Paxton Giertz nets 42 points as Seneca tops Newark : The Times Tuesday Roundup

Boys basketball

Seneca 71, Newark 39: At Newark, Fighting Irish senior guard Paxton Giertz fired in a career-high 42 points in the win over the Norsemen on Tuesday.

Sebastian Deering also had 12 points for Seneca (17-4), with Brayden Simek adding six points, and Cam Shriey and Zeb Maxwell four points each.

“The boys were very solid on the defensive side of the ball tonight, getting several tips that lead to transition buckets on the other end,” Seneca coach Russ Witte said. “Newark is always a difficult place to play, and they have been playing well this second half of the season. This is a quality win for us moving forward.”

Payton Wills (13 points, six rebounds) and Reggie Chapman (11 points, seven assists) led Newark (12-8).

Fieldcrest 55, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 50: At Illinois Wesleyan University’s Shirk Center in the McLean County/Heart of Illinois Conference Tournament, the No. 3-seeded Knights outscored the No. 6 Falcons 16-11 in the fourth quarter to advance to Friday’s 8 p.m. semifinal against El Paso-Gridley.

Jordan Heider netted a game-best 24 points for Fieldcrest, with Kash Klendworth adding 10 points and Eddie Lorton chipping in seven points. The Knights — which trailed 16-7 after the opening quarter — finished the contest 16 of 17 from the free-throw line, including a perfect 6 for 6 in the final quarter by Layten Gerdes.

Girls basketball

Somonauk-Leland 49, IMSA 23: At Earlville in the 44th annual Little Ten Conference Tournament, the No. 3-seeded Bobcats rolled to the victory over the No. 6 Titans.

S-L, which advances to the 7 p.m. semifinals against Hinckley-Big Rock, was led by a balanced attack of Macey Kinney (10 points, seven rebounds), Abby Hohmann (nine points, eight rebounds, four steals), Ashley McCoy (nine points, seven rebounds, five steals) and Leah Norris (eight points, 13 rebounds).

Hinckley-Big Rock 54, Newark 32: At Earlville in the 44th annual Little Ten Conference Tournament, the No. 7-seeded Norsemen fell short against the No. 2 Royals.

Newark now plays IMSA at 7 p.m. in the junior high gym on Thursday in the consolation semifinals.