At the 104th annual Little Ten Conference Boys Basketball Tournament on Thursday in Somonauk, top-seeded Serena defeated No. 5-seeded Newark 46-41 in the semifinals to reach the title game for the first time since 2010.
Serena (20-6) – which will take on No. 2 Hinckley-Big Rock at 8 p.m. on Friday in the championship game – was led by Tanner Faivre with 14 points, while Camden Figgins had 13, Braxton Hart added eight, and Richie Armour scored seven.
Zach Carlson paced Newark (13-11) – which will play No. 3 Earlville for third place at 6:30 p.m. on Friday – with a game-high 22 points, with Blake Wallin adding nine.
Hinckley-Big Rock 57, Earlville 46: At the Little Ten Conference Tournament in Somonauk, the Red Raiders trailed by two at halftime before being outscored 33-24 in the second half.
Garett Cook had 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Earlville (15-10). Ryan Browder added 11 points, and Adam Waite posted 10 points and 19 rebounds.
Somonauk 94, Indian Creek 75: At the Little Ten Conference Tournament in Somonauk, the Bobcats took the shootout over the Timberwolves in the consolation semifinal game.
Carson Bahrey poured in 31 points and Coleton Eade scored 24 for Somonauk, which plays IMSA at 5 p.m. on Friday for the consolation championship. Brock Sexton added 13 points, and Silas Johnson added eight.
Girls basketball
Herscher 71, Streator 19: At Herscher, the Bulldogs dropped the Illinois Central Eight Conference game to the Tigers
Streator was led by six points by Kylie Rhodes, four from Ellie Isermann, and three from Cailey Gwaltney.
Seneca 52, Dwight 20: At Dwight, the Fighting Irish finished the Tri-County Conference season 11-1 and were crowned league champs after topping the Trojans.
Seneca (21-8), which held a 33-14 lead at halftime, was paced by 13 points from Kennedy Hartwig, 10 from Alyssa Zellers, and nine from Ella Sterling.
Newark 45, Parkview Christian 42: At Yorkville, the Norsemen slipped past the hosts to improve to 18-7 on the season.
Kiara Weesch and Addison Ness led Newark with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Fieldcrest 62, Deer-Creek Mackinaw 54: At Mackinaw, the Knights (26-3, 11-1) were down seven points at halftime and 11 early in the third quarter before rallying for the Heart of Illinois Conference win against the Chiefs. The victory also allowed Fieldcrest to regain the HOIC traveling trophy.
Ashlyn May led the way for the Knights, scoring nine of her game-best 19 points in the fourth quarter. Carolyn Megow and Haley Carver had 13 points each, with Kaitlin White adding 12.
LeRoy 63, Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland 29: At LeRoy, the Falcons fell in the HOIC contest to the Panthers.
Sandwich 51, Earlville 32: At Earlville, the Red Raiders dropped to 12-16 on the year with the loss to the Indians.
Madyson Olson posted 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and five steals, while Nevaeh Sansone added 12 points and seven rebounds.
JV/Sophomore girls basketball
Herscher 33, Streator 17: At Herscher, the Bulldogs got six points from Joey Puetz and five from Ava Gwaltney.