Schaumburg scores 30 in Watseka comeback, Toyota of Danville Classic recap and more


St. Joseph-Ogden built a 31-point halftime lead and defeated ALAH 66-30 in its season opener.


Oakley leads Trojans in five point win over Cissna Park

ST. JOSEPH - Tyler Oakley scored 18 points in Charleston’s 56-51 win over Cissna Park in Day 2 action at the Toyota of Danville Classic at St. Joseph-Ogden High School on Wednesday. Teammates Braxton Hanner and Quinn Taylor added nine points each. Russell Applegate contributed six more to give the Trojans their first win of the season and a 1-1 tournament record.

After pouring in a game-high 28 points against Paxton-Buckley-Loda on Tuesday, Cissna Park’s Dierks Neukomm led all scorers again with 25 points. Teammate Seth Walder finished with 21 in a strong display of high school shot-making. Despite another standout effort, the Timberwolves fell to 0-2 in the tournament and 0-3 overall.

Cissna Park returns to action Friday at 5 p.m. against Bishop McNamara (5-0). Charleston moves on to face Paxton-Buckley-Loda in its next pool game tonight at 8 p.m.


Bishop McNamara stays undefeated declawing Panthers

B-Mac’s Richie Darr scored 12 points in the first half and finished with 14 to help keep the Fightin’ Irish unbeaten at 5-0. Holding Paxton-Buckley-Loda to just 12 first-half points — the same number the Panthers scored in the first quarter — Bishop McNamara cruised to a 51-38 win.

Ethan Williams led PBL with 16 points, including 14 in an outstanding second-half effort. Tyler Cole, who had 18 points in the tournament opener against Cissna Park, added eight points and went 2-for-3 from the free-throw line.

Darr’s performance was supported by nine points from Karter Krutsinger and eight from Callaghan O’Connor, tallied over the first three quarters. Bishop McNamara is off Thursday before a long bus ride from Kankakee on Friday to face Cissna Park at 5 p.m.

PBL (1-2) faces Charleston (0-3) tonight at 8 p.m.


Schaumburg goes supernova in fourth quarter

Payton Schaumburg scored 14 points in the fourth quarter of Watseka’s pool game against Oakwood in an unbelievable comeback performance. Down by 11 at the end of the third quarter, Schaumburg single-handedly erased the deficit — and then some — to give the Warriors their first win of the season. Tyler Waugh carried the game the first three quarter with 17 points, while Jack Hutchinson added six points on two first-half 3-pointers, and Austin Morris completed Watseka’s scoring with a third-quarter field goal.

Schaumburg finished with a game-high 30 points, the top performance of the tournament so far.

Oakwood, an impressive 18-for-21 from the free-throw line, trailed by six after the first quarter and fought back to lead by five at halftime. The Comets held the advantage until the fourth quarter, when Schaumburg took over.

Alex Wallace and Carsen Dudley scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, for Oakwood. Collin Furry added nine, and Jaethan Perez contributed eight, five of which came at the line. Wallace made seven of his eight free throws, while Dudley posted a perfect 5-for-5 night for the Comets.

Oakwood returns to the floor at St. Joseph-Ogden to face Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond at 5 p.m. Watseka plays host St. Joseph-Ogden at 6:30.





TAGS: St. Joseph-Ogden's Toyota of Danville Classic, Central Illinois basketball tournament, Kankakee Bishop McNamara, Watseka Warriors amazing comeback win, Toyota of Danville Classic basketball scores

Prep Sports Notebook |
Area basketball scores for December 2


Here are scores and recaps for Wednesday's basketball games in and around Champaign County.


Boys Basketball

Charleston pics up first win at Toyota of Danville Classic


ST. JOSEPH - Tyler Oakley went 2-for-2 from the free throw line on his way to an 18-point night at the St. Joe tournament on Wednesday. Braxton Honner and Quinn Taylor scored nine points each in the team's first win of the season.

Despite a top-tier effort from Dierks Neukomm with 25 points and Seth Walder's 21, the Timberwolves fall to 0-3 on the season and still looking for a tournament win this week.


Fourth-quarter romp fuels Watseka comeback


ST. JOSEPH - Payton Schaumburg dropped 30 points in Watseka's Toyota of Danville Classic game against Oakwood. Tyler Waugh added 17 in the tournament win for the Warriors to post a 55-54 victory in Wednesday evening's game.

Oakwood led most of the game behind double digit performances from Alex Wallace with 14 points and Carsen Dudley's 12.

Read more ...


B-Mac rolls past PBL Panthers


ST. JOSEPH - Richie Darr talled 14 points in Bishop McNamara's 51-38 win over Paxton-Buckley-Loda. Balanced scoring from seven other players sealed the Fightin' Irish's fifth win of the season.

Ethan Williams paced the Panthers with 16 points. Tyler Cole was kept quiet, scoring just eight