Pontiac Indians and Prairie Central Hawks garner IPC sweeps

In midweek scheduling setup for the Illini Prairie Conference, Pontiac and Prairie Central were able to play a home-and-home boys and girls set Tuesday night with each claiming victories at home and on the road.

Pontiac’s girls took care of business at home against Monticello while the guys won on the Sages’ home floor. Prairie Central claimed the boys’ contest at home against Rantoul while ladies claimed a league win against the Eagles at RHS.

Pontiac’s Trinity Miller gains control of the ball as teammate Morgan Dewald trails in an IPC game against Monticello Tuesday. Miller dropped 21 points on Monticello as the Indians prevailed 58-43 in an Illini Prairie Conference tilt at PTHS. (Erich Murphy/Bingo Magic Sports)

Pontiac 58, Monticello 43

At Pontiac, Trinity Miller and Grave Lanning carried the load for the Indians in a 58-43 victory, leaving the Tribe at 7-1 in Illini Prairie Conference play.

Grace Lanning of Pontiac looks for an open teammate in the Indians’ game with Monticello. Lanning had 18 points in the 58-43 victory. (Erich Murphy/Bingo Magic Sports)

Miller and Lanning combined for 10 points as the Indians took a 14-8 lead. The two combined for eight points as the widened to 28-20 by halftime. Lanning scored 10 points in the third and Miller added seven as the advantage grew to 47-32 through three frames.

Jo Duck of Pontiac makes a move to the basket. The Indians defeated Monticello in IPC play Tuesday. (Erich Murphy/Bingo Magic Sports)

Miller finished with 21 points as Pontiac improved to 17-10 overall. Lanning added 18 points. Bailee Branscum added 6 points.

Pontiac 66, Monticello 48

Amazin King had a big opening quarter and Anderson Horning had the hot hand in the third as Pontiac remained unbeaten in the IPC with a 66-48 win at Monticello.

King scored 10 points in the opening lap as PTHS took an 18-15 lead. The Tribe pushed the advantage to 33-27 by halftime. Horning had eight points in the third as the difference moved to 52-39.

King finished with 18 points while Evan Wolf came off the bench to drain a sextet of 3-pointers to tie for Pontiac (17-5, 6-0) honors with 18 points. Horning and Cayden Masching each chipped in 10 markers and Aden Brummel added 5 points.

Prairie Central 62, Rantoul 46

At Fairbury, Prairie Central boys’ head coach Trevin McCulloh said it was defense and a great start that was key for the Hawks as they rolled to a 62-46 win over Rantoul in IPC play

The start was key as seven different players made the scoring column in a 26-point opening frame. It was a balanced effort as five of those scoring chalked up four or five points.

Prairie Central’s 26-8 lead grew to 35-16 by the intermission. It was 50-31 heading into the last stanza.

“We are battling (and) getting better each night out,” McCulloh said.

Ashton Sheldrake drilled 15 points to lead the Hawks (10-14, 2-4). Dane Wheeler added 13 points and Easton Friedman checked in with 11. Bryson Gadberry chipped in 9 points and Acer Kratochvil tallied 6 markers.

Prairie Central 51, Rantoul 44

At Rantoul, Addi Donley and Jayla Hammond combined for 10 points in overtime as Prairie Central outlasted host Rantoul 51-44 in overtime in the girls’ game.

The Hawks (13-14, 4-4) Were in the driver’s seat after three periods, leading 37-27. But the Eagles rallied in outscoring PC 12-2 in the fourth to force overtime. Donley scored six points and Hammond added four in the extra frame as Prairie Central outscored the home team 12-5.

The Hawks led 16-4 after the first quarter and was up 29-16 by the break. PC managed just eight points in the third and two in the fourth.

Donley finished with 22 points and Lexi Donovan scored 10 points for the Hawks. Hammond had 7 while Cadyn Pride had 5 points.

EPG 75, Princeton 59

At Princeton, El Paso-Gridley continues to get on a roll as the regular season winds down. On Tuesday, the Titans cruised to a 75-59 nonconference win over host Princeton for their ninth win in the last 10 games.

EPG outscored the Tigers in three of the four quarters. Starting in the first, the Titans led 20-14 after the first period and 36-25 at the half after a five-point difference. Each side scored 23 points in the third before El Paso-Gridley won the final frame by five markers.

Elijah Webster led the way with 20 points and 8 rebounds for EPG (13-10). Braden Hayes collected 19 points and Jack Hempstead scored 13. Jayvion Maxon, Cha’von Maxon and Owen Bergquist scored 7 points apiece.

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