Cougars Roll Over Pirates

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

The Cougars Collin Macomber eyes the hoop as a Galena defender tries to make the stop. Collin scored thirteen points in the Eastland 73-41 victory. (PA photo/Craig Lang)

Eastland built a huge first quarter lead and never looked back Friday night at EHS. The Cougars used a swarming defense and hot shooting to down Galena 73-41.

Eastland built a fourteen point lead after one quarter 18-4 and extended that lead to twenty two by the halftime intermission 34-12. Head coach Tony Dunlap then began using his subs but by then the damage was already done and Galena had no chance to get back into the game.

All of the Cougars bench eventually saw a little playing time in the blow out victory. Tony Dunlap paced the Eastland scorers, pouring in twenty one with teammate Collin Macomber adding thirteen. For the visiting Pirates, Dalton Montgomery led the way scoring nine points in a losing effort.

Eastland’s Tony Dunlap (#14) takes the ball to the basket as Galena’s Justin Hughes (#51) attempts to make the block.Tony scored twenty one in the Easland rout on Friday night in Lanark. (PA photo/Craig Lang)

Galena-4-8=14-15-41

Eastland-18-16-20-19-73

Galena: Car. Buss 2 1-2 5; Hart 3 1-3 7; Hughes 2 3-5 7; Lieb 2 3-8 7; Montgomery 3 2-6 9; Phillips 1 2-2 4; Schultz 1 0-0 2

Eastland: Byers 5 0-0 10; B. Dunlap 0 1-2 1; T. Dunlap 6 6-7 21; Glastetter 2 0-0 4; Hansen 1 1-2 3; T. Hartman 1 0-0 2; Lessman 4 0-0 9; Macomber 5 3-5 13; Seferi 3 2-2 8; Stichter 1 0-0 2

3 Point Field Goals: Galena: 1 (Montgomery)

Eastland: 4 (T. Dunlap 3, Lessman 1)

Fouled Out: Galena: 1 (Hughes)

F/S Score: Eastland 53 Galena 48

West Carroll Manny’s Shootout Set For Saturday

The third annual West Carroll Manny’s Shootout features some of the premier varsity boys and girls basketball teams representing three states (Illinois, Iowa and Indiana); urban and rural schools; public and private schools; large and small schools.

Some impressive players to watch include: Bowman Academy’s Sophomore DeJuan Marrero, a 6’5” forward who leads the Eagles in scoring and is ranked as one of the top prospects in the class of 2012 NCAA Division 1 in the Midwest. Also from Bowman is senior 6’1” Tyrae Robinson who has performed well. Chicago Carver 6’4” junior wing Deshawn Delaney has not only entrenched himself as one of the top prospects in the loaded Chicago Public League Red-South Division, but also as one of the top prospects in the loaded Illinois Class of 2011.

On the girl’s side, Davenport Assumption center 6’3” Bradley University bound Alyson Spinas Valainis continues to impress for the Knights.

Bowman Academy of Gary, Indiana returns their boys team for the second year and are one of the elite teams in the Midwest. They will face perennial power Bettendorf High School who also returns this year. Bowman Academy girls play Davenport Assumption High School girls and consistently rank high in Iowa basketball polls.

West Carroll High School girls face Clinton, Iowa High School while the Clinton High School boys play Forreston High School, an Illinois 1A school with a strong winning tradition. 1A Illinois schools Milledgeville and LaMoille face each other. Cedar Rapids, Iowa Kennedy High School enters the shootout for the first time and will face Chicago Heights Bloom Township High School. Both schools have very solid basketball programs.

West Carroll will face Chicago Carver Military School for the final game of the day. Both schools have great program traditions.

A paid entry fee gains spectators to all seven games. $5.00 is the price of presale tickets and $6.00 on game day. Tickets may be purchased in advance at West Carroll High School in Savanna and at West Carroll Middle School in Mt. Carroll.

10:00 a.m. - Clinton High School girl’s vs. West Carroll High School girl’s

11:30 a.m. - Milledgeville High School boy’s vs. LaMoille High School boy’s

1:00 p.m. - Forreston High School boy’s vs. Clinton High School boy’s

2:45 p.m. - Davenport Assumption High School girl’s vs. Bowman Academy girl’s

4:15 p.m. - Chicago Heights Bloom Township boy’s vs. Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School boy’s

5:45 p.m. - Bettendorf High School boy’s vs. Bowman Academy boy’s

7:30 p.m. - Chicago Carver Military Academy boy’s vs. West Carroll boy’s

Manny Castro of Manny’s Pizza in Savanna, Fulton and Freeport, Illinois is the major sponsor of the West Carroll Shootout which is in its third year.

