El Paso-Gridley tops Lexington for third place at McLean County Tournament

El Paso-Gridley’s boys’ and girls’ basketball teams came away with a pair of victories as the Titans hosted the consolation finals contests of the McLean County Tournament Saturday.

The EPG boys outlasted Lexington to place third while the girls topped rival Fieldcrest for a fifth-place finish.

EPG 80, Lexington 71

Braden Hayes set a new career high of 35 points in single-game scoring as he led El Paso-Gridley to third place of the McLean County Tournament. He scored 10 points in helping the Titans rally in the fourth quarter.

The Minutemen held a 58-53 lead when the fourth period opened. Lexington led 62-61 when EPG reeled off 14 of the game’s next 18 points for a 75-66 advantage. The Titans scored 27 points in the last stanza, matching Lexington’s third-quarter effort. Hayes tallied 10 of those points for EPG.

Jayvion Maxon registered 17 points and 7 rebounds for 10th-seed El Paso-Gridley (9-10) and Cha’von Maxon added 10 points. Owen Bergquist chipped in 7 points with Owen Adams adding 5.

Leo Davis led fourth-seed Lexington (16-6) with 19 points and Blaine Friedmansky tossed in 17. Joe Steffen added 16 points, Drake Hari had 7 and Kayden Knight tallied 5 markers. Joe Cheever had 11 boards.

Rounding out the boys’ bracket, sixth-seed Tremont upset top-seed and state-ranked LeRoy 69-46 for the title. Dee-Mack, seeded third, finished fifth after edging ninth-seed Tri-Valley 45-44. Eighth seeded Ridgeview topped No. 7 Heyworth 72-62 for the consolation championship.

Fieldcrest’s Kash Klendworth set a personal mark in scoring in a fifth-place semifinal contest Thursday. Klendworth poured in 40 points for the Knights in their 75-70 overtime loss to Tri-Valley in Minonk.

Klendworth scored all of the Knights’ points in the fourth quarter as FHS fought back to forge a 63-63 tie by the end of regulation. He tallied 22 points in the fourth period and added six points in the extra frame in finishing the game with 40 points.

EPG 60, Fieldcrest 54

Myli Ehrhardt and Edie Stauter each recorded double doubles as El Paso-Gridley placed fifth in the girls’ tournament with a 60-54 win over rival Fieldcrest.

The Titans, seeded seventh, won the game by winning the fourth quarter as they outscored the Knights 26-20. The game was tied at 34-34 when the final frame opened. EPG was able to pull away in the final two minutes after Fieldcrest’s TeriLynn Timmerman scored with 2:02 to put FHS ahead 50-48.

Sloan Gentes was hot from the outside with four 3-pointers en route to notching 20 points to lead El Paso-Gridley (12-10). Stauter collected 17 points and 12 rebounds while Ehrhardt chalked up 12 points and 13 boards. KayTe Herr added 7 points.

Macy Gochanour had a game-high 22 points to pace No. 9 Fieldcrest (11-12). Timmerman, Pru Mangan and Leah Arnes chipped in 9 points apiece and Ivory Bryant scored 5 points.

Top-seed Tri-Valley won the tournament title with a 66-52 win over third-seed Eureka. No. 2 Dee-Mack placed third with a 52-45 victory over No. 4 Heyworth. Eighth-seed LeRoy rolled past No. 10 Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland 63-38 in the consolation final.

Prairie Central 35, Beecher 29

At Beecher, Prairie Central outscored host Beecher by nine points in the middle two frames to leave town with a 35-29 nonconference girls’ basketball win Saturday.

The Hawks broke an 11-11 tie after the first quarter by outscoring the Bobcats 9-5 in the second. A 9-4 difference in the third pushed Prairie Central to a 29-20 advantage heading into the fourth period.

Lexi Donovan hit for 15 points tolled the Hawks (11-13). Anna Cutrell contributed 7 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals and Addi Donley collected 6 points 6 boards, 5 assists and 4 steals.

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