El Paso-Gridley and Prairie Central garner league victories

El Paso-Gridley and Prairie Central each claimed conference wins on their home floors, while Dwight and the PC girls came up short in non league contests Tuesday.

Prairie Central 53, Monticello 36

At Fairbury, Prairie Central is finding its groove at the right time as the Hawks won their fourth game in the last five outings with a 53-36 victory over Monticello in an Illini Prairie Conference tilt.

Defense was the key as Prairie Central opened with a 12-2 advantage after the opening quarter of play. A 14-10 difference in the second pushed the lead to 26-12. The difference was 44-22 through three frames.

“Another outstanding effort on the defensive end for the Hawks,” PC head coach Trevin McCulloh noted.

Easton Friedman connected for 15 points to lead Prairie Central (12-15, 3-5). Bryson Gadberry added 9 points, Ashton Sheldrake chipped in 8 and Spencer Ray and Dane Wheeler each scored 7 points.

EPG 60, Lexington 52

At El Paso, the host Titans rallied over the game’s final four minutes to get past Lexington 60-52 in a Heart of Illinois Conference contest at the Titan Center.

El Paso-Gridley led 19-18 after the opening lap, but saw the Minutemen take over in the second. Lexington led 27-22 at the break and 45-41 after three periods.

Jayvion Maxon his a pair of free throws that broke a 50-50 tie in putting EPG ahead for good at 52-50 with 2:13 left.

Braden Hayes led the Titans (14-12, 5-4) with 16 points while Maxon added 14 points. Owen Bergquist contributed 10points and 8 rebounds while Jack Hempstead and Cha/von mason each tallied 7 points.

Blaine Friedmansky hit for 14 points and Leo Davis struck for 13 for Lexington (20-8, 5-4). Drake Hari tallied 8 markers with Bo Stutzman and Joe Cheever scoring 7 points apiece. Cheever also snared 11 rebounds.

Herscher 72, Dwight 56

At Herscher, the host Tigers came out of the halftime break roaring as they outscored Dwight by 20 points en route to a 72-56 win in a nonconference contest.

The Trojans had a 25-22 lead the break, but Herscher responded in the third by outscoring DTHS 27-7 to take a 49-32 lead as well as the momentum.

Collin Bachand dropped 23 points for Dwight (14-11) and Joe Duffy added 14 points. Evan Cox and Joey Starks threw in 6 points apiece.

GCMS 77, Prairie Central 59

At Gibson City, Prairie Central had good offense but Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley was better as the Falcons posted a 77-59 victory over the Hawks in a nonconference girls’ contest.

GCMS led 23-11 after the opening period but Prairie Central fought back to trail 34-30 by halftime. The Falcons hit for 19 points in the third period to increase the margin to 53-41.

Addi Donley scored 13 points to lead a balanced offense for the Hawks (13-16). Jayla Hammond chipped in 11 points, Lexi Donovan, Tenly Kurtenbach and Jules Woodrey added 9 points apiece and Anna Cutrell checked in with 7 points.

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