Girls Basketball

Warren Squeaks By West Carroll In Overtime

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

Despite trailing Warren in each of the first three quarters, West Carroll battled back in the fourth to send the game to overtime. Fouls and free throws would prove to be the difference in the extra frame as the Warriors pulled out the 50-41 victory on Monday evening in Warren. The Warriors converted on seven of eight free throws in overtime to pull away from the Thunder and take the win.

West Carroll trailed by five at the half and by three at the end of three periods but balanced scoring in the fourth allowed them to send the contest to an extra frame. Becca Fritz led the Thunder with ten points.

Coach Travis Findlay commented, “We did a good job of getting back into the game but didn’t finish. We were too tentative on defense. Aliesha (Handel) did a great job of disrupting them offensively but we just did too much spectating tonight.”

West Carroll-8-8-11-12-2-41

Warren-7-14-9-9-11-50

West Carroll: Cook 1 1-4 3; Ka. Durward 4 1-2 9; Fritz 5 0-0 10; Handel 3 1-2 7; Lucas 3 0-0 6; Morhardt 3 0-0 6

Warren: Balbach 3 1-2 7; Balbach 6 2-4 14; Cleary 1 3-4 5; Hicks 1 0-0 2; Stiefel 4 4-4 12; Wybourn 3 4-5 10

3 Point Field Goals: none

Fouled Out: none

Eastland Tops Pearl City

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

The Eastland Cougars girls team remained unbeaten in conference play with a hard fought 47-39 win over Pearl City on Monday night in Pearl City. With just a four point advantage at half time, the Cougars opened quarter number three with a ten to two run to open the lead to a dozen.

Eastland put the defensive pressure on the Wolves in the second half to force several turnovers which the Cougars converted into points. Pearl City attempted to counter that move by getting the ball inside which they did with some success but weren’t able to quite overcome the games earlier large deficit.

Eastland was led in the scoring category by junior Brittney Olson and Courtney Blair, who each put fourteen points on the scoreboard. The Wolves were led by Kelsie Kluck who scored sixteen in a losing effort.

Eastland-11-9-16-11-47

Pearl City-6-10-10-13-39

Eastland: Blair 2 10-12 14; Borota 2 0-0 4; Feltmeyer 1 0-0 2; Kniss 2 2-3 8; Olson 5 4-4 14; Ruter 0 3-4 3; Weber 1 0-0 2

Pearl City: Doubler 1 0-0 3; Kluck 5 6-7 16; Koning 3 6-7 12; Kurth 1 2-4 4; Scott 1 0-0 2; Strohecker 0 2-4 2

3 Point Field Goals: Eastland: 2 (Kniss 2)

Pearl City: 1 (Doubler)

Freeport Aquin Escapes With A Win

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

In a game that started to look like it would be a blowout from the beginning, the Milledgeville Missiles battled back to almost take a win away from the Aquin Bulldog girls team. Their effort fell short as Aquin escaped to take the 56-48 victory at Milledgeville on Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs started out on fire, jumping out to a huge thirteen point first quarter lead and extending that lead to twenty points at the halftime intermission, The Missiles cut sharply into that lead in the third frame as they battled back to cut into Aquin’s lead by nine points and only trailing by a dozen going into the final frame. Fouls by the Missiles and made free throws by the Bulldogs allowed Aquin to hold their slim lead and come away with the win.

Aquin had three players score in double figures with Emily Mohr leading the way scoring seventeen points and teammates Sophie Brunner and Robyn Hauser scoring thirteen and eleven points respectively. Milledgeville was led in the scoring column by Briianna Herins eighteen points with Keali Engelkens chipping in with fourteen points

Freeport Aquin-21-15-7-13-56

Milledgeville-8-8-16-16-48

Aquin: Brunner 6 1-3 13; Hauser 3 5-6 11; Lepka 1 3-4 6; Mohr 6 1-4 17; Thompson 3 3-5 9

Milledgeville: DawTyne 3 0-0 6; Engelkens 6 2-2 14; A. Herin 2 0-0 6; B. Herin 7 0-2 18; Kent 2 0-0 4

