Tyler McLane-East Dubuque, Collin Macomber-Eastland, Brad Dunlap-Eastland, Ashton Hutton-Fulton, Erik Renkes-Fulton, Jake Frichtenicht-Sherrard, Andy Anderson-Sherrard, Jared Hess-Stockton, Taylor Williams-Warren, Brady Edwards-West Carroll, Tyler Nrashaw-West Carroll
Forreston Holiday Tournament
Dec. 13
Freeport Aquin 65 River Ridge 31
Oregon 71 Polo 56
Dec. 14
Polo 59 River Ridge 52
Winnebago 55 Orangeville 38
Oregon 56 Freeport Aquin 54
Dec 15
Byron 56 Christian Life 40
Forreston 47 Dakota 40
Dec 16
River Ridge 56 Morrison 49
Milledgeville 48 Pearl City 47
Freeport Aquin 60 Orangeville 52
Christian Life 69 Dakota 50
Polo 51 Amboy 50
Le-Win 41 Pecatonica 38
Dec 17
Morrison 72 Pearl City 48
River Ridge 41 Milledgeville 35
Pecatonica 65 Amboy 50
Dakota 42 Orangeville 41
Dec 18
Forreston 51 Oregon 50
Winnebago 61 Oregon 53
Byron 58 Forreston 46
Polo 71 Le-Win 50
Christian Life 56 Freeport Aquin 51
Byron 61 Winnebago 35
Forreston Holiday All Tournament Team
First Team: Sam Ford-Oregon, Matt Groharing-Byron, Kody Michael-Forreston, Marcus Posley-Winnebago, Colton Scott-Forreston
Second Team: Kyle Benning-Dakota, Hunter Hill-Byron, Ryan Hopkins-Byron, Kolton Kuczynski-Wiinebago, TJ Lindgren-Winnebago
Byron Rolls Over Milledgeville
The Byron Tigers opened up a twenty three to five first quarter lead and cruised to the 83-26 win over Milledgeville at the Forreston Holiday tournament on Monday. Byron extended that lead to thirty one at the half and forty three after three quarters. The Missiles scorers were led by Keegan Neubauer who had six points and Brady Kness, Mitchel Rahn and Kaleb Ebersole contributed five points each.
3 Point Field Goals: Milledgeville: 2 (Ebersole 1, Rahn 1)
Byron: 5 (Hopkins 2, Russell 2, Enna 1)
Fouled Out: Milledgeville: 1 (Rahn)
Forreston Cruises Past Pearl City
The Forreston Cardinals used a huge first half to overtake the Pearl City Wolves 54-32 at the Forreston tournament. The Cardinals took a twenty two to three first quarter lead and stretched that lead to thirty seven to ten at the half. The Wolves mounted a small second half comeback but it was too little, too late as Forreston cruised on to victory. The Cardinals were led by Colton Scott’s seventeen points with teammate Kody Michael adding fifteen. Pearl City was led by Jacob Gahm’s seventeen points.
The Morrison Mustangs played neck and neck with Winnebago on Monday at the Forreston Holiday tourney before falling to the Indians 57-45. The Mustangs led eighteen to thirteen after the first quarter and trailed at the half by five. Winnebago extended their lead to six at the close of the third period and went on to outscore the Mustangs by six points in the final quarter. Winnebago’s Marcus Posley stole the show, scoring over half of the Indians points, ending the game with twenty nine. For the Mustangs, Bill Bos scored a dozen points with teammate Dylon Smith adding eleven.
In a game that saw many lead changes, The Amboy Clippers had just enough in overtime to defeat Morrison 61-59 Tuesday night at the Forreston Holiday tourney. The Clippers led fifteen to eleven after one quarter but trailed the Mustangs by a point at the half. Amboy came back to take a one point lead going into the final quarter and Morrison got that point back to send the game into the extra period. Will Bird led Morrison, dropping in seventeen points while Luke Brands added fourteen and Dylon Smith contributed a dozen.
3 Point Field Goals: Amboy: 9 (Leffelman 3, Parker 2, Powers 2, Stephenitch 2)
Morrison: 7 (Bird 3, Brands 2, Volckmann 2)
Fouled Out: Amboy: 2 (Leffelamn, Stephenitch)
Wildcats Top Mustangs
River Ridge jumped out to a four point first quarter lead and used a big second quarter scoring surge to hold of the Morrison Mustangs 56-49 Thursday at the Forreston Holiday tournament. The Wildcats used a seventeen to seven second quarter advantage to keep that lead intact and despite being outscored in the second half held on for the victory. The Wildcats Jacob Weede and Cody Landwer shared scoring honors for River Ridge, each dropping in sixteen points. Morrison’s Dylon Smith led all scorers in the game with twenty two points and teammate Nick Volckmann added eleven.
