POLO Host Polo overcame a nine-point deficit and prevailed last Tuesday (Feb. 17), defeating longtime rival Milledgeville 67-59. Milledgeville owned a 42-33 lead late in the third quarter before Polo turned things around on the offensive end.
Scholl was a catalyst for Polo late in the game, scoring 15 points in the final quarter alone. Matt Van Oosten paced the Marcos with 21 points.
Polo led 6-5 at the conclusion of the first quarter. The game was deadlocked 24-24 at the intermission. Milledgeville outscored Polo 19-13 in the third quarter. The Marcos connected on 18-of-25 free throw attempts.
Kirk Engelkens led Milledgeville with a game-high 21 points. Jake Workman joined Engelkens in double figures for Milledgeville, scoring 11 points. Levi Harris had nine points for the Missiles.
Milledgeville hit five three-point field goals. The Missiles were 14-for-18 from the free throw line.
Polo: G. Buck 2 5-6 9; Lincoln 5 1-2 14; G. Scholl 1 1-2 3; M. Scholl 8 2-4 18; S. Scholl 1 0-0 2; VanOosten 6 9-11 21
3 Point FGs: Milledgeville: 5 (Eich, Engelkens, Gelwicks, Harris, Workman)
Polo: 3 (Lincoln 3)
Eastland Holds Off Pearl City
PEARL CITY Eastland made the most of its chances from the free throw line down the stretch last Wednesday (Feb. 18) against Pearl City. The Cougars connected on 11-of-14 free throw attempts in the final quarter en route to a 65-58 win. Eastland was 21-of-24 from the charity stripe for the game.
Two different Eastland players reached double figures in the scoring column. Tyler Zumdahl paced the Tony Dunlap-coached Eastland boys' basketball team with a game-high 31 points.
Zumdahl was especially tough on Pearl City in the early stages of the contest.
The younger Tony Dunlap tossed in 16 points, following Zumdahl in the Eastland scoring column. Dunlap ultimately fouled out of the game. Ben Delp dumped in seven points and grabbed five rebounds for the Cougars.
Eastland hung on to win after leading by as many as 17 points. With less than one minute remaining, Eastland was grasping a five-point lead. Pearl City played with determination throughout the second half. The Wolves, however, couldn't push past Eastland.
Heading into Wednesday's game, Pearl City was tied with Eastland and Galena for first-place in the NUIC-West conference.
LENA Points weren't so easy to get last Wednesday (Feb. 18) when West Carroll visited Lena-Winslow for a late regular-season boys' high school basketball game. In the end, Lena-Winslow had just enough left in its tank to successfully defend its home floor, defeating West Carroll 49-46.
Matt Martinez led Lena-Winslow to the win, scoring 11 points. Martinez was one of two West Carroll players to reach double figures in the scoring column. Alec Fritz added 10 points for host Lena-Winslow. Brian McCade scored nine points and Fritz Werhane had seven for the Panthers.
Free throws proved to be the difference in the game. Lena-Winslow connected on 18-of-26 free throw attempts. The Panthers hit crucial charity tosses late in the prep hoops matchup. West Carroll didn't get to the free throw line nearly as often as Lena-Winslow. The Thunder were 8-of-13 from the charity stripe.
The Thunder, which led late in the game before rallying and nearly forging ahead for the win.
The first three quarters featured 10 ties.
Brady Edwards led West Carroll with nine points. Seth Zickefoose and Nate Law each had eight points for the Thunder.
Lena-Winslow prevailed without the aid of a three-point field goal.
FREEPORT The Highland Community College men's basketball team is the top seed in the Region IV Tournament. With its win over Kennedy-King on Saturday, Highland claimed the top seed and the lone first round bye in the tournament. The Cougars will face the winner of a game putting No. 4 seed Sauk Valley versus No. 5 seed Daley.
In other tournament games, second seed Kankakee will face seventh seed Black Hawk East. Third seed Kennedy-King will face Malcolm X College in the opening round.
Each of the opening round games will be played Feb. 28 at Highland. The host Cougars will play in the semifinals on March 5 at 6 p.m. The winner of the Region IV Tournament will advance to the District Playoff game.