L-P, Mendota boys bowling teams advance to sectional: NewsTribune roundup for Monday, Jan. 15, 2024

BOYS BOWLING

At Morton: La Salle-Peru placed fourth at the Morton Regional on Monday to advance as a team to the Rockford Jefferson Sectional.

The Cavaliers knocked down 5,057 pins to finish behind the host Potters (5,712), Rock Island (5,586) and Geneseo (5,563).

Aiden McCray led L-P with a 1,103 six-game series, while Aaron Siebert rolled a 1,034 and Emerson Vasquez had a 1,018.

Hall-Putnam County (4,671) placed seventh and St. Bede (4,440) was 10th.

The Red Devils had three individuals advance to the sectional in Bryce Smith (1,083), Dawson Huffman (1,070) and Kaiden Kenny (1,065).

At Joliet: Mendota made school history by placing fourth at the Plainfield North Regional at Joliet Town & Country Lanes.

The Trojans racked up 5,568 pins to advance to a sectional as a team for the first time.

Yorkville won the team title with 5,864 pins, followed by Oswego East (5,854) and Minooka (5,824).

Landon Bauer led Mendota as he placed seventh individually with a 1,249 six-game series.

Also for the Trojans, Paxton Bauer rolled a 1,161 series, Alex Holland bowled a 1,151 series and Kooper Novak added a 1,002 series.

The Trojans will compete in the Rockford Jefferson Sectional on Saturday.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Eureka 44, Fieldcrest 43: The No. 7-seeded Knights fell just short of an upset of the No. 2 Hornets in a McLean County/Heart of Illinois Conference Tournament quarterfinal at Eureka College.

Kaitlin White scored 18 points for Fieldcrest (15-7), while Macy Gochanour contributed 13 points.

The Knights will face No. 6 Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at GCMS.

BOYS BASKETBALL

At Bloomington: Princeton lost a pair of games at the Bloomington Central Catholic MLK Showcase.

The Tigers lost 70-69 to Aurora Christian and fell 73-67 to Rockford Lutheran.

Noah LaPorte led the Tigers with 22 points, while Tyson Phillips had 12.

The Tigers led by 11 at the half against Lutheran but couldn’t hang on in the second half. LaPorte again led the Tigers with 27 points with Landon Koning adding 14 points and Korte Lawson contributing 10.

Bureau Valley 64, IVC 56: Corban Chhim scored 23 points as the Storm earned a nonconference victory in Manlius.

Three other BV players scored in double figures in Landon Hulsing (13), Bruyce Helms (12) and Logan Philhower (11).