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Pontiac remained unbeaten Illini Prairie Conference play while Dwight claimed a Tri-County Conference win in boys’ basketball on Friday. Prairie Central put up a fight but fell short against state-ranked Tolono (Unity), and El Paso-Gridley and Lexington each came up short in their upset bids in the semifinal round of the McLean County Tournament. Pontiac 66, BCC 60 At Pontiac, Central Catholic came with one primary weapon that opponents have had trouble containing. However, P

Macy Gochanour has spent her prep basketball career just trying to win games. For her Fieldcrest program, that meant she needed to score, and sometimes a lot. On Thursday, Gochanour scored 32 points to lead the Knights to a win in McLean County Tournament play. These markers elevated the sharpshooter to a new program standard for a career. Fieldcrest 60, Tremont 46 At Tremont, Fieldcrest advanced with an upset of the fifth-seeded Turks. Highlighting the win was Gochanour as s

By Erich Murphy Bingo Magic Sports It seemed like the players were taking turns. First, it was Aden Brummel, and then it was Amazin King. Cayden Masching got into the act and before the audience knew it, Pontiac was on track to hit the century mark. Aden Brummel of Pontiac drives the lane against St. Thomas More. Brummel scored 9 points in the first quarter of the PTHS victory. ( Erich Murphy/Bingo Magic Sports ) The Indians fell short of reaching triple digits on the scorebo

BLOOMINGTON — El Paso-Gridley pulled off the upset of the McLean County Tournament to this point with a 66-55 win over second-seed Eureka at the Shirk Center on Tuesday. Tremont followed suit in the second quarterfinal game of the evening by knocking off No. 3 Dee-Mack. EPG 66, Eureka 55 The Titans, who came in as the 10th seed in the event that doubles the Heart of Illinois Conference tournament, were dominant from the opening tip, outscoring the Hornets 16-7 in the first pe

Dwight was able to complete a comeback while Lexington scored a boys’ basketball win in McLean County Tournament play on Monday. El Paso-Gridley and Fieldcrest came up short in upset bids in the girls’ bracket. Dwight 66, Midland 54 At Varna, Dwight trailed for much of its Tri-County Conference game with Midland before overtaking the Timberwolves in the last stanza for a 66-54 victory. After cutting into the 29-24 halftime margin in the third period, the Trojans trailed 43-42

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 la

Jayvion Maxon has returned to action for El Paso-Gridley and the junior provided support as the Titans took care of business against Tremont. However, the results were not so shiny for Prairie Central’s boys and girls, or for Dwight’s boys in hoop action on Friday. EPG 56, Tremont 40 Maxon played in first game since having knee surgery during football season for EPG. He contributed nine points as the Titans won for the second straight time. Jack Hempstead was key in a Titans

Here is a look at reported basketball contests from Thursday, Jan. 15. Pontiac 70, IVC 63 CHILLICOTHE — Pontiac was able to outlast host Illinois Valley Central to bring home a 70-63 victory in Illini Prairie Conference boys’ basketball on Thursday. Amazin King scored nearly as many points for Pontiac in the third quarter as the Grey Ghosts scored as a team in the frame. This turned out to be keys the Indians grabbed some semblance of momentum. PTHS outscored IVC 36-28 in the

By Erich Murphy Bingo Magic Sports FAIRBURY — All Prairie Central head coach Trevin McCulloh could really do as shake his head. He had thoughts of what could have been racing back and forth after his Hawks dropped a 56-55 heartbreaker to Central Catholic in an Illini Prairie Conference boys basketball game Thursday night. Prairie Central’s Spencer Ray drives underneath the basket for a reverse layup against Central Catholic on Tuesday. Ray scored 8 points but the Hawks lost 5

Pontiac hit the road to score a victory and Fieldcrest protected its home court against Prairie Central in area basketball from Tuesday. PTHS 56, Morris 53, OT MORRIS — Pontiac scored the first four points in the overtime period and did not trail in the extra period in taking a 56-53 nonconference win over Morris on Tuesday. The Indians got off to a slow start, falling behind 5-0. PTHS trailed 15-7 after the first quarter but went on a 10-run in the second. Evan Wolf hit a 3-