3 Point Field Goals: River Ridge: 3 (Landwer 2, Graves 1)
Morrison: 1 (Volckmann)
Fouled Out: Morrison: 1 (Bird)
Missiles Score Win Over Wolves
In a game that was back and forth, the Milledgeville Missiles had just enough to edge the Pearl City Wolves 48-47 on Thursday at the Forreston Holiday tourney. Pearl City led by one point going into the second quarter. Milledgeville came back to take a single point lead into the locker room at the half and held a two point lead going into the final frame. The fourth quarter went to the Wolves but only by a single point deciding the margin of victory. Milledgeville’s Keegan Neubauer led all scorers in the contest with twenty points. Jason Kurth took scoring honors for Pearl City with seventeen points and teammates Jacob Gahm and Colton Bastian adding thirteen and twelve.
The Le-Win Panthers and Milledgeville Missiles played a close game for the first half of their contest at the Forreston Holiday tourney on Wednesday. But, Le-Win used a big second half surge to pull away from Milledgeville and take the 49-32 win. The Missiles kept it close in the first half, trailing by a single point at the end of the first quarter. The Panthers extended their lead to six points at the half. They then outscored the Missiles thirty to nineteen in the closing half to pull away for the victory. Kaleb Ebersole led Milledgeville in the scoring column with nine points while Mitchel Rahn added eight.
The Morrison Mustangs opened up an eight point first quarter lead as they rolled to the 72-48 victory over Pearl City Friday night at the Forreston Holiday tourney. The Mustangs extended their lead to thirty nine to twenty eight by the half. A big third quarter saw that lead grow to twenty one entering the final period. The Mustangs Dylon Smith led all scorers in the game with twenty three points while teammate Bill Bos added a dozen. Pearl City’s Zach Moyer topped the Wolves with thirteen points and Jason Kurth and Colton Bastian added ten each.
3 Point Field Goals: Pearl City: 2 (Bastian 1, Moyer 1)
Morrison: 1 (Kirk)
Wildcats Edge Missiles
The Milledgeville Missiles led in the first half before falling to River Ridge 41-35 on Friday at the Forreston Holiday tournament. The Missiles jumped out to a ten to five first quarter lead and took a thirteen to eleven lead in at the half. The Wildcats then outscored Milledgeville thirty to twenty two in the seond half to take the narrow victory and thirteenth place. Jacob Weede led the Wildcats with twelve points while Milledgeville’s Keegan Neubauer led the Missiles with eleven points. River Ridge finished the tourney with a two and two record while Milledgeville fell to one and three.
3 Point Field Goals: Milledgeville: 2 (Kness 1, Rahn 1)
Fouled Out: Milledgeville: 1 (Neubauer)
Thunder Upend Pirates
The host West Carroll Thunder opened up a sixteen to nine first quarter lead enroute to the 82-47 demolition of the Galena Pirates in the West Carroll Holiday tournament on Tuesday. The Thunder extended their lead to fourteen points by the half and held that lead going into the final quarter. They then outscored Galena nineteen to eight in the fourth to make the final margin of victory. Brady Edwards led all scorers in the contest, dropping in twenty points. Eric Naples contributed twelve points and teammates Shaq Coleman and Matt LaShelle added eleven points apiece.
West Carroll used a huge second half surge to down the Sherrard Tigers 70-56 on Thursday evening at the West Carroll Holiday tournament. Sherrard jumped out to a seven point first quarter lead and extended their lead to eight at the halftime intermission. The Thunder came out in the second half on fire, outscoring the Tigers forty two to twenty six the rest of the way. West Carroll was led by Brady Edwards who poured in twenty nine points, fifteen of those points coming in the second half. Tyler Brashaw added sixteen, nine in the second half and Tevan Campbell contributed ten points.
3 Point Field Goals: Sherrard: 7 (Fisher 3, Fritchenight 3, Anderson 1)
West Carroll: 5 (Brashaw 3, Coleman 2)
Fouled Out: Sherrard: 1 (Fisher)
Cougars Meet Thunder For Title
West Carroll”s Brady Edwards eyes the bucket as he goes up for a shot with Eastland’s Collin Macomber defending. Brady scored a game high nineteen points in the Cougar 55-49 victory. (PA photo/Craig Lang
The Cougars Reid Lessman drives around West Carroll’s Shaq Coleman during Saturday night basketball action in Mt. Carroll. Reid scored fourteen of Eastland’s 55 points in the Cougars win. (PA photo/Craig Lang)
The Eastland Cougars will again face the West Carroll Thunder to determine the champion of the West Carroll Holiday tourney. The Cougars reached the title game after defeating the East Dubuque Warriors on Thursday night in Mt. Carroll 55-37. Eastland held a sixteen to ten first quarter lead and led at the half thirty one to twenty three. East Dubuque was then outscored twenty four to fourteen in the final two periods to make the final margin of victory. Collin Macomber led the Cougars putting sixteen points on the scoreboard with teammate Brad Dunlap adding eleven and Mack Byers chipping in with nine points. The Cougars and Thunder will tip off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night.