3 Point Field Goals: Aquin: 5 (Mohr 4, Lepka 1)

Milledgeville: 6 (B. Herin 4, A. Herin 2)

Stockton Blows Out West Carroll

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

The Stockton girls used a scoring barrage to put the Thunder in a hole early and didn’t let up beating West Carroll by twenty seven, 63-36 on Thursday night in Stockton. West Carroll found themselves down by thirteen after the first frame, 22-9. They went into the locker room at the halftime intermission trailing by eleven 29-18. The second half was more of the same as Stockton outscored the Thunder by a margin of sixteen points, 34-18 to make the final margin of victory for the Blackhawks.

Sophi Morhardt led the Thunder with eighteen points. Travis Findlay, West Carroll head coach said, “Sophi was outstanding tonight. This is the best she has played since getting injured. We played well in the first half. We just need to start putting four good quarters together.”

West Carroll-9-9-11-7-36

Stockton-22-7-20-14-63

West Carroll: Ka. Durward 0 1-2 1; Fritz 4 0-0 8; Handel 2 1-2 5; Lucas 0 1-2 1; Maike 1 0-0 3; Morhardt 8 1-2 18

Stockton: Brunner 5 3-4 13; Gille 3 2-2 8; Kupersmith 1 0-0 2; Magee 8 0-0 16; Schultz 6 4-4 16; Wampfler 1 0-0 2; Werkheiser 3 0-0 6

3 Point Field Goals: West Carroll: 1 (Morhardt 1)

Le-Win Handles The Cougars

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

The Panthers used a big second and third quarter to take a huge lead the Eastland couldn’t overcome as Le-Win Beat the Cougars 47-31 at EHS on Saturday night in Lanark.

Eastland trailed by only four after one 13-9 but the Panthers extended their lead to six at the half 23-17. The third quarter proved to be the Cougars undoing as Le-Win held the Cougars to just four third quarter points and widened their lead to sixteen, 36-21.

Courtney Blair led the Cougars with ten points with Taylor Ruter adding seven.

Le-Win-13-10-13-11-47

Eastland-9-8-4-10-31

Le-Win: Arand 2 0-0 4; Jensen 3 8-8 15; Kuckes 1 0-4 2; Lyvers 3 0-2 8; Parks 1 0-0 2; Schumaker 4 4-6 12; Yeager 2 0-0 4

Eastland: Bissell 2 1-1 5; Blair 2 6-8 10; Borota 1 0-2 2; Feltmeyer 2 0-0 4; Kniss 1 0-0 2; Nepean 0 1-2 1; Ruter 3 1-2 7

3 Point Field Goals: Le-Win: 3 (Lyvers 2, Jensen 1)

Fouled Out: Le-Win: 1 (Lyvers)

Eastland: 1 (Olson)

F/S Score: Eastland 31 Le-Win 26

Boys Basketball

Thunder Slip By Wolves

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

In a nip and tuck contest, the West Carroll Thunder held on to take a 57-53 victory on Tuesday night. West Carroll held a slim three point lead after one quarter and a very close one point lead at halftime 21-20.

The Thunder opened things up a bit in the third frame with the Thunder outscoring Pearl City by a ten point margin. The Wolves battled back in the final quarter to almost erase the whole deficit but eventually their run fell short. Pierson Hull led Pearl City with fifteen points and Jacob Grebener added ten. Brady Edwards led the Thunder with fifteen and teammates Dillon Prowant and Nate Law contributed ten apiece.

Head coach Josh Knuth said, “I was happy coming out with a win. Our defense was just poor all game. We have to improve defensively to get were we want to be. Our execution on offense was good at times but still not consistent enough. We must improve as the next five games for us are against very good teams.”

Pearl City-8-12-10-23-53

West Carroll-11-10-20-16-57

Pearl City: Block 2 0-0 4; Grebener 4 2-6 10; Harrington 2 0-0 4; Hull 5 4-6 15; Kurth 2 0-0 4; Schiess 0 3-4 3; Slick 5 0-0 13

West Carroll: Brashaw 3 1-2 7; Edwards 6 3-4 15; Getz 3 0-2 6; Law 4 2-5 10; Naples 2 5-6 9; Prowant 3 4-5 10

3 Point Field Goals: Pearl City: 4 (Slick 3, Hull 1)

Fouled Out: none

Thunder Fall To CICS-Longwood

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

Trailing by eleven after the first quarter 19-8 West Carroll couldn’t recover and fell to CICS-Longwood 65-63 on Saturday. CiCS extended their lead to sixteen points at the half 36-20. The Thunder made an effort to get back in the game outscoring Longwood in the second half but the first half was too much for them to overcome.

