Golden Warriors take 2nd at Taylorville

A late Sterling rally fell short in the championship game of the Taylorville Tournament, as the Warriors lost to Western Big 6 rival Galesburg 48-44 on Saturday.

The Golden Warriors trailed 27-17 at halftime and 41-29 after three before going on an 11-5 run to get within five, but the Silver Streaks were able to pull things out at the end.

Isaiah Yarbrough scored 16 points to lead Sterling. Cooper Willman and Trevon Jordan each scored nine, and Jordan also grabbed seven rebounds.

The Golden Warriors moved into the tournament title game with a 66-46 win over the host Tornadoes. Noel Aponte topped Sterling with 14 points, Jordan had 12, and Donovan Jones added 10.

State Farm Classic

Downs Tri-Valley 45, Rock Falls 40: Jalen Bickett scored 12 points and Evan Laws added 11 as the Rockets fell to the Vikings in a consolation semifinal at Normal West High School.

Rock Falls 57, St. Thomas More 51: The Rockets eked out a win in their State Farm finale, earning consolation third place.

Rock Falls jumped out to a 20-12 lead after one quarter and led 28-19 at halftime and 42-32 after three. Bickett and Jeriah George each scored 12 points. Chase Chappell added nine, and Jalen Johnson scored eight.

Effingham/Teutopolis Tournament

Mattoon 58, Dixon 46: Jacob Gaither scored 17 points, while Ryan Pitzer drained five 3-pointers and scored 15 points for the Dukes in a loss to Mattoon.

Warkins Classic

Erie-Prophetstown 53, Orion 51: The Panthers held on to reach the championship game of their own tournament with a win over the Chargers.

Orion had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds after Adam Burgert was sent to the free-throw line for three foul shots. He made one, and Clayton Johnson grabbed the rebound off the missed final free throw to secure the win for EP.

Johnson led the Panthers with 17 points. Eric Robinson and Bryce Rosenow each scored nine.

Orion led 11-8 after one quarter before EP tied the game 24-24 at halftime. It was 41-30 Panthers after three, and the Panthers held on despite 21 Orion points in the fourth.

Fulton 55, Beecher 40: Connor Barnett tossed in 22 points to lead the Steamers past the Bobcats in Erie.

Bradlee Damhoff finished with 14 points for Fulton, and Kyler Pessman added 10.

Stark County 57, Morrison 52: The Mustangs led 41-39 heading into the final quarter before being outscored 18-11 in the last 8 minutes.

T.C. Ottens scored 17 points,Alex Anderson scored 15, and Zack Eads added nine.

Eastland Holiday Tournament

Aquin 53, Eastland 51: The Bulldogs knocked off the tournament hosts despite a 19-point fourth quarter from the Cougars.

Drew Burkholder led Eastland with 13 points. Lane Christians and Brock Coatney each scored 11. Kellen Henze scored 10.

Forreston 52, Amboy 21: The Cardinals beat the Clippers, jumping out to a 23-7 lead after one quarter and a 33-16 lead at the half.

Preston Henkel led Amboy with six points.

WRESTLING

Dukes 3rd in suburbs: Dixon scored points with top-eight finishes in 11 of the 14 weight classes to take third at the Ed Ewoldt Invitational hosted by Wheaton Warrenville South.

The Dukes finished with 154 points, behind only LaGrange Lyons (224.5) and Lincoln-Way East (167.5). Hunter Pate (182 pounds) and Sebastian Quintana (195) won titles for Dixon, both coming via pins in their championship bouts.

Chris Sitter added a second-place finish at 106 pounds, while Gable Hale was third at 152. Will Weidman (120) and Riley Riggen (220) both finished fourth, Owen Brooks (138) placed fifth, and Hakeem Banks (126), Elijah Ankney (145) and Cameron Varden (160) all took sixth. Roman Kozak placed eighth at 132.

Mustangs 6th in Springfield: Morrison split four matches on Saturday and placed sixth overall at the Abe's Rumble Tournament.

The Mustangs, who won their pool on Friday, opened in the Gold Division with a 42-28 win against Peoria Notre Dame, then dropped a 70-9 decision against eventual champion Lena-Winslow. Morison then beat Fithian Oakwood 48-30 before losing to Auburn 60-24 in the fifth-place bout.

Leading the way for the Mustangs were Colton Linke, who went 8-0 at 126; Ryan Kennedy, who went 8-0 at 138/145; Brenden Stearns, who went 7-1 at 182/195; and Riley Wilkens, who went 7-0 at 220/285.

Erie-Prophetstown was in the same bracket as Morrison and went 1-3. The Panthers lost to PORTA 54-17, Mt. Carmel 36-35 and Tremont 40-33 before defeating Peoria Notre Dame 48-33 to take 15th place.

E-P's Jase Grunder went 9-0 at 120.

Oregon split four matches and finished 11th in the Silver Division. The Hawks lost to Stillman Valley 43-33 before defeating Canton 42-39. Oregon then lost to Heyworth 44-30 before beating Cumberland 39-33.

Newman finished 11th in the consolation bracket. Will Rude (138/145) and Kyle Tunink (152/160) each went 7-0 for the Comets.

West Carroll 4th at Danville: The West Carroll/Eastland co-op reached the semifinal of the St. Mary's New Year's Challenge in Danville with a pair of wins to start Day 2 before dropping the semifinal and third-place duals.

The ThunderCats beat Attica (Ind.) 53-24, a bout that saw Ethen Doty pick up his 100th career win with a pin in the 132-pound match. West Carroll then beat Westville 51-28, as Eli Dertz picked up a win in double overtime over Westville’s Dawson Pruitt, the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the state at 220 pounds.

The ThunderCats then fell to Christian Life (Wis.) 43-31 and Marion 45-36.

Dertz, Ethen Doty, Wyatt Doty (120), Briar Nevills (113) and Keldon McCombie (160) all went 4-0 in Saturday’s matches.

BOYS BOWLING

Oregon 3rd at Dixon Toughman: Oregon had a total pinfall of 5,781 to take third behind Freeport (6,148) and LaSalle-Peru (5,793) at the Dixon Toughman Tournament.

Eddie Buttens (989), Isaac Kaltenbrun (961), Kyle Strite (951) and Charlie Bachman (935) had the top five-game scores for the Hawks.

Dixon was sixth with a 5,510. The top bowlers for the Dukes were Tyler Yocum (962), Jacob Wickert (944) and Michael Willhite (940). Austin Portner, competing for Dixon II, had a pinfall of 1,002.

Sterling was eighth in a 14-team field with a 5,344. The top bowlers for the Golden Warriors were Carter Schlegel (1,029) and Andrew Doughty (918), with Schlegel taking fourth place overall.

Erie-Prophetstown was 14th with a 4,080. Jaron Gibson had an 869 for the Panthers.