Eastland, Polo, Fulton boys basketball reach regional finals: Wednesday’s SVM area roundup

Boys basketball

Eastland 55, Milledgeville 23: At Forreston, the Cougars seized a 19-4 first-quarter lead and rolled past the Missiles in a Class 1A Forreston Regional semifinal Wednesday. No. 1 seed Eastland will face No. 4 Polo in Friday’s regional final at 7 p.m.

Adam Awender and Parker Krogman paced Eastland with 12 points each, while Peyton Spears chipped in eight.

Connor Nye led Milledgeville with seven points.

Fulton 68, Wethersfield 46: At Kewanee, Baylen Damhoff scored 31 points to lead the Steamers past the Flying Geese in a Class 1A Wethersfield Regional semifinal. No. 3 seed Fulton will face No. 2 Annawan in the regional final at 7 p.m. Friday.

Landen Leu scored 15 points, and Brady Read added 10 for the Steamers.

Polo 44, Newman 37: At Forreston, the Marcos built a 24-15 halftime lead and held off the No. 5 Comets for a Class 1A Forreston Regional semifinal win.

Polo was led by Carter Merdian with 16 points, followed by JT Stephenson with nine and Brock Soltow with eight.

Lucas Simpson led Newman with 18 points, finishing his high school career with 2,038 points. Evan Bushman and Isaiah Williams chipped in six points each for the Comets.