Fieldcrest, Dwight, Pontiac girls advance to regional title round
- Erich Murphy
- Feb 18
- 4 min read
Fieldcrest’s girls scored a win on its home floor Monday while Dwight and Pontiac took care of business on the road as these teams advanced to regional championship games.
Bowing out of tournament play short of the title contests in the girls’ basketball postseason were El Paso-Gridley, Monmouth-Roseville, Prairie Central, Tri-Point, Lexington, United and West Central.
Prairie Central Regional
At Fairbury, Pontiac failed to score in the fourth quarter, but the Indians had run such a huge advantage it didn’t matter. The Tribe disposed of St. Thomas More 51-20 in the first semifinal game of the Class 2A PC Regional on Monday.
Pontiac reeled off the game’s first nine points to take control of the game. The Sabers did outscore the top-seed over the final five minutes of the opening lap, but the PTHS lead stood at 16-8 when the quarter ended.
Behind Celi Serna, the Indians ripped off 19 unanswered points to open the second period, making it a 35-8 game. Serna scored the first five PTHS points in the second and Trinity Miller contributed eight points in the frame as the Tribe took a 35-11 lead into the half.
A 14-0 surge in the third period pushed the Tribe’s advantage to 49-11. Miller and Grace Lanning combined for 12 of those points as the Pontiac lead grew to 51-14 by the start of the fourth frame and its running clock.
Miller finished with 19 points for the Indians, who won their 20th game of the season and will enter the title game with a 20-11 record. Serna added 9 points, Lanning scored 7 and Bailee Branscum and Morgan Dewald each checked in with 6 points.
Monticello 48, Prairie Central 42
In the second game of the night, fourth-seeded Monticello rallied from an early double-digit deficit to bump off the host Hawks 48-42 and land a spot in the final opposite Pontiac.
Prairie Central spotted the Sages a 2-0 lead before going on a 14-4 run to lead 14-6 after one quarter. An Addi Donley put-back with 4:29 to go in the first half gave PC a 22-11 edge. The Hawks didn’t score for the next 4:27, until Donley converted a steal, to take a 24-19 lead into the break.
A 10-point run for Monticello in the middle of the third quarter gave the Sages a 32-28 lead which was not relinquished. Turnovers and missed shots doomed Prairie Central down the stretch.
Donley paced Prairie Central (13-18) with 14 points. Lexi Donovan scored 9 points while Jules Woodrey added 7. Anna Cutrell scored 6 points.
The winner of the PC Regional will advance to the Pontiac Sectional. Also moving to Pontiac will be the winners of the Bismarck-Henning, Seneca and Bishop McNamara regionals.
Fieldcrest Regional
At Minonk, host Fieldcrest posted a mild upset with its 42-39 win over fourth-seeded Iroquois West in Class 1A Fieldcrest Regional play Monday. The Knights are the fifth seed in the sub-sectional and will take on top seed Cissna Park Thursday. Cissna Park defeated Hoopeston 54-22.
The Knights led 9-7 after the first quarter and 14-13 at the half before the Raiders claimed a 27-24 edge heading into the last stanza. Fieldcrest rallied in the fourth by outscoring Iroquois West 18-12.
Terilynn Timmerman scored 19 points and secured 5 steals to lead the Fieldcrest (15-17) charge. Pru Mangan contributed 8 points and 11 rebounds.
The Knights rolled over Donovan 65-12 in Saturday’s first-round game.
The winner of the Fieldcrest Regional will move on to the Iroquois West Sectional, which will include winners from the Armstrong, Clifton and Tremont regionals.
El Paso-Gridley Regional
At El Paso, U-High controlled the board and focused its defense on Myli Ehrhardt in the second half to pull away from Class 2A EPG Regional host Titans 61-45 Monday.
Ehrhardt tallied 20 points in the first half as El Paso-Gridley stayed with the Pioneers, trailing 32-28 at the half.
U-High out rebounded the Titans 34-19 in the game and limited EPG’s chances on offense in the second half.
Ehrhardt finished with a game-high 27 points and grabbed 4 rebounds to lead EPG (18-12). KayTe Herr had 8 points and Sloan Gentes scored 6.
Amboy Regional
At Amboy, Dwight outscored host Amboy by 12 points in the third quarter and it was enough to send the Trojans into the championship game of the the Amboy Regional Monday.
The Trojans trailed 28-23 at the half, and then outscored the third-seeded Clippers 20-8 in the third to take a 43-36 lead into the final frame.
Dwight, the fifth seed, is now the favorite in the final after seventh-seeded Ottawa (Marquette) upset second-seed Yorkville (Parkview Christian Academy) 68-57.
Dwight rolled over Putnam County 56-19 in the first round.
Other Regionals
In Class 1A regional play involving the other BMS teams:
At Elmwood, United defeated Valley 33-26 on Saturday, and then lost 56-22 to top seed Illini Bluffs on Monday. West Central suffered a 55-21 loss to Knoxville on Saturday.
At Clifton, Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland defeated Grace Christian 71-22 in the first round on Saturday, and then lost 57-22 to second-seed Roanoke-Benson on Monday. Also on Monday, third-seed Tri-Point was upset 47-40 by host Clifton.
At Armstrong, Lexington lost 39-30 to Calvary Christian Academy of Normal on Saturday.
At Tremont, Ridgeview opened with a 51-47 win over Fisher on Saturday. The Mustangs lost 61-33 to second-seed Heyworth on Monday.
In Class 2A at St. Bede, Monmouth-Roseville lost 54-36 to Kewanee in a first-round game Saturday.
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