Nate Law led the way for the Thunder scoring twenty one while Brady Edwards added fourteen in a losing effort. Head coach Josh Knuth said, “We have got to play a complete game. We have yet to do that since before Christmas. We played very well in the second half and very bad in the first half. We need to play thirty two minutes if we want to win games.”

CICS-Longwood-19-17-11-18-65

West Carroll-8-12-23-20-63

CICS: Ball 9 7-10 31; Christmas 1 0-0 2; Freeman 4 2-3 10; Long 5 0-0 11; Parker 3 1-2 7; R. Williams 2 0-0 4

West Carroll: Brashaw 3 4-4 13; Edwards 7 0-0 14; Ferguson 1 0-0 2; Getz 3 1-2 7; Law 9 3-4 21; Naples 2 0-1 4; Prowant 1 0-0 2

3 Point Field Goals: CICS: 7 (Ball 6, Long 1)

West Carroll: 3 (Brashaw 3)

Pearl City Edges Stockton

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

The Wolves used a balanced scoring attack to outlast the Blackhawks at the River Ridge Shootout Saturday night 46-39. Pearl City led after the first quarter by five points 10-5 and by a slim two point margin at the half 19-17. They extended their lead to three points going into the final frame 33-30 and outscored Stockton by four in the fourth to take the win. Collin Talbert led Pearl City with fourteen and Travis Schiess added eleven.

Stockton-5-12-13-9-39

Pearl City-10-9-14-13-46

Stockton: Hess 5 2-2 12; Huschitt 2 1-2 6; Kriebs 1 0-0 2; Offenheiser 1 0-0 2; Schamberger 0 1-2 1; Zueger 6 0-0 16

Pearl City: Grebener 1 4-5 7; Hull 4 0-0 8; Schiess 5 1-2 11; Slick 2 2-2 6; Talbert 5 0-0 14

3 Point Field Goals: Stockton: 5 (Zueger 4, Huschitt1)

Pearl City: 5 (Talbert 4, Grebener 1)

Other Shootout Scores:

Paw Paw-15-7-7-15-4-48

Pearl City-15-10-9-10-10-54

Paw Paw: Hendren 2 4-4 8; Moretene 4 0-2 8; Nicholson 8 4-10 21; Rosenkrans 1 2-2 4; Rosenkrans 1 0-0 3; Safremek 0 4-9 4

Pearl City: Grebener 1 1-2 3; Harrington 1 1-1 3; Hull 5 3-4 13; Kurth 1 2-2 4; Schiess 3 7-10 13; Slick 4 3-4 12; Strohecker 2 2-2 6

3 Point Field Goals: Pearl City: 1 (Slick)

Pearl City-9-8-11-13-41

River Ridge/Scales Mound-12-5-12-18-47

Pearl City: Canon 0 1-2 1; Finkenbinder 0 1-2 1; Kluck 4 1-5 9; Koning 3 2-2 8; Kurth 0 3-6 3; Scott 2 0-0 4; Strohecker 5 2-2 15

RR/SM: Brashaw 2 0-0 4; Busch 1 2-2 4; Decoster 5 1-6 11; Dubord 1 0-0 2; Kieffer 4 9-10 17; Wheelwright 3 2-5 9

3 Point Field Goals: Pearl City: 3 (Strohecker 3)

RR/SM: 1 (Wheelwright)

HS Basketball Schedule

Jan 20

(G) Eastland at Winnebago

(G) Fulton at Morrison

Jan 21

(B) East Dubuque at West Carroll

(B) River Ridge at Pearl City

(B) Bureau Valley at Morrison

(B) Pecatonica at Milledgeville

Jan 22

(G) Forreston at Milledgeville

Jan 23

(B) Eastland at Freeport Aquin

(B&G) West Carroll Shootout

(B) Milledgeville at Forreston

(G) Erie at Morrison

(G) Morrison at Erie (F)