By Erich Murphy Bingo Magic Sports LEXINGTON — Blaine Friedmansky was recognized for the accomplishment of reaching the 1,000-point milestone for his basketball career at Lexington. The Minutemen senior then went out and dropped 24 points in a 75-57 Heart of Illinois Conference victory over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at The Fort on Tuesday. Lexington’s Blaine Friedmansky pulls up on a drive to the basket against GCMS. Friedmansky scored 24 points in the 75-57 win for the Minut

One of the traditions of the Pontiac Holiday Tournament is recognizing a person who has been attending the tournament for quite many years. Roger Weber, left, was named the recipient of the Fan Appreciation Award at the 94th annual Pontiac Holiday Tournament. Weber has been attending the tournament since 1962. Pontiac Tournament Director and AD John Neisler made the presentation at halftime of Pontiac’s first-round game with Lockport . (Erich Murphy/Bingo Magic Sports) The Fa

By Erich Murphy Bingo Magic Sports Although a consolation thought to losing is calling it a learning experience. Some scoff at that idea, but there is truth in gaining an education at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. Take the host school, for instance. The Indians came into the 94th edition of the oldest holiday tournament in the country not being expected to find great success. Although his team went 1-2, including a 66-58 loss to Bloom Township in the consolation semifinal r

By Erich Murphy Bingo Magic Sports A pair of runs provided Pontiac with enough momentum to get past Danville 60-52 in the last consolation quarterfinal contest of the second day of the 94th annual Pontiac Holiday Tournament Tuesday. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase what we have,” senior Cayden Masching said. “We had a bad taste in our mouth (from last year), we were trying to show what we have and to play on Day 3.” “I’m proud of our guys, they did a great job of respond

By Erich Murphy Bingo Magic Sports Pontiac’s hopes of advancing into the major bracket of the 94th Pontiac Holiday Tournament were dashed as Lockport posted a 65-44 victory in the opening round Monday night. Every team would like to get in four games in a tournament such as this. Pontiac will still have that opportunity, even though losing in the first round was disappointing. “We wanted to win the game, we knew it was a good test,” PTHS head coach Matt Starker said. “We had

Second-seed Chicago (Curie) tested the water a bit when it opened its first-round game with Danville. But the Condors erupted in the second half to put the Vikings away in the final game of the first day of the 94th annual Pontiac Holiday Tournament on Monday. Third-seed Benet Academy simply overpowered Plainfield North in the final game of the afternoon session. Also posting bracket wins in the first round were Peoria (Manual) and Lockport. Curie 70, Danville 36 It seemed li

Defending champion and top-seed DePaul Prep left no doubt that it is the team to beat at the 94th annual Pontiac Holiday Tournament with its 75-31 victory over St. Charles North on Monday. Newcomer Homewood-Flossmoor made its presence felt with a decisive 99-60 win over Bloomington in the final game of the top bracket. Fourth-seed New Trier also claimed victory and Joliet West pulled a mild upset in the tournament opener. DePaul 75, St. Charles North 31 A 19-1 second-quarter

By Erich Murphy Bingo Magic Sports FAIRBURY — The business approach for Pontiac head coach Matt Starker is to deal with what’s right in front of him and his team. Starker and the Indians did that Friday night by capturing a 63-42 victory over Prairie Central. “Being it’s not a conference game with them, it’s just another chance for us to get better,” Starker said. “We tried not to let (the rivalry) affect us mentally. We tried to keep it some could keep playing our game and d

COLFAX — A good start helped push El Paso-Gridley to a 59-42 Heart of Illinois Conference girls’ basketball victory over host Ridgeview on Monday. The Titans doubled Ridgeview’s output in the first quarter and outscored the Mustangs in each of the last three periods, as well, for the league win. EPG led 16-8 after the opening lap and was up by a 34-22 count at the half. The margin grew slightly, to 46-32 through three frames. Myli Ehrhardt led El Paso-Gridley (4-3, 1-0) with

Here is the first round pairings for the 94th Pontiac Holiday Tournament