Area Roundup: Prairie Central sends seniors out with victory over Beecher

Prairie Central’s senior boys’ basketball players won their final high school home game as the Hawks rolled past Beecher on Tuesday.

Pontiac’s Senior Night celebration was dashed by a hot-shooting Sacred Heart-Griffin team. PTHS may still have an opportunity to play one more home game, but it will take four postseason victories to get back home.

Prairie Central 75, Beecher 48

At Fairbury, led by a career-high scoring effort from Easton Friedman, all five seniors put up points on Senior Night as Prairie Central rolled to a 75-48 victory over Beecher in a nonconference basketball tilt Tuesday.

Friedman scored a career-best 23 points in pacing the Hawks. Eleven of those points came in the first quarter when PC took a 20-16 lead. Four of the five seniors scored in the first frame.

The Hawks took control of the contest in the second period by outscoring the Bobcats 20-5 to claim a 40-21 halftime advantage. The difference was 59-37 heading into the last stanza.

Senior Bryson Gadberry added 15 points while classmates Aidan Elder and Griffin Tredennick each scored 5 points and Acer Kratochvil chipped in 4 points for Prairie Central. Ashton Sheldrake contributed 11 points, Spencer Ray had 7 and Dane Wheeler threw in 5 points.

Prairie Central completed its regular season with a 14-15 mark, including going 4-5 in the Illini Prairie Conference. The Hawks will face El Paso-Gridley in a semifinal game at the Class 2A Herscher Regional on Feb. 25.

Sacred Heart-Griffin 77, Pontiac 44

At Pontiac, Sacred Heart-Griffin of Springfield blew through town Tuesday, leaving a disappointed group of seniors in its wake. The Cyclones overwhelmed Pontiac 77-44 in a nonconference contest on a night where the PTHS seniors were recognized.

SHG came out firing in the first quarter in taking a 27-11 lead. The Cyclones padded their advantage by outscoring the Indians 29-12 in the second for a 56-23 lead at the intermission. It was a 74-37 difference through three periods.

Aden Brummell led the Indians (19-7) with 16 points while Cayden Masching was the top senior scorer with 10 points. The other seniors who made the scoring column were Graham Wolf with 4 points and Liam Reilly and Anderson Horning with 2 points apiece. Ben Melchers threw in 6 points while Amazin King and Logan Mackinson each tallied 2 points.

Myles Montgomery led Sacred Heart-Griffin (15-13) with 22 points. Terelk Hurd added 19 and Jayden Sullivan scored 13 points.

Pontiac will travel to Danville Friday before heading to the postseason as the top seed at the Class 2A Manteno Regional. PTHS will face the winner of the Coal City-Manteno matchup on Feb. 25.

Eureka 67, Lexington 65

At Lexington, Eureka worked overtime to edge Lexington 67-65 in a Heart of Illinois Conference contest Tuesday.

The Hornets struck for 25 points in the first quarter, forcing the Minutemen to work their way back into contention. Eureka’s 25-10 lead after one period was cut to 33-27 by halftime. Lexington still trailed by six after three quarters, but outscored its guest 15-9 in the fourth to force overtime.

Eureka scored two more points in the extra frame for the victory.

Bo Stutzman was the leading scorer for Lexington (20-10) with 20 points. Blaine Friedmansky added 13 points and Joe Cheever collected 12 points and 5 rebounds. Bryce Cloudt tossed in 8 points.

The Minutemen will host LeRoy on Senior Night Friday before taking on Donovan in the first round of the Class 1A Lexington Regional on Monday.

LeRoy 61, Fieldcrest 50

At LeRoy, the host Panthers outscored Fieldcrest by 12 points in the second quarter to take control of their HOIC contest Tuesday. That separation led to a 61-50 victory.

The Knights managed just five points in the second quarter after being outscored 13-10 in the first frame. The 30-15 halftime difference moved to 43-28 after three periods.

Layten Gerdes led Fieldcrest (15-13) with 24 points. Kash Klendworth added 14 points and Eli Gerdes netted 6 markers.

El Paso-Gridley 81, Ridgeview 64

At Colfax, Braden Hayes had the hot hand as he led El Paso-Gridley to an 81-64 drubbing of host Ridgeview in HOIC play on Tuesday.

Hayes drained six 3-pointers en route to posting 31 points on the board for EPG (16-12). Jack Hempstead checked in with 11 points and Jayvion Maxon contributed 11 points and 8 rebounds. 

Tanner Maupin and Carter Beck each scored 14 for Ridgeview (19-9). 

Dwight 74, GSW 67

At Gardner, Dwight came off a Senior Night win Tuesday to dampen the spirits of host Gardner-South Wilmington on its Senior Night with a 74-67 victory in this old rivalry series.

The Trojans tallied 27 points in the first quarter to take a 10-point lead. The Panthers tried clawing back, cutting the deficit to 44-38 by halftime and 53-47 through three periods.

Joey Starks kept GSW at bay in the fourth frame with 13 points, including hitting a trio of 3-pointers. Starks finished with 25 points and Joe Duffy added 17 for Dwight (17-12). Evan Cox and Trevor Jensen chipped in 11 points apiece and Collin Bachand scored 10.

Leondre Kemp hit for 25 points for GSW (16-13).

Bingo Magic Sports

Follow Bingo Magic Sports on Facebook and X (@BMSportsPage, @MurphLeader)