Jan 25

(G) Rock Falls at Eastland

(B) Sterling Newman at Morrison

Jan 26

(G) Eastland at Stockton

(G) West Carroll at Prophetstown

(G) Pearl City at Dakota

(B) Le-Win at Pearl City

(B) Milledgeville at Freeport Aquin

HS Wrestling Results

Jan. 11

Northeast 60 West Carroll 15

West Carroll 48 Camanche 30

Jan. 12

Morrison 45 Riverdale

West Carroll 42 Polo 30

West Carroll 48 Durand 21

Jan. 16

Dakota 57 West Carroll 22

Le-Win 61 West Carroll 11

IHSA Granting Waivers For Illegal Basketball Uniforms

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced that waivers for illegal basketball uniforms can be secured by completing the “Basketball Uniform Waiver Request Form” that is available online in the IHSA Schools Center. Following last year’s basketball state tournament series, the Association stepped up its efforts to make officials and schools aware of the uniform rules and regulations.

“The uniform rule was specifically addressed in this years preseason rule interpretation meetings,” said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. “Every school and every official was reminded that compliance with the rule was mandatory rather than optional.”

Officials have recently informed the IHSA of several schools whose uniforms do not currently comply with National Federation of State High School Association (NFHS) rules. As a result, the Association has instituted a waiver process that allows schools to use their illegal uniforms for the remainder of this season, including the state tournament series, without penalty. In addition, schools successfully completing the waiver process this year will be allowed to petition for the waiver on an annual basis until they arrive at the normal replacement cycle for their uniforms. Schools must receive a waiver this year to be eligible for a waiver during the 2010-11 season.

“We have no intention of requiring schools to expend additional dollars now, or in the future, to replace illegal uniforms,” added Hickman. “We fully realize there are many more pressing financial needs in our schools than basketball uniforms.”

Schools wearing illegal uniforms that fail to apply for a waiver will continue to be penalized per NFHS rules in the regular season and IHSA State Series. The penalty for an illegal uniform is a technical foul assessed to the offending team’s coach prior to the start of the contest. The Association is encouraging schools to specify to their uniform supplier that all new uniforms must comply with BFHS regulations. Further, the IHSA will be submitting a proposal to the NFHS to simplify the basketball uniform rule.

“When a school or administrator complains about a rule, we always tell them that there is a process in place to change that rule and that they should submit a by-law proposal,” said Hickman. “We are taking our own advice, so to speak, as we feel that the BFHS uniform rules for basketball may be a bit too restrictive and cumbersome. We hope our proposal will be well received and help streamline those rules.”

Milledgeville Defeats AFC

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

The Missiles Brianna Herin (#33) dribbles past an AFC’s Sarah Smith (#25) while the Raiders Audra Lundquist (#2) waits. Milledgeville defeated AFC by seventeen. (PA photo/Craig Lang)

The Missiles girls team used a smothering defense to stifle the Raiders ball handlers and came away with the 54-37 victory on Thursday evening in Milledgeville. The half court trap seemed to confuse the AFC players and caused numerous turnovers which the Missiles converted into points.

Milledgeville began the contest on fire and jumped out to a twenty point first quarter while holding the Raiders to just five. The second quarter was almost a reverse of the first as the Missiles were held to just five points while AFC tacked an even dozen on the scoreboard. The second half was a bit more even with Milledgeville taking the edge, outscoring the Raiders by a margin of twenty nine to twenty.

The Missiles Andrea Herin led all Milledgeville scorers with twenty one, while teammates Keali Engelkens and Brianna Herin added eleven and ten points. Audra Lundquist led the Raiders, scoring fourteen.

AFC-5-12-10-10-37

Milledgeville-20-5-12-17-54

AFC: James 1 0-0 2; Kaecker 2 0-2 4; Kennay 1 4-6 6; Lundquist 5 4-6 14; Mairs 1 0-0 2; Smith 4 1-2 9

Milledgeville: DawTyne 2 0-0 4; Engelkens 5 1-4 11; A. Herin 8 1-2 21; B. Herin 3 4-4 10; Kent 2 0-0 4; Knutti 2 0-0 4

3 Point Field Goals: Milledgeville: 4 (A. Herin 4)

The Missiles Keali Engelkens (w/Ball) looks for an outlet as she is surrounded by AFC’s Kim Mairs (#5) and Meloday Kaecker (#20) during basketball action in Milledgeville. Keali led all Missile scorers with twenty one points. (PA photo/Craig Lang)