Sterling, Dixon girls eye conference titles: Thursday’s Sauk Valley roundup

Girls basketball

Sterling 77, United Township 22: The Golden Warriors are one win away from clinching at least a share of the Western Big Conference title after a dominant win over the visiting Panthers. Madison Austin scored 26 points, Joslynn James had 22 and Alivia Gibson scored 10 in the win. Macie Lofgren had eight points off the bench for Associated Press Class 3A No. 6 Sterling (24-5, 11-1 Big 6). The Warriors next hit the road for Saturday’s Big 6 matchup at Moline.

Dixon 52, Rockford Christian 40: The seventh-ranked Duchesses improved to 25-4 overall and 8-0 in the Big Northern Conference ahead of Saturday’s pivotal matchup with Stillman Valley. Hallie Williamson scored 24 points, Reese Dambman had 11 and Ahmyrie McGowan had 10 in the Dixon win.

Polo 44, Fulton 33: Cam Jones scored a game-high 26 points, hitting 10 of 10 free throws, with five rebounds in the Marcos' win. She scored 15 points in Polo’s 23-7 fourth quarter advantage.

Genoa-Kingston 57, Rock Falls 37: The Rockets fell short in the home Big Northern Conference game. RF has lost 15 straight.

United 39, Bureau Valley 36 (OT): Libby Endress led BV with 16 points and Emily Wright had eight but the Storm fell short in overtime. Brooke Helms hit a 3-pointer to tie it with under a minute to play, but United secured a last-second win with a putback.

Oregon 43, North Boone 29: Sarah Eckhardt and Aniyah Sarver each scored 12 points for the Hawks in the home win. Oregon led 21-8 at halftime in the win.

Boys basketball

Morrison 57, Amboy 52: Brayden Rubright led the Mustangs with 15 points and Koltin Swaim scored 14 in the home win. Eddie Jones scored 27 points and Bryson Deery added 19 for Amboy, but no other Clipper scored more than five in the setback.

Eastland 56, Milledgeville 16: Peyton Spears scored a game-high 21 points for the fourth-ranked Cougars in the win.

Girls bowling

Rock Island 2,784, Dixon 2,678: Madelyn Bird led Dixon with a 511 series as the Duchesses fell short in their final dual meet. Chloe Harmon led the Rocks with a 558.