Newman boys basketball reaches Forreston tourney semifinals: SVM area roundup for Tuesday, Dec. 19

Boys basketball

Newman 48, Lena-Winslow 39: At the Forreston Holiday Tournament, Lucas Simpson scored 24 points to lift the Comets past the Panthers on Tuesday. The win advanced Newman to Wednesday’s championship semifinals.

Evan Bushman scored nine points on three 3-pointers, George Jungerman scored seven points and Isaiah Williams added six points for the Comets.

Newman led 29-28 early in the fourth quarter but stayed patient on offense and forced Le-Win into tougher shots down the stretch. Simpson had a couple of layups and free throws and also pulled down a couple of tough rebounds in traffic in the closing stages of the game as the Comets pulled away at the end.

“I feel like we made them take tough shots. They’d drive in and have to take pull-up jumpers because we had a good funnel in our 1-3-1,” Simpson said. “Then we got a couple of steals, and those plus forcing them into bad shots were the key to helping us win.”

Milledgeville 53, Warren 52: At the Forreston Holiday Tournament, the Missiles used a balanced attack to edge the Warriors in a consolation-bracket game.

Connor Nye paced Milledgeville with 18 points, Micah Toms-Smith scored 11 points, Karter Livengood scored 10 points and Colton Hendrick added nine points.

Rockford Lutheran 51, Eastland 47: At the Eastland Holiday Tournament, the Cougars led by three points after three quarters but were outscored 13-6 in the fourth quarter.

Eastland was led by Adam Awender with 15 points, Trevor Janssen with 14 points and Parker Krogman with 11 points.

Girls basketball

Newman 44, Forreston 25: At the Polo Holiday Tournament, the Comets rolled past the Cardinals in the nightcap.

Newman freshman Brooklyn Smith hit five 3-pointers in a 19-point performance. She also had four steals and three rebounds. Jess Johns added 12 points, 10 rebounds and two steals for the Comets.

Jenna Greenfield paced Forreston with six points.

Oregon 49, West Carroll 42: At the Polo Holiday Tournament, the Hawks outscored the Thunder 24-10 in the fourth quarter to claim a comeback win.

Oregon’s Mya Engelkes scored all 12 of her points in the fourth quarter. Teagan Champley chipped in eight points for the Hawks.

Karissa Andrews paced West Carroll with 20 points, while Emma Randecker added 12 points.

Morrison 41, Erie-Prophetstown 39: At Erie, the Fillies outscored the Panthers 15-9 in the fourth quarter to secure a comeback win.

Camryn Veltrop led Morrison with 13 points, while Sarah Weston scored 10 points and Avery White added eight points.

Sydney Schwartz and Kennedy Buck paced E-P with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Wrestling

Sterling 36, Rock Falls 34: At Rock Falls, the Golden Warriors won four contested matches and picked up three forfeit wins to edge the Rockets.

Sterling’s Austin Clemens (138) took an 8-1 decision, Dylan Ottens (150) took a 5-2 decision, and Tatum Allen (165) and Gage Tate (175) both won by pin.

Rock Falls’ Josiah Tarbill (120) took a 15-7 major decision, Preston Armstrong (126) took a 7-6 decision, Broxyn Surratt (190) took a 4-2 decision, and Logan Thome (132), Logan Williamson (144) and Jacob Hosler (285) each won by pin.

Byron 60, Amboy 18: At Byron, the Clippers’ Landon Blanton (126), Jose Lopez (144) and Lucas Blanton (175) each won by pin in a loss to the Tigers.

Byron 43, Oregon 34: At Byron, the Hawks won four contested matches in a loss to the Tigers.

Oregon’s Nelson Benesh (113) took a 13-0 major decision, while teammates Preston LaBay (132), Zander VandeSand (175) and Seth Rote (215) each won by pin.

Boys bowling

Oregon 3,629, Rockford Christian 3,209: At Town & Country Lanes in Mt. Morris, the Hawks posted a season-high score to claim an NIBC conference match against the Royal Lions and improve to 12-2 on the season.

Oregon was led by Gavvin Surmo with a 759 series (248, 289, 222) – the eighth highest in school history – followed by Brady Davis with a 658, Matthew Stahl with a 631, RJ Keene with a 554, Codey Dunbar with a 529 and Caleb Ehrler with a 498.

Surmo set the school record 10 days earlier with an 804 series at the LaSalle-Peru Tournament. Surmo’s 289 and Davis’ 288 are the fourth and fifth-highest single-game scores in school history.

Rock Island 3,314, Sterling 3,170: At Blackhawk Lanes in Sterling, the Rocks defeated the Golden Warriors by 144 pins.

Sterling was led by Brenden Stanley with a 653 series and 244 high game.

Dakota 3,758, Dixon 3,473: At Plum Hollow in Dixon, the Indians beat the Dukes by 285 pins.

Dixon was led by Cody Geil with a 641 series followed by Clark Bonnewell with a 630, Wyatt Miller with a 602, Daniel Sotelo with a 568, Aaron Fitzanko with a 517 and David Laird with a 515. Geil and Bonnewell both had 247 high games.

Girls bowling

Dixon 2,608, Dakota 1,964: At Plum Hollow in Dixon, the Duchesses claimed their first home win of the season against the Indians.

Dixon was led by Autumn Swift with a 527 series followed by Addison Cox with a 508, Madelyn Bird with a 484, Madolynn Kirby with a 441 and Joslyn Landis with a 324.