3 Point Field Goals: East Dubuque: 5 (McLane 3, Oster 1, Cory Theill 1)
Eastland: 3 (Dunlap 2, Lessman 1)
Fouled Out: None
with photos
Cover Story
Eastland Takes West Carroll Tourney Crown
Milledgeville’s Alexis DawTyne eyes the basket as she releases a shot during Wednesday night action at the Polo Holiday tourney. Alexis scored ten points in the West Carroll 51-44 victory. (PA photo/Craig Lang)
Lady Missile Rebecca Whitmarsh puts up a shot with West Carroll’s Sarah Lucas (#50) and Sophi Morhardt (#1) defending. Sarah scored nine of the Lady Thunder’s fifty one points. (PA photo/Craig Lang)
By Craig Lang, Prairie Advocate Sports
In a relatively close game from start to finish, the Eastland Cougars prevailed to take the championship game of the West Carroll Holiday tournament on Saturday night in Mt. Carroll. Defense was the name of the game as neither team seemed to be able to get on track from the scoring standpoint. The Cougars held a slim two point lead at the end of the first quarter and the game was knotted a twenty apiece at the half. The Cougars again held a slim one point lead at thirty three to thirty two going into the final quarter. Free throws down the stretch proved to be the final margin of victory as Eastland hit nine of fourteen from the charity stripe to seal the win. Collin Macomber and Reid Lessman each dropped in sixteen points to lead Eastland in scoring while West Carroll’s Brady Edwards led all scorers with nineteen, The Thunder’s Eric Naples chipped in with seventeen points.
Eastland took a six point lead into quarter number two and extended their lead to eighteen points by the half enroute to the 58-35 win over Fulton on Monday night at the Pearl City tourney. The Lady Cougars put ten players in the scoring column to roll to the easy victory. Eastland was led by Taylor Ruter who dropped in eighteen points with Logan Feltmeyer adding thirteen. Fulton was led by Paige Sandquist who scored thirteen points.
Fulton: Leffler 2 2-2 6; McDonell 1 0-0 2; E. Raab 0 1-4 1; S. Raab 0 1-2 1; L. Sandquist 1 0-0 2; P. Sandquist 5 3-4 13; VanZuiden 2 2-2 6; Wayne 0 4-7 4
3 Point Field Goals: Eastland: 2 (Ruter 2)
Fouled Out: None
Pearl City Cruises To Win Over Orangeville
The Pearl City Lady Wolves and Orangeville Lady Broncos battled pretty evenly for the first half of Monday’s game in Pearl City. The host Lady Wolves then took second half control to dominate Orangeville and took the easy 46-21 victory. Pearl City outscored the Lady Broncos twenty six to five in the second half to run away with the win. Head coach Ron Johnson’s Pearl City squad was led in scoring by Lesley Kurth’s thirteen points while teammates Chelsey Doubler, Kelsie Kluck and Jenna Canon added eight points each. Orangeville was led by Katie Boals who scored eleven points.
3 Point Field Goals: Pearl City: 3 (Doubler 2, Kurth 1)
Fouled Out: None
Lady Wolves Stop Lady Warriors
Pearl City jumped out to a fifteen to eight first quarter lead and didn’t look back as they rolled to the 53-32 win over Warren on Wednesday evening at the Pearl City tourney. The Lady Wolves opened that lead to thirteen by the half and led by twenty nine to start the final quarter. The Lady Warriors were held to single digit scoring in the first three periods and were never in serious contention. Pearl City keeps their record perfect and will play River Ridge/Scales Mound for the championship on Friday evening. Pearl City was led in scoring by Kelsie Kluck who dropped in seventeen points with Danielle Koning adding a dozen and Lesley Kurth contributing ten points.
River Ridge/Scales Mound came out hot and stayed that way as they rolled to the lopsided 59-35 victory over the Eastland Lady Cougars on Wednesday night at the Pearl City Holiday tourney. RR/SM opened up and ten to four first quarter lead and extended it to sixteen by the half. The lead grew to twenty eight to open the final period. They also held Eastland to single digit scoring in each of the first three quarters enroute to the victory. RR/SM had four players score in double figures, led by Whitney Kieffer’s fourteen points. Eastland was led in scoring by Logan Feltmeyer’s ten points. RR/SM goes on to face the host Pearl City Lady Wolves for the tourney title on Friday night.
