfall at 1:09; pinfall at 2:10).

The Irish also received single wins from Kyler Hahn at 106 (pinfall at 1:12), Nate Sprinkel at 126 (pinfall at 1:55), Nick Grant at 132 (pinfall at 1:20), Memphis Echeverria at 138 (pinfall at 3:45), Gunner Varland at 145 (pinfall 3:43), Nate Othon at 152 (pinfall at 2:20), Collin Wright at 170 (17-2 technical fall), Sullivan Feldt at 220 (pinfall at :25) and 285 Aiden Wood at 285 (pinfall at 1:10).

Streator’s Nick Pollet earned a 3-2 decision for his team’s lone win against Seneca.

JV/SOPHOMORE BOYS BASKETBALL

Morris 26, Ottawa 25: At Morris, the Corsairs (15-4, 8-1) dropped the I-8 contest on the road. Evan Snook had nine points and four rebounds, Aric Threadgill seven points and four rebounds for Ottawa.

Marquette 51, Lowpoint-Washburn 27: At Washburn, the Crusaders broke open a close game with a 23-5 second quarter to best the Wildcats. Alec Novotney popped in 21 points for Marquette, while Evan Schumacher netted 20 for L-W.

MONDAY’S RESULTS

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Fieldcrest 59, El Paso-Gridley 35: In the McLean County/HOIC Tournament in Eureka, the Knights (19-2) forced 35 turnovers while allowing 35 points to move on to the 6:30 p.m. Thursday semifinal. Carolyn Megow (18 points, eight rebounds, 10 steals), Macy Gochanour (16 points) and Ashlyn May (eight points, eight steals) spearheaded the attack.

Somonauk-Leland 48, Earlville 29: In the Little Ten Conference Tournament, the Bobcats advanced to Thursday’s 5:30 semifinal vs. Newark at Hinckley-Big Rock via the dominating victory.

”The team played well tonight,” Bobcats coach Jason Zaleski said, “but we know we have a few things to get better at if we want to meet our expectations for this tournament.”

Josie Rader (16 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, seven steals), Haley McCoy (15 points), Katelyn Curtis (11 points, five assists) and Brynn Pennington (six points, four steals) led the winning effort. Madyson Olson (seven rebounds) and Nevaeh Sansone (13 rebounds) led Earlville (8-13), which will play DePue in the consolation bracket Thursday at IMSA.

Newark 60, DePue 12: In Monday’s other Little Ten Conference Tournament semifinal, the Norsemen moved on to a Thursday semifinal showdown with Somonauk-Leland.

Marquette 53, Dwight 40: In the Tri-County Conference Tournament, the Crusaders relied on a 20-point, eight-rebound game from Lilly Craig and 10 points apiece from Chloe Larson and Avery Durdan to advance to Tuesday’s semifinals to play top-seeded Seneca.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Fieldcrest 55, El Paso-Gridley 42: In the McLean County/HOIC Tournament in Bloomington, the Knights led throughout, including by 14 points at the half, to win their second tourney game. Ed Lorton scored 20 points and Connor Reichman had 11 to lead Fieldcrest, the fifth seed now set to play top-seeded Lexington in Friday’s 6:30 p.m semifinal at Shirk Centre.