The Times Area Roundup: Seneca, Marquette, Woodland all record Tri-County Conference triumphs

At Roanoke, the visiting Seneca Fighting Irish recorded a 58-34 win over Roanoke-Benson in Tri-County Conference action Friday.

Paxton Giertz scored 21 points – 15 in the first quarter – and Lane Provance scored 19 to lead the Irish (18-2, 5-1 TCC).

Marquette 62, Henry-Senachwine 48: At Henry, the visiting Crusaders picked up the Tri-County Conference victory ahead of Saturday afternoon’s visit to Somonauk.

Woodland 55, Lowpoint-Washburn 39: At Washburn, the visiting Warriors broke a 25-all halftime tie and ran away for the Tri-County Conference triumph, holding the Wildcats to four fourth-quarter points.

Plano 53, Sandwich 46: At Plano, the visiting Indians had to settle for an Interstate 8 Conference split with their archrivals despite 12 points from Dylan Young and seven from Evan Gottlieb.

Fieldcrest 49, Lexington 48: In the championship semifinals of the McLean County/Heart of Illinois Tournament, the No. 5-seeded Knights upset top-seeded Lexington at the Shirk Center in Bloomington.

The Knights will face No. 2 seed Eureka in the title game at 8 p.m. Saturday. The Hornets advanced with a 46-36 victory over No. 3 seed Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley in Friday’s second semifinal.

Girls basketball

Sycamore 49, Ottawa 36: At Kingman Gym in Ottawa, in a first-place showdown in the Interstate 8 Conference, 6-foot-4- Western Michigan signee Evyn Carrier produced a double-double of 19 points and 17 rebounds to lead Sycamore (14-11, 9-1) over Ottawa (18-6, 8-2).

The Pirates saw a game-high 21 points off the hands of sophomore Marlie Orlandi. But after that, only five points came from sophomore Hailey Larsen, as Ottawa was ice cold from the floor while trying to contend with Carrier’s presence.

“Evyn Carrier’s a very nice player, and there’s a reason why she’s going to play Division I basketball at Western Michigan,” Ottawa coach Brent Moore said. “She’s done a lot of damage to our conference for four years, and tonight getting 19 points and 17 rebounds is no joke.

“For us to win games like this, when we get open looks we have to convert, and we didn’t tonight against a very good team. Now we’re a game down for the conference championship. Anything can happen down the stretch, so hopefully we’ll get a little help over the next four conference games.”

– Read Bill Lidinsky’s full report on this game at mywebtimes.com.

[ Evyn Carrier’s double-double propels Sycamore past Ottawa, into first place in I-8 ]

Hinckley-Big Rock 53, Somonauk-Leland 50 (OT): In the third-place game of the Little Ten Tournament, the Bobcats lost a thriller despite a 14-point, 12-rebound, seven-assist effort from Josie Rader and 12 points apiece from Haley McCoy and Aubrey Chiavario.

Earlville 46, Indian Creek 26: In the consolation championship of the Little Ten Tournament, the Red Raiders (10-13) dominated on their way to victory, led by Madyson Olson (21 points, 14 steals), Nevaeh Sansone (11 points, 13 rebounds) and Lexie Campbell (eight points).

Sophomore/JV boys basketball

Streator 54, Peotone 36: At Pops Dale Gymnasium, Isaiah Weibel scoored 13 points, Nolan Ketcham and Nolan Lukach both 11 and Blaize Bressner 10 for the victorious Bulldogs.

Marquette 62, Henry-Senachwine 20: At Henry, the Crusaders picked up the road victory.