Seneca, Fieldcrest, Serena, Earlville all to play for regional titles: The Times Wednesday Roundup

Boys basketball

Seneca 67, Mendota 42: At the Class 2A Hall Regional, the Fighting Irish (23-9) ran out to a 35-19 halftime lead in a semifinal victory over the Trojans.

Junior Paxton Giertz scored 27 points to lead Seneca, which will play Port Byron Riverdale for the championship at 7 p.m. Friday. Kysen Klinker added 13 points, Lane Provance and Brady Sheedy eight points each and Bradyn Simek seven points.

“We did a great job tonight controlling the glass and speeding Mendota up more than they like,” Seneca coach Russ Witte said. “We were also outstanding taking care of the basketball, as we had only 10 turnovers.”

Fieldcrest 59, Herscher 41: At the Class 2A Kankakee Bishop McNamara Regional, the Knights (31-1) led 28-21 at halftime and 46-31 heading to the fourth in a semifinal win over the Tigers.

Connor Reichman posted 18 points and Jozia Johnson 15 for Fieldcrest, which plays the host Fightin’ Irish at 7 p.m. on Friday for the title. Brady Ruestman added eight points and Ed Lorton seven for the Knights.

“We started a little slow and tight,” said Fieldcrest coach Jeremy Hahn. “We played much better in the second and third quarters.”

Serena 70, Somonauk 42: At the Class 1A Somonauk Regional, the Huskers (29-3) outscored the Bobcats 30-12 in the second quarter to advance to Friday’s 7 p.m. championship game against Marquette.

Serena’s 29 wins is believed to be the school record, passing the squad from 1959-60.

Hunter Staton (five rebounds) led a balanced Serena scoring effort with a game-high 17, followed by 15 from Beau Raikes (eight rebounds), 14 from Carson Baker (three rebounds, three assists), 11 from Tanner Faivre (five rebounds, five assists) and eight from Richie Armour (nine rebounds).

Somonauk was led by Carson Bahrey with 12 points, Brock Sexton with 11 and Chase Lafferty with 10.

Marquette 65, Indian Creek 55: In the semifinals of the 1A Somonauk Regional on Wednesday, a key 240-second stretch where the Crusaders used a 13-5 run to push out to a double-digit advantage proved to be the difference.

Indian Creek finishes the season 20-12, while Marquette moved on to Friday’s championship game against Serena.

Sophomore Alec Novotney paced Marquette with a game-high 28 points, including 6-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. Senior Denver Trainor slashed his way to 17 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Carson Zellers (six rebounds) chipped in six points and Charlie Mullen five points and a team-best seven rebounds.

“We were able to settle in a little bit in the second quarter, were able to get some good looks against their zone and were able to knock those shots down,” Crusaders coach Todd Hopkins said. “Then I thought we did an excellent job of not letting them get back into the game in the second half. We kept them at somewhat comfortable distance.”

– Read Brian Hoxsey’s full report on this game at shawlocal.com/illinois-valley.

Earlville 93, Yorkville Christian 73: At the Class 1A Aurora Christian Regional, Griffin Cook scored 29 points and added 10 assists to lead the No. 3-seeded Red Raiders over the No. 5 Mustangs.

Ryan Browder had 25 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, Adam Waite contributed 19 points and 15 rebounds and Trenton Fruit finished with 15 points.

Earlville (28-4) advances to play No. 2 Aurora Christian in the title game at 7 p.m. Friday. The Eagles advanced with a 73-39 win over Hinckley-Big Rock in Wednesday’s first semifinal.

St. Anne 59, Flanagan-Cornell 58: At the Class 1A St. Anne Regional, the Falcons fell just short against the host Cardinals in the semifinals to finish the season 20-13.

Kesler Collins fired in 29 points for Flanagan-Cornell, while Logan Ruddy added nine points.

Port Byron Riverdale 47, Sandwich 45: At the Class 2A Hall Regional, the Indians (18-13) had their season end in the close loss to the Rams.