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The Sterling boys basketball team grabbed an early lead and never looked back Friday night, picking up a 66-40 road win over Western Big 6 rival Geneseo.
The Golden Warriors (10-6, 2-3 WB6) led 21-8 after the first quarter and 38-23 at halftime, then outscored the Maple Leafs 20-7 in the third period.
Kyle Billings hit three first-quarter 3-pointers and led Sterling with 16 points, and JP Schilling and Lucas Austin both finished with 15. Andre Klaver also hit three 3s and added 13 points.
Nathan VanDeWoestyne led Geneseo with 10 points, and Tayt Hager and Bristol Lewis both had nine.
Newman 70, Hall 62: The Comets used a 17-9 second-quarter surge and a 22-18 third-period run to pull away for a Three Rivers East win in Spring Valley.
Lucas Simpson poured in 25 points, and Marcus Williams scored 24 for Newman (9-6, 2-1 TRAC East). Ethan Van Landuit added 12 points.
Drake Garland had 23 points to pace the Red Devils, with Ethan Plym and Payton Dye each adding 13.
Kewanee 58, Bureau Valley 43: The Storm trailed 29-18 at halftime and couldn’t catch up to the Boilermakers in a Three Rivers East loss at the Storm Cellar in Manlius.
Carter Salisbury scored 20 points to pace Bureau Valley (8-8).
Niko Powe scored 17 points and Brady Clark finished with 14 for Kewanee, while Blaise Lewis added 10.
Rockford Lutheran 71, Oregon 22: The Hawks fell behind 43-9 by halftime and never recovered in a Big Northern loss at the Blackhawk Center.
Anthony Bell paced Oregon with nine points.
Walter Hill led Rockford Lutheran with 20 points, while Vontez Dent and Kyng Hughes added 13 points each.
Girls basketball
Polo 44, Forreston 24: The Marcos grabbed a 23-7 halftime lead en route to a 20-point win over the host Cardinals in an NUIC South game.
Nicole Boelens led Polo with 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Natalie Nelson and Lindee Poper each scored seven points; Poper added 10 rebounds and nine blocked shots, and Nelson chipped in seven rebounds and two assists. Kadence Sheaffer finished with five points, three assists and two steals for the Marcos.
Rylee Broshous finished with five points for Forreston.
West Carroll 60, East Dubuque 30: The Thunder used a balanced attack to withstand a third-quarter surge from the Warriors to win their NUIC West opener in Savanna.
Kylie Hill had 22 points, nine rebounds and 11 steals while serving as the focus of East Dubuque’s box-and-one defense, and Tori Moshure added 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for West Carroll (10-7, 1-0), which led 35-12 by halftime and saw the lead whittled to 38-27 through three periods before outscoring the Warriors 22-3 in the fourth quarter. Kendal Asay had eight points and three assists, Abbey Skiles finished with seven points and seven rebounds, and Cora Collins chipped in five points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots for the Thunder.
Anna Berryman and Mia Wilwert both had eight points to lead East Dubuque, and Sydney Mulgrew scored seven.
Boys swimming
Sterling 142, United Township 29: The Water Warriors rolled past UT in a Western Big 6 dual in East Moline, winning every event.
Reiley Austin, Michael Garland and Skylar Drolema all won two individual events and took part in two relay wins. Luke Clark also won a pair of individual events for Sterling, and Mason Adams took part in all three relay wins.
Austin won the 200 freestyle (1:51.62) and 100 butterfly (55.42 seconds), while Garland took the 200 IM (2:10.55) and the 100 breaststroke (1:03.08). Drolema won the 50 freestyle (23.53) and 100 freestyle (50.88), and Luke Clark took the 500 freestyle (5:19.69) and the 100 backstroke (1:04.61). Braiden Herrera added a win in the 1-meter diving competition (169.65 points).
Garland, Braeden Ruiz, Drolema and Adams won the 200 medley relay (1:45.34); Garland, Drolema, Austin and Adams won the 200 freestyle relay (1:35.10); and Peter Garland, Adams, Austin and Ruiz won the 400 free relay (3:35.91).