3 Point Field Goals: Eastland: 3 (Borota 1, Olson 1, Ruter 1)
River Ridge/Scales Mound: 2 (Altfillisch 1, Busch 1)
Fouled Out: None
Lady Wildcats Top Lady Wolves For Title
The Pearl City Lady Wolves hung with the River Ridge/Scales Mound Lady Wildcats before a scoreless third quarter spelled disaster for Pearl City, who fell 45-37. RR/SM led by only three points at the end of one quarter and trailed by the same margin at the half. The third quarter was all Lady Wildcats as they outscored the Lady Wolves twelve to nothing to open the lead to fifteen points going into the final period. Pearl City managed to take a seven points advantage in the final quarter but the margin was just too great to overcome. River Ridge/Scales Mound’s Courtney Busch led all scorers with nineteen points while Whitney Kieffer added eleven. Pearl City’s Danielle Koning led the Lady Wolves with eleven points.
Forreston used a big second half scoring surge to get by the Morrison Fillies in the Polo Holiday tournament 58-38 Tuesday. Both teams were knotted up at fourteen after one quarter and the Lady Cardinals held a narrow twenty five to twenty two edge at the halftime intermission, Forreston came out in the second half and outscored Morrison thirty three to sixteen to make the final margin of victory. Hannah Curry paced Forreston, pouring in eighteen points with Holly Kortemeier adding thirteen. Tyler Fuller led Morrison with a dozen points and teammate Danielle Stralow added ten.
3 Point Field Goals: Forreston: 2 (H. Curry 1, Kortemeier 1)
Fouled Out: None
West Carroll Tops Milledgeville In Overtime
The first half looked as if the West Carroll Lady Thunder would cruise to an easy victory Wednesday evening at the Polo Holiday tournament. The Milledgeville Lady Missiles had other ideas and took the game to overtime before falling to West Carroll 51-44. The Lady Thunder started strong opening up a ten to five first quarter lead and leading sixteen to seven at the half. Milledgeville came out strong after the halftime intermission, outscoring West Carroll thirteen to six in the third and hitting a bucket at the buzzer to send the game to an extra period. From there it was made free throws which proved to be the difference for West Carroll, as they converted seven of eight free throws to seal the win. Lady Thunder head coach Travis Findlay said, “It was a great game tonight. I was especially proud of our girls in overtime when they steeped up and finished strong. We were especially great at the free throw line. Our guards were spectacular. Aliesha was unbelievable with seventeen points and twelve steals.” Aliesha Handel led West Carroll, dropping in seventeen points while teammate Sophi Morhardt added fourteen. For Milledgeville Brandie Gelwicks led the Lady Missiles with thirteen points while Brianna Herin added ten.
3 Point Field Goals: Milledgeville: 5 (B. Gelwicks 3, Herin 2)
Fouled Out: Milledgeville: 1 (Whitmarsh)
Lady Thunder Fall To Byron
West Carroll fell behind big early and just couldn’t make up the margin as they lost to the Byron Lady Tigers 67-35 Thursday night at the Polo Holiday tournament. Byron jumped out to a seventeen to four first quarter lead and led by nineteen at the half. They extended that lead to twenty seven at the end of three and the rout was on. Thunder head coach Travis Findlay commented, “Between tired legs and girls sick, I was so proud of how hard our girls played against a very good team. It would have been easy for them to quit but they did everything they could to try and stay in this game. We just didn’t have enough in the tank.” Sophi Morhardt led West Carroll in scoring with a dozen points.
Morrison jumped out to a thirteen to nine first quarter lead enroute to the 57-47 victory over West Carroll. The Fillies took that lead to ten points at the half and extended it to thirteen by the beginning of the last quarter. .Lady Thunder head coach Travis Findlay said of his teams performance, “Our girls played hard tonight but with even more girls down with illnesses it was just too hard to play a solid four quarters. Sophi Morhardt had one of her best games of the year.” Sophi led the Lady Thunder, dropping in fifteen points. The Fillies Tyler Fuller led Morrison with seventeen points while teammate Kaitlyn Finneran added sixteen.
3 Point Field Goals: Morrison: 2 (Ammon 1, Deter 1)
West Carroll: 2 (Cole 1, Cook 1)
Lady Cougars Take Fifth Place
Eastland used a big third quarter to take a large lead and rolled to victory in the fifth place game of the Pearl City Holiday tourney on Thursday night. The contest was tied at eleven after one quarter and the Lady Cougars held a slim one point lead going into halftime. An eighteen to five third quarter advantage propelled Eastland to the big lead and they cruised from there. Courtney Blair and Taylor Ruter shared high scoring honors for the Lady Cougars with eleven points each. Brittny Olson and Logan Feltmeyer added eight points apiece for the Lady Cougars.