Area Roundup: Pirate Poms, Streatorettes advance to IHSA State; Ottawa boys hoops triumphs at Sycamore

At the IHSA’s Fieldcrest Competitive Dance Sectional on Saturday in Minonk, a pair of area dance squads punched their tickets for next weekend’s IHSA State Final Competition at Bloomington’s Grossinger Motors Arena.

Both Ottawa in Class 2A and Streator in Class 1A earned the final state-qualifying spot in their respective classes with sixth-place finishes and will compete Friday.

The Pirate Poms received a score of 84.20 for sixth in 2A. Lincoln-Way West was the 2A sectional champion with am 88.80. La Salle-Peru finished 12th with a 71.33.

The Streatorettes earned a 77.70 score for sixth in 1A. Morris via its 90.47 won the 1A sectional title. Fieldcrest (9th, 75.93), Putnam County (14th, 69.07) and Somonauk (15th, 66.83) also competed in the 1A division.

Boys bowling

Sheridan’s season stopped in sectional: At the Orland Park Sandburg Sectional, Ottawa’s lone sectional qualifier, senior Colin Sheridan, rolled a 981 six-game series to place 96th of 141 bowlers. Sheridan’s high games included a 181 and a 180.

The tentative cutoff for state-advancing individuals came in at 1,356, with La Salle-Peru’s Ethan Picco marking a 1,389 to advance to next weekend’s IHSA State Finals.

Boys basketball

Ottawa 45, Sycamore 27: At Sycamore, the visiting Pirates improved to 11-8 overall and 5-3 in the Interstate Eight Conference with the Saturday night road win.

Braiden Miller had 11 points and seven rebounds and Anthony Miller finished with 10 points and three assists as the duo scored in double figures for Ottawa. Luke Cushing added seven points before exiting shortly before halftime, with Levi Sheehan (four assists) and Trace Roether pitching in a half dozen points apiece.

Brody Armstrong scored 10 points to pace Sycamore, which trailed the Pirates, 30-10, at halftime.

The Pirates are scheduled to be back in action Monday at Sandwich.

Somonauk 57, Marquette 44: At Bader Gym, the host Crusaders were tied with the Bobcats at halftime but suffered their second loss to Somonauk in less than a month in this rematch of the Marseilles Holiday Tournament’s fifth-place game.

The contest was tied 21-all at the half, with the Bobcats leading 37-35 heading into the final quarter.

The loss drops Marquette – scheduled to return to action Tuesday night in the Tri-County Tournament hosted by Putnam County – to 14-6.

Somonauk, led in the win by Alex Krejci’s 20 points, is 16-5.

Serena 84, IMSA 57: In Little Ten Conference play, the Huskers improved to 11-10 (5-3) led by 19 points apiece from Ben Shugrue and Camden Figgins, 15 courtesy of Hunter Muffler, 11 by Tanner Faivre and 10 scored by Dylan Cartwright.

Boys swimming

Cav Co-Op champs of own event: At the 2022 La Salle-Peru Pentathlon, the host Cavalier Co-Op won the championship led by an individual championship performance from Joe Ovanic and runner-up showing by teammate Ryan Nelson.

Dillon Malerk added a fourth-place individual finish in the standings for La Salle-Peru/Ottawa.

JV/sophomore boys basketball

DeKalb 53, Streator 36: At Pops Dale Gymnasium, the Bulldogs were paced by eight points apiece from Cade Peterson and Jaydon Nambo.