BCR Sports

Bureau Valley and Princeton are just 16 miles apart and yet they will both host Class 2A boys basketball regionals. Here’s a look at those two sites plus all the other area regionals.

The Princeton Christian Academy Eagles defeated No. 2 seed Ladd to capture the 2024-25 BVEC girls basketball tournament championship Thursday night at LaMoille.

Bureau County-area girls basketball standings, including Bureau Valley, Hall, Princeton, L-P, Mendota, PC and St. Bede on Feb. 21

BCR area girls basketball regional update on Feb. 20

The Princeton Tigresses had mixed emotions following Thursday’s 40-27 loss to top-seeded Rock Island in the championship game of the Class 2A Princeton Regional at Prouty Gym. They had lost by 31 points to the Pioneers in the title game a year ago and by 25 points last month.

A look at area boys basketball standings on Feb. 20

The stage is set for a regional rematch for the championship of the Class 2A Princeton Regional at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Tigresses (20-9) beat Sandwich 50-35 in Tuesday’s semifinals while top-seeded Alleman (23-9) dispatched Bureau Valley 54-26 in the opener.

From the shores of Lake DePue to the ball fields of Spring Valley and gyms of Ottawa and many towns and schools all around, Charlie Ellerbrock wrote your stories that have stood the test of time in grandma’s scrapbooks. No one told stories like Charlie.

Jackson Mason had 12 points and Noah LaPorte added 11 to lead the Tigers to a Three Rivers East victory in Erie on Tuesday. The Hall and LaMoille boys were also in action.

Jesse scored seven points in the fourth quarter to give the Tigresses just the spark they needed in a 50-35 Class 2A regional semifinal win over Sandwich Tuesday at Prouty Gym. They will Alleman, which beat Bureau Valley 54-26, for the regional championship on Thursday.

Bureau Valley and Princeton will be playing in opposite semifinal contests in the Class 2A Princeton Regional. The Storm will face top-seeded Rock Island Alleman at 6 p.m. followed by the Tigresses vs. Sandwich at 7:30 p.m. Host St. Bede will meet Marquette at 7:30 p.m. in 1A.

Making a return trip to State are juniors Augustus Swanson (120) and Casey Etheridge (165) and seniors Ace Christiansen (144) and Cade Odell (285). They will be joined by freshman Kane Dauber (132).

Princeton senior Noah LaPorte became the school’s all-time scoring leader, boys or girls, when he eclipsed the 1,506 points scored by Tiah Romagnoli from 1996-99, now with 1,510 points. Here are the top 25 all-time scoring leaders for Princeton.

John Smith touched many lives in his life’s work as teacher, coach, mentor, bus driver, detasseling crew leader, landlord and friend.

Junior Augustus Swanson (120), sophomore Kane Dauber (132) and senior Ace Christiansen (144) each placed third while junior Casey Etheridge (167) and Cade Odell (285) placed fourth. The Princeton boys beat Winnebago while Bureau Valley fell in the LTC tournament.

Bureau Valley finished with six 3-pointers on the way to a 54-42 win over Somonauk-Leland to advance to Tuesday’s semifinals of the Class 2A Princeton Regional at 6 p.m. against top-seeded Rock Island Alleman.

Dave Nanninga attended the BCR’s Tribute to Sports program in June of 2004 to see the Mineral Leopards district champion basketball teams enshrined in the Bureau County Sports Hall of Fame. That sparked him to launch the Glory Days website to honor closed schools like Mineral.

The IHSA has announced the seeds for the upcoming boys subsectionals. Here’s a look at the Bureau County area seeds. Regional pairings will be released at 4 p.m. Friday.

Here's a look at Bureau County girls statistical leaders for Bureau Valley, Hall, Princeton and St. Bede on Feb. 13

A preview of BCR area girls basketball regionals, including the Class 1A St. Bede, 2A Princeton and 2A Erie-Prophetstown regionals.

Area girls teams ranked were No. 5 Sterling (25-5) and No. 7 Dixon (25-5) in 3A, No. 4 Byron (28-2) in 2A and No. 8 Wethersfield i24-4) in 1A and the Sherrard boys in 2A.

A look at Bureau County area cancellations and postponements for Feb. 12

The Lincoln Trail Conference girls basketball tournament finals have been postponed from Wednesday to Thursday due to the forecast for a winter storm. United and Knoxville are scheduled to play for third place at 6 p.m. followed by Abingdon-Avon vs. Wethersfield for the title.

