Seneca’s Paxton Giertz hits for 43 points, record 10 3s : The Times Monday Roundup

Boys basketball

Seneca 71, Beecher 37: At Seneca, Fighting Irish senior guard Paxton Giertz exploded for a career-high 43 points on Tuesday, including a school record 10 3-pointers, bettering the mark of eight set by Zach Pfiefer in 2021-22.

Sebastian Deering added 10 points for Seneca (22-4), with Grant Siegel and James Zydron chipping in eight points each.

“We were shorthanded tonight missing one starter and two other starters sick and playing minimum minutes,” Seneca coach Russ Witte said. “The boys really stepped up their game defensively. James Zydron did a great job in his first start of his varsity career, he did not look like a sophomore tonight. Congrats to Paxton for setting the school record for three point makes in a game and for his career high scoring in a single game.”

Peotone 46, Streator 39: At Peotone, the Bulldogs suffered their first loss of the calendar year and in Illinois Central Eight Conference play to fall to 19-5 overall and 10-1 in the league.

Woodland 71, Tri-Point 17: At Cullom, the Warriors rolled past the Chargers to improve to 17-8 on the season.

Newark 62, LaMoille 36: In the 106th annual Little Ten Tournament at Somonauk, the No. 2-seeded Norsemen ran past the No. 10-seeded Lions and into Thursday’s 7 p.m. semifinal against Indian Creek.

Newark (14-11) was led by Payton Wills (19 points, 10 rebounds), Dylan Long (12 points, four rebounds), Reggie Chapman (nine points, seven assists) and Cody Kulbartz (six points, 13 rebounds).

Indian Creek 33, Earlville 30: In the 106th annual Little Ten Tournament at Somonauk, the No. 6-seeded Red Raiders (10-15) fell short in the low-scoring game to the No. 3-seeded Timberwolves.

Earlville — which falls to the consolation bracket and will play LaMoille at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the middle school gym — was led by Easton Fruit (19 points, three steals) and Adam Waite (11 points).

Fieldcrest 63, Ridgeview 43: At Minonk, the Knights outscored the Mustangs 19-5 in the opening quarter on the way to the Heart of Illinois Conference victory.

Fieldcrest (17-6, 6-1) was led by Jordan Heider (20 points, four 3-pointers), Kash Klendworth (18 points) and Eddie Lorton (12 points).

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 77, Flanagan-Cornell 55: At Gibson City, the visiting Falcons fell behind 30-10 after the opening quarter in the HOIC loss.

Logan Ruddy poured in a game-high 31 points for F-C, with Connor Reed adding nine points.

Girls basketball

Ottawa 37, Normal U-High 30: At Normal, the Pirates won for the fourth straight outing and improved to 19-7 with the triumph over the Pioneers.

Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland 73, Cornerstone Christian Academy 32: At Flanagan, the Falcons jumped out to a 30-8 first-quarter lead in the win over the Cyclones.

Ella Derossett had 28 points and six steals, with Emma Palaschak posting 23 points and five steals to lead FCW.