Eddie Carifio

Lexi Carlsen's 3-pointer in overtime give the NIU women the lead for good against Idaho State in win, DeKalb tops Naperville Central and more in the roundup.

NIU's defense is relatively unscathed by the portal as they prepare to take on Fresno State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. We look at that and a couple other storylines from the game coming up Monday.

A look at basketball and wrestling results from across the area.

NIU coach Thomas Hammock said Josh Holst is an alpha. The walk-on redshirt freshman from Marengo gets to take over as the starting quarterback for the Huskies' bowl game on Monday.

NIU on Wednesday for the first time confirmed that it has an offer to join the Mountain West for football. A statement from the university said an "update" will come in early January.

Brooke Stonebreaker finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Sycamore and Kaneland lost nonconference games against undefeated teams.

Hinckley-Big Rock coach Seth Sanderson described Martin Ledbetter’s playing style as a freshman as get ball, go to bucket. On Tuesday in a win against Rochelle Zell, the 6-6 senior center and program’s career scoring leader showed how far his game has evolved.

Genoa-Kingston takes down No 1 seed Newman at the Forreston tournament, Kaneland wins home wrestling meet and more basketball and wrestling results in the roundup.

Technically, the Genoa-Kingston girls basketball team was not using hockey-style line changes in its 61-45 win against Rochelle on Monday. But coach Doug Brewington switched out four players at a time every minute or two in a bid to help keep the Cogs fresh.

With little room for error, heavyweight Collin Hughes, 106-pounder Carson West and 113-pounder Sawyer Davis all came away with pins as Sycamore beat the Sequoits 41-39. It was the last match of a quad in which the Spartans went 2-1.

Martin Ledbetter said Hinckley-Big Rock's career scoring mark, plus other basketball results in the roundup.

Amani Meeks did nearly everything for Kaneland against Sycamore Friday, so it’s fitting she had the overtime dagger that sank the Spartans in the Knights' 55-49 win.

Sami Carlino scored 25 points to lead Hinckley-Big Rock, Sycamore wrestling dominated La Salle-Peru and other results in the roundup.

Blake Ides swiped the ball and connected on a layup at the other end, giving the Cogs the lead for good in a 62-60 win on Thursday.

After putting up eye-popping numbers wherever he played, Sycamore's Burke Gautcher earned his second straight Daily Chronicle Player of the Year award. He heads to Iowa to play for the Hawkeyes in January.