Here’s a look at the final 2024-25 Three Rivers East girls basketball standings with Princeton and Kewanee finishing as co-champions

The Princeton girls basketball team clinched a share of the TRAC East championship with a win over host Erie-Prophetstown, finishing 8-2 along with Kewanee. In other area hoops action, the BV girls and LaMoiile boys won while the Hall girls lost.

Princeton senior Noah LaPorte set the Tigers' all-time scoring record with the game-winning basket in Saturday’s 53-51 win over Byron. He broke the record of 1,468 set by former teammate Grady Thompson in 2022-23. Here’s a look at the Tigers' 1,000-point scorers

Princeton senior all-stater Noah LaPorte scored the game-winning shot with 2.5 seconds left to lift the Tigers to a win over Byron and break the school's all-time scoring record.

Simon, 23, found he could come home again, suiting up for the inaugural BV-Princeton booster clubs' alumni game last December, getting the old band together again with teammates Kale Barnett, Tyler Gustafson, Noah Johnson and Corbin Endress.

Bureau Valley met Annawan in a showdown of undefeated leaders in the Lincoln Trail and sent the Braves packing with a resounding 54-36 defeat at the Storm Cellar.

Princeton held Hall to four points in the third quarter, just nine in the second half, to score a 34-30 win over the rival Red Devils.

A look at the 25 all-time top scoring girls leaders for Bureau County schools past and present as researched by BCR Sports Editor Kevin Hieronymus.

Princeton is fresh off winning the Three Rivers Conference championship on Friday, it’s first conference title in 14 years. They have 5 wrestles ranked in the top 10 in Class 1A

A look at today’s Bureau County area postponements and cancellations for Wednesday, Feb. 5

A look at the 25 all-time top scoring leaders for Illinois Valley schools past and present, including all schools in the BCR coverage area, as researched by BCR Sports Editor Kevin Hieronymus:

Princeton got two clutch free throws from junior point guard Camryn Driscoll with 12 seconds to take a 1-point lead and made a defensive stop at the end to hold on for a 56-53 win over Seneca in a nonconference matchup of two of the best teams on the I-80 corridor.

The Hall girls got an early look at the shot clock, which is coming to Illinois, at Monday’s game at IVC in Chillicothe, LaMoille senior Tyler Billhorn averaged a double-double last week, and more in this week's BCR basketball notes.

Arthur Burden, a Three Rivers Mississippi All-Conference first-team linebacker, played a key role in helping the Tigers make the last three Class 3A quarterfinals. He led the Tigers' defense with 98 tackles.

Princeton girls beat Sherrard, PHS wrestler Izzy Gibson advances to sectional, LaMoille wins LTC tournament opener. This and more in Saturday's roundup

Bureau Valley hit three straight 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter, turning a six-point deficit into a three-point lead, and added another on the way to a 43-41 upset win over St. Bede on Saturday.

Noah LaPorte (22) and Jordan Reinhardt (20) combined for 42 points, making 16 of 28 free throws for Princeton. That and more in Friday's BCR roundup.

The Princeton wrestling team claimed its first conference title since 2011, in an abbreviated NCIC conference, and the first in the Three Rivers. PHS also won the NCIC championship in 2007, its only other conference title.

Princeton junior wrestler Casey Etheridge joined the Tigers’ coveted 100-win club on Thursday. With a pair of wins at home over L-P and IVC, he now has 101 career wins.

No. 1 Seneca and No. 6 Marquette will meet for the TCC champion at Putnam County High School at 8 p.m. tonight

Bureau County area scores for Jan. 30

A look at the 25 all-time top scoring leaders for Bureau County schools past and present as researched by BCR Sports Editor Kevin Hieronymus.

A look at the 25 all-time top scoring girls leaders for Bureau County schools past and present as researched by BCR Sports Editor Kevin Hieronymus.

Noah LaPorte and the Princeton Tigers couldn’t wait to get right back to work after falling to Dixon on Monday night. Twenty four hours later, the Tigers got their wish, playing more inspired basketball, defeating a 16-6 Riverdale team 67-60.

St. Bede has vacancies to fill for both its head football and volleyball coaches.

Darius Harrington had 11 points in the second quarter and followed up with 14 more in the third quarter, finishing with a game-high 36 points, to power the Dukes to a 61-50 win over their former NCIC rivals.

The best thing about Monday’s 61-50 loss to Dixon for the Princeton Tigers is that they won’t have long to dwell over it. The Tigers will to have to answer the bell less than 24 hours later to take on Riverdale back at Prouty Gym on Tuesday night.