GRANVILLE — Wyatt Thompson came up huge and Dwight played one of its better games of the season in posting a victory over Henry-Senachwine in consolation play of the Tri-County Conference tournament Thursday at Putnam County.
Woodland had a tough middle two quarters in coming up short in its contest with Roanoke-Benson.
Dwight 66, Henry-Senachwine 50
Thompson finished with 33 points as the Trojans took care of business against the Mallards. The bulk of Thompson's points came in a high-scoring third period, where the two teams combine for 51 points. Thompson scored 18 points in the frame.
With the exception of the third period, where Henry scored 27 points, Dwight's defense was rather stingy. The Trojans had four 3-pointers in the opening quarter while taking an 18-5 lead. The DTHS defense allowed just seven points in the second frame as the lead grew to 31-12.
The Mallards outscored Dwight 27-24 in the third, but the Trojans' were up 55-39 and matched Henry's effort in the last stanza for the win.
“We played some of our best defense of the year,” said DTHS head coach Jeremy Connor. “We played really well a a team tonight.”
Jeremy Kapper added 14 points for Dwight (10-10) while Gavin Eykes added 7 points and Landon Brown had 6. Dawson Carr added 4 points and Connor Telford scored 2 points.
Roanoke-Benson 52, Woodland 32
Roanoke-Benson got hot in the middle two periods to race past Woodland 52-32 in a Tri-County Conference tournament battle.
The Warriors held a 9-5 lead after one period but the Rockets shot past WHS by scoring 34 points in the second and third frames to take command of the contest. Woodland scored 18 points in those quarter but trailed 39-27 heading into the last period.
Chris Stasko had 9 points to lead Woodland (5-16). Glen Ruff and Connor Dodge each had 6 points with Phoenix Cooper checking in with 4 points and 6 rebounds.
Girls
Olympia 61, Pontiac 48
Taylor Nowaskie was on fire as she drilled home six field goals in the first period alone to give Olympia an advantage it did not relinquish as the Spartans handled Pontiac 61-48 in an Illini Prairie Conference girls' basketball game Thursday at PTHS.
Casey Wissmiller was the partner to Nowaskie as the two combined for 45 points on the night.
Nowaskie outscored the Indians in the first frame as the Spartans took a 20-11 advantage. Olympia scored 20 more points in the second period with Nowaskie hitting for eight as the lead grew to 40-25.
The Indians were unable to really rally over the final two periods despite keeping Olympia's two top scorers in check. Nowaskie and Wissmiller combined for 13 points over the final two periods. Pontiac outscored Oly 23-21 in the second half.
Bailey Masching was the top scorer for the Indians with 19 points while Mikayla Fosher added 12 and Mackenzie Coates chipped in 8 points. Brynn Pickett scored 4 points, Makyah Hartfield added 3 and Mariah Fletcher netted 2 markers.
Nowaskie finished with 26 points and Wissmiller had 19 for Olympia.
Prairie Central 55, PBL 35
PAXTON — Prairie Central improved to 19-6 with a 55-35 Illini Prairie Conference girls' basketball victory over host Paxton-Buckley-Loda Thursday.
The Hawks can hit the 20-win mark under first year head coach Gabby Weber on Saturday as they participate at the IPC-Sangamo Shootout.
PC's win over the Panthers was somewhat pedestrian as the Hawks pulled away in every quarter. Chloe Sisco hit for eight points in the first quarter as Prairie Central got out to a 15-11 lead. The advantage grew to 32-21 at the break as Sisco scored eight more points.
PBL played the Hawks a bit more even in the third period but the visitors still outscored the home team 14-12 to lead 46-33 heading into the final turn. Katy Curl scored three baskets in the last stanza as PC outscored the Panthers 9-2 for the final difference.
Sisco finished with 20 points and Curl checked in with 15 for the Hawks. Gyllian Davies hit for 12 markers while Mariya Sisco scored 6 points and had 5 steals. Lucy Whitfill chipped in 2 points and Clare Strong corraled 7 rebounds.
Tri-Point 47, Donovan 11
CULLOM — Five players scored between 5 and 13 points as Tri-Point overran Donovan 47-11 in River Valley Conference girls' basketball Thursday at The Point.
That balance was evident from the start as the Chargers placed four players in the scoring column while taking an 18-0 lead in the first quarter. The margin grew to 29-6 by halftime and was sitting at 45-8 through three.
Lainey Bertrand scored 13 points to pace Tri-Point (8-11, 7-5). Melina Schuette hit for 10 points while Kyra Cathcart chipped in 8. Millie Ruiz and Kadie Hummel netted 5 points apiece and Kasi Hughes had 4 points. Rosmond Prisock hit for 2 points.
EPG 46, LeRoy 24
HEYWORTH — El Paso-Gridley did its damage early and that destruction was done at the hands of Kaylea Randall and Michaela Kelly as the duo combined for 31 points in a 46-24 Heart of Illinois Conference girls' basketball victory over host Heyworth Thursday.
The Titans jumped out to a 16-4 lead in the first period and pushed the advantage to 23-6 midway through the second before settling for a 27-13 halftime edge over the Hornets. The lead grew to 38-20 after three periods.
Randall finished with 17 points and Kelly scored 14, including hitting four 3-pointers for El Paso-Gridley (11-12, 6-4). Jordyn Cannon scored 5 points.
Fieldcrest 47, Tremont 32
TREMONT — It took longer than usual for Fieldcrest to get rolling but the Knights eventually found that groove and cruised to a 47-32 Heart of Illinois Conference girls' basketball win over host Tremont Thursday.
The Turks actually held a 10-7 lead after one period, but the Knights got their defense working with the offense in the second and outscored Tremont by six points to take a 21-18 lead into the break. The margin grew to 31-26 after three quarters.
Fieldcrest put the game by outscoring the hosts 16-6 in the last stanza.
Carolyn Megow led a balanced Fieldcrest (25-1, 10-1) attack with 13 points. Haley Carver threw in 11 points, Kaitlin White had 10 points while Ashlyn May collected 9 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Ella Goodrich scored 4 points.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Wyatt Thompson scoring binge leads Dwight in Tri-County tourney play
