EPG pulls off upset in tourney play; Pontiac girls win

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 period and 17-7 in the second for a 33-14 advantage. EPG upped the advantage to 50-25 by the start of the fourth quarter.

Eureka made a push down the stretch with a 30-point effort in the final frame, but the hole was too deep to escape.

Braden Hayes paced El Paso-Gridley (8-9) with 21 points and Cha’von Maxon added 16. Elijah Webster collected 11 points and 8 rebounds while Jack Hempstead tallied 8 markers. Jack Blunier scored 15 points for Eureka (12-6).

Sixth-seed Tremont will face EPG in the semifinal round after its 57-45 win over Dee-Mack. The semifinals will take place Friday at the Shirk.

St. Joseph-Ogden 63, Prairie Central 37

At St. Joseph, the host Spartans outscored Prairie Central each period to claim a 63-37 Illini Prairie Conference decision Tuesday.

St. Joseph-Ogden began to pull away in the second period by outscoring the Hawks 18-7 to take a 31-17 halftime lead. It was a 46-28 game through three frames.

Dane Wheeler led Prairie Central with 14 points. Bryson Gadberry added 8 points and Easton Friedman scored 7.

Girls

Pontiac 54, St. Thomas More 37

At Champaign, Grace Lanning and Jo Duck combined for a dozen points in the second quarter as Pontiac pulled away for a 54-37 victory in a girls’ Illini Prairie Conference contest Tuesday.

The Indians led 9-3 when the second quarter started. Lanning tossed in seven points and Duck added five over the next eight minutes in helping the Tribe chalk up 21 to push the margin to 30-9 by the break.

When it was all over, Trinity Miller had delivered 15 points and Bailee Branscum tallied 14 to lead the Indians (14-8, 4-0). Lanning finished with 12 points, Duck had 8 and Morgan Dewald netted 5 markers.

St. Joseph-Ogden 53, Prairie Central 47

At Fairbury, host Prairie Central was outscored by eight points in the second half, but it was enough for the hawks to suffer a 53-47 loss to St. Joseph-Ogden in a girls’ Illini Prairie Conference contest Tuesday.

The Hawks outscored the Spartans by one point in each of the first two quarters to hold a 20-18 halftime edge. St. Joe-Ogden put up 22 points to PC’s 16 in the third to take the lead, 40-36, by the start of the final frame. SJO was 8-for-10 from the free throw line in the fourth to secure the win.

Addi Donley led Prairie Central (10-12, 2-2) with 16 points. Jayla Hammond added 9 points with Anna Cuttrell scoring 8 and Cadyn Pride chipping in 6 points. Lexi Donovan finished with 5 points.

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