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Saturday's prep highlights: Danville wrestling claims Urbana Invitational

joey wright, the news-gazette, champaign-urbana, ill.
·5 min read

Jan. 14—In boys' basketball

McLean County/Heart of Illinois Conference Tournament

Gibson City/Melvin-Sibley 52, Eureka 40. The eighth-seeded Falcons (11-6) flew out to a 23-15 halftime lead and held on against the ninth-seeded Hornets down the stretch, with Ryker Grauer scoring 12 points and Brayden Elliott and Ty Cribbett adding 11 points apiece.

Lexington 68, Fisher 37. Despite 12 points from Drayton Lutz and 11 points, two assists and two steals from Ryan Hopkins, the 13th-seeded Bunnies (5-12) were outpaced by the fourth-seeded Minutemen in an opening round contest.

Tremont 68, LeRoy 39. The fifth-seeded Turks dispatched the 12th-seeded Panthers (8-9) with relative ease on El Paso-Gridley's home floor.

Heyworth 61, Ridgeview 45. The seventh-seeded Hornets claimed a 16-point win over the 10th-seeded Mustangs (8-13) in an opening round game.

Nontournament

Arcola 56, Central A&M 37. Tanner Thomas connected on two shots from beyond the arc en route to a 19-point effort that led the way for the host Purple Riders (14-5) in a nonconference victory. Gerardo Alanis and Braden Phillips added eight points apiece to help Arcola's cause.

Argenta-Oreana 59, St. Teresa 39. Nine of Ethan Mahan's team-best 17 points came from beyond the arc, with Jalynn Flowers adding 13 points, Chase Louge netting eight points and Tyson Oros and Damien Gude producing seven points apiece for the Bombers (11-8) in a nonconference road win.

Judah Christian 53, Heritage 46. The host Tribe (10-9) pulled away after a 22-21 halftime advantage and scored a comfortable nonconference win over the Hawks thanks to 19 points from Cameron Carson and 16 points from Braydon Mora. Rylan White led the Hawks (3-17) with 18 points while Jacob Bersyl added eight points.

St. Joseph-Ogden 63, Maroa-Forsyth 46. Tanner Jacob put up 20 points, Tanner Siems added 14 points and Luke Landrus tallied 13 points to help the host Spartans (14-4) to victory in a nonconference contest that they led 29-22 at halftime.

Urbana 56, Hazelwood (Mo.) 49. Malcolm Morris poured in 21 points and added six rebounds to lead the Tigers (7-7) to victory in an interstate battle. Jaylen McElmurray added 11 points for Urbana, which also received a seven-point contribution from Jesse Mfwamba.

In girls' basketball

Lincoln Prairie Conference Tournament

Cerro Gordo/Bement 52, Heritage 23. Haylei Simpson's 16-point performance led a nine-point outing from Bailey Walter and an eight-point contribution from Jillian Durbin that helped the fifth-seeded Broncos (13-7) comfortably dispatch the 12th-seeded Hawks (2-20) in an opening-round contest on their home floor.

Okaw Valley 58, Blue Ridge 35. The 10th-seeded Knights (4-16) were upended by the seventh-seeded Timerwolves in an opening-round affair.

McLean County/ Heart of Illinois Conference Tournament

El Paso-Gridley 41, Ridgeview 28. Kamryn Rinkenberger and Kenzie Wesson scored seven points apiece — with all seven of Wesson's coming at the free-throw line — and Zori Terven chipped in six points to lead the ninth-seeded Mustangs (8-13) in a game in which the eighth-seeded Titans led 17-15 at halftime before earning a 15-7 edge in the third quarter.

LeRoy 50, Heyworth 20. Fourteen points from Molly Buckles, 12 points from Natalie Loy and nine points from Kendyl Spratt were enough to key the fifth-seeded Panthers — who led 22-17 at halftime before a lights-out second half — to victory against the 12th-seeded Hornets. Haley Cox added six assists for the Panthers (15-7) and Buckles assisted on four shots while adding two steals.

Nontournament

Maroa-Forsyth 54, Monticello 38. A 16-7 scoring edge in the first quarter provided a spark for the Trojans, who held on down the stretch to secure a nonconference win on the Sages' home floor. Maia High tallied a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double for Monticello (8-13), which also received six points and five rebounds from Megan Allen and five points and four rebounds from Sarah Cresap.

In wrestling

At Mahomet. Tournament host Mahomet-Seymour scored 360 points to place second to Normal Community (418.5) in the Marty Williams Invitational, with Centennial finishing 11th (223.5), Champaign Central ending up 13th (210.5) and Hoopeston Area netting 16th (168.5) to round out the local field. Centennial boated two champions, with Trevor Schoonover defeating Normal Community's Carter Mayes in the 138 title match and Jack Barnhart downing Normal West's Matt Hanold in the 285 final. Hoopeston Area's Angel Zamora bested Mt. Zion's Vincent Fiore in the 175 title match, while Champaign Central's Talin Baker claimed the title at 113 with a win over Normal West's Dylan McGrew.

At Urbana. Danville scored 187 1/2 team points to place first in the 10-team Urbana Invitational, with the host Tigers placing sixth with 88 1/2 points. Danville had four individual winners: Josiah Williams defeated Urbana's Malachi Hutchinson in the 138 title bout, Marquan Shaw bested Heyworth's Logan Stout to take the 150 title, Tristan Poplous won the 157 title over Effingham's Gage Emmerich and Phillip Shaw IV reigned victorious at 175 with a win over Lanphier's Jaylen Crowder. Urbana's Edwin Villagomez was the lone champion for the Tigers after besting Charleston's Koltan Dare for the 165 title.

In boys' swimming and diving

At Champaign. Centennial secured an 84-74 win over Mahomet-Seymour at Unit 4 Pool thanks to individual wins from James Reynolds (200 yard individual medley, 2 minutes, 22.10 seconds) and Tyler Oatman (100 freestyle, 50.76 seconds and 100 backstroke, 1:00.47), as well as a 200 medley relay win from Oatman, Reynolds, Evan Piercy and Grant Rowitz in 1:52.53. The Bulldogs' individual winners included Owen Kearns (200 freestyle, 1:51.41), Emmett Kearns (50 freestyle, 22.48), Aron Varga (100 butterfly, 55.91 and 100 breaststroke, 1:03.81). Emmett Kearns' win in the 50 freestyle set a team record for Mahomet-Seymour, which was previously held by Varga.