Pontiac rolls past Rockridge; McLean County tourney tips off
- emurphy1382
- 15 hours ago
- 3 min read
SENECA — Pontiac made it look easy in its matchup with Rockridge on Saturday. The Indians easily handled the Rockets 65-36 at theMLK Shootout host by Seneca.
“We jumped on them early from the start of the game and didn’t look back,” PTHS head coach Matt Starker said. “It was a good team win with everyone getting the chance to play who was able.”
Pontiac outscored Rockridge, which has been a solid Class 2A program over the past 10-15 years, in each period. This included the last stanza where the Tribe managed just seven points.
The Indians jumped out to a 20-7 lead after one period as three players scored five or six points. Another 20-point effort came in the second as the Pontiac lead grew to 40-13 by the intermission.
Many players got involved as seven players made the scoring column in the third period after six tallied points in the second and five scored in the first frame. Graham Wolf did all the scoring for Pontiac in the last lap with his seven markers.
Amazin King finished with 13 points to lead Pontiac (12-4). Anderson Horning scored 11 points and Wolf finished with 10. Cayden Masching scored 9 points and was followed by Evan Wolf with 6 points, Bryce Robison, Ben Melchers and Evinn Tracy with 4 points apiece. Henry DeYoung and Logan Mackinson finished with 2 points apiece.
McLean County Tournament
EL PASO — The 114th McLean Tournament tipped off Saturday with three mild upsets in the boys’ and girls’ events.
Two of the “upsets” came in the boys’ tournament as ninth-seed Tri-Valley slipped past No. 8 Ridgeview 41-39.
First-round host El Paso-Gridley came in as the 10th seed and took care of business with a 60-36 win over Heyworth in the other “upset.”
Fourth-seed Lexington rolled over No. 13 Fisher 74-32 behind 20 points from Leo Davis. Joe Cheever collected 11 points and 8 rebounds while Blaine Friedmansky tallied 9 points.
Fifth-seed Fieldcrest outscored Flanagan-Cornell, the 12th seed, in each period for a 66-50 decision and move into the quarterfinal round.
Layten Gerdes hit for 25 points and Drew Overrocker scored 15 for the Knights (11-6). Kash Klendworth added 11 points.
Logan Ruddy poured in a game-high 30 points for the Falcons (4-12). Riley Wallace added 10 points.
The other first-round matchup saw six-seed Tremont cruise to a 73-48 win over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.
Quarterfinal matchups are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday at the Shirk Center in Bloomington. Top-seed LeRoy will meet Tri-Valley while Lexington and Fieldcrest tangle in a 4-5 matchup on Monday. On Tuesday, No. 2 Eureka faces EPG and No. 3 Dee-Mack faces Tremont.
In consolation play, Flanagan-Cornell hosted Fisher Monday morning. The winner of that game will travel to Colfax to meet Ridgeview. Heyworth will host GCMS in the other consolation semifinal.
On the girls’ side, ninth-seed Fieldcrest garnered an “upset” victory by topping LeRoy 61-56 in an 8-9 matchup. The Knights rallied on the fourth quarter, outscoring the Panthers 23-13.
Pru Mangan recorded a double double with 18 points and 14 rebounds for Fieldcrest. Macy Gochanour added 14 points and 7 steals.
Seventh-seed El Paso-Gridley outscored Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland by 17 points in the third period to claim a 66-43 win. Myli Ehrhardt paced the Titans (10-9) with 19 points and 6 rebounds. Sloan Gentes tallied 17 markers while Sophie Hinthorne threw in 12 points.
Emma Palaschak led FCW (8-10) with 17 points and Jaylei Leininger added 15. Kora Edens scored 9 points.
In other first-round games, No. 4 Heyworth cruised past No. 13 Lexington 48-33. Fifth-seed Tremont topped No. 12 Ridgeview 56-37 and No. 6 GCMS rolled past Fisher’s 11th-seed Bunnies 60-27.
The quarterfinals were set for Monday at Eureka College with top-seed Tri-Valley facing Fieldcrest. Heyworth and Tremont followed with No. 2 Dee-Mack facing the challenge of EPG and No. 3 Eureka tangling with GCMS. The semifinals are Thursday at the Shirk Center. The higher seeds will host the consolation contests.