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HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Friday's area scores and highlights

erich murphy, pontiac daily leader
·4 min read

CHAMPAIGN — Prairie Central clamped down on St. Thomas More in the second quarter to take control of its Illini Prairie Conference opener Friday on the Sabers' home floor. The end result was a 48-41 victory for the Hawks.

The second quarter began with the two teams knotted at 15-15. When it ended, the Hawks had shut down STM, limiting the Sabers to just two points. Thanks to six points from Levi Goad, Prairie Central put up 11.

The 26-17 halftime lead grew to 37-27 after three frames. Gage Steidinger did the bulk of the scoring for the Hawks with seven points. St. Thomas More was able to close the gap a bit in the final frame by outscoring its guests by three.

Goad was the pacesetter for the Hawks (12-4, 1-0). Steidinger added 13 points and Tyler Curl threw in 10.

Wilson Kirby led St. Thomas More with a game-high 26 points. Talon Steidinger checked in with 9 markers.

Roanoke-Benson 55, Dwight 47 — At Roanoke, the host Rockets shot past Dwight in the second quarter and kept the Trojans in check with a Tri-County Conference decision Friday.

Roanoke-Benson trailed DTHS by four after one quarter but then put up 22 markers in the second to take a 29-22 halftime lead. The Rockets were up 40-31 after three periods and made enough free throws in the last stanza for the win.

Luke Gallet led Dwight with 18 points and Evan Cox tossed in 12.

El Paso-Gridley 51, Tri-Valley 36 — At Downs, state-ranked El Paso-Gridley pulled away from the upset-minded home team Tri-Valley Vikings in the fourth period.

Ranked sixth in this week's AP Class 2A poll, EPG held a slight 17-15 edge at the break after playing Tri-Valley to an 8-8 tie in the opening lap. The Vikings outscored the Titans by five in the third to lead 33-30.

The difference was six when El Paso-Gridley rallied in the fourth quarter. A Lucas Shaffer layup put EPG ahead with 4½ minutes to go.

Micah Meiss finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists for El Paso-Gridley (14-2, 4-0). Jonah Funk, who sat a good portion of the first half in foul trouble, chalked up 15 points and 13 rebounds. Braden Hayes had 6 points.

El Paso-Gridley 64, LeRoy 37 — At El Paso, Jonah Funk was dominating with his double double performance as he led El Paso-Gridley to a Heart of Illinois Conference win over LeRoy on Tuesday.

Funk garnered 23 points and 16 rebounds. He also blocked five shots as the Titans improved to 13-2 on the season and 2-0 in HOIC play.

EPG put up 43 points in the middle two frames after holding a 9-8 lead after one period. Micah Meiss contributed 13 points and 8 rebounds and Drew Neal scored 13 points.

Flanagan-Cornell 52, Eureka 48 — At Flanagan, all five scorers tallied at least five points as Flanagan-Cornell edged Eureka in a Heart of Illinois Conference boys' contest Tuesday.

Trailing by three at the intermission, all five players collected to put up 15 points as the Falcons outscored Eureka 15-10 in the third frame to take a 32-30 advantage into the final frame. Flanagan-Cornell drained 7 of 9 free throws in the fourth to seal the victory.

Kesler Collins led Flanagan-Cornell with 16 points. Logan Ruddy tossed in 13 points and Brennan Edens chipped in 12. Seth Jones chalked up 6 markers and Connor Reed added 5 points.

GIRLS

St. Joseph-Ogden 59, Pontiac 57 — After putting up a gallant fight, Pontiac couldn't get over the hump as it dropped a two-point decision to visiting St. Joseph-Ogden in an Illini Prairie Conference girls' basketball game Thursday.

Trailing by one after three periods, PTHS looked to overtake the Spartans but was unable to do so despite a nine-point effort from Bailey Masching in the quarter. St. Joe-Ogden put up 14 in the frame. SJO led 32-30 at the break.

Masching finished with 28 points for Pontiac. Morgan Dewald threw in 9 points and Makyah Hartfield chipped in 8 points.

Tri-Valley 56, El Paso-Gridley 53 — At Downs, despite a strong third-quarter effort, El Paso-Gridley was unable to fend off Tri-Valley down the stretch as the host Vikings tipped the Titans in a Heart of Illinois Conference girls' basketball contest Thursday.

EPG (9-5, 3-2) overcame a 33-30 halftime deficit by outscoring the hosts 17-12 in the third for a 47-45 edge heading into the last stanza.

Myli Ehrhardt paced El Paso-Gridley with 18 points while Abriel Smith scored 16 and Kaylea Randall checked in with 11 points and 7 rebounds.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Defense key as Prairie Central garners IPC road victory