Oregon falls short in first regional final in 11 years: Thursday’s Sauk Valley roundup

Girls basketball

Riverdale 47, Oregon 25: The Hawks were stifled offensively early on as the second-seeded Rams (21-9) won the Class 2A Erie-Prophetstown Regional title. Fifth-seeded Oregon (16-16) was led by junior Sarah Eckhardt’s 10 points while classmate Aniyah Sarver scored eight. Oregon trailed 13-4 after the first quarter and 25-6 at halftime.

First-year Oregon coach and former assistant Angela Reynolds was proud of the team after reaching its first regional title in 11 years. The Hawks also won nine more games than last season. Reynolds played on that team that last won a regional in 2014. Oregon beat Newman 74-32 for the hardware that year before falling to eventual sectional champion and state runner-up Prophetstown 62-57 the next round.

“We had an outstanding season this year and although tonight wasn’t the outcome we had hoped for, we still have so much to be proud of,“ Reynolds said. ”Riverdale played a great game and we had a slower start and didn’t get some of our shots to fall. Aside from that, our girls brought their energy and hard work ethic and battled as hard as they could. Above all, our girls played their hearts out and that’s all a coach can ever ask for.”

Riverdale’s Jay Hatch, a Hall of Fame coach with Alleman who also took the Rams to state in 2020, was proud of his team and its effort.

“We got off to a good start tonight, which was very helpful,” Hatch said. “I thought we did a good job of just maintaining it.

“I thought we did a pretty good job of trying to take away what we thought they wanted to do.”

— Earleen Hinton contributed to this report

Boys wrestling

State finals

Class 2A: Dixon’s Jack Ragan won his first match by decision before falling by major decision the following round. Teammate Charlie Connors fell in his first match at 138 as they will both continue in wrestlebacks.

Sterling’s Zyan Westbrook won his first match at 132 before falling by major decision. Gage Tate dropped his first match at 175 to move to the consolation bracket.

Class 1A: Morrison’s Cael Wright and Newman’s Landon Near went to wrestlebacks after Near lost a 3-1 decision his second match and Wright fell 11-5. Oregon’s Josiah Perez (113) won his first match and lost his second while Isaiah Perez (120) dropped his first match, along with Nelson Benesh (132). Amboy’s Jose Lopez (150) also fell in his opener.

Newman’s Briar Ivey (157) advanced to the semifinals after a pin and 10-0 major decision. E-P’s Wyatt Goosens is also in the 157 semifinals after a 4-2 decision and 13-0 major. Daniel Kelly fell in his opener at 165 for Newman along with Fulton’s Skylier Crooks at 175.

Boys basketball

Eastland 60, Rock Falls 56 (OT): The Cougars topped the Rockets in overtime as Adam Awender and Peyton Spears each scored 19 points. Parker Krogman added 10 for Eastland as it pulled away in extra time. Kuitim Heald led Rock Falls with 31 points as the Rockets were held to four points in overtime. Ryken Howard added 10 for RF.

Sherrard 55, Dixon 40: The Dukes fell short in the road test to wrap up the regular season.

Morrison 65, Polo 52: Brayden Rubright scored 21 points and Brady Ernst added 16 in the road win for the Mustangs. Gus Mumford had 19 points and Mercer Mumford added 12 for the Marcos.

Amboy 44, Milledgeville 37: Ezra Parker led the Clippers with 14 points, Bryson Deery had 10 and Eddie Jones had 10 in the win. Milledgeville was led by Bryson Wiersema’s 10 points and Micah Toms-Smith had nine for the Missiles.

Fulton 64, Ashton-Franklin Center 43: The Steamers were led by Landen Leu’s 23 points in the road win. Jacob Voss added 12 points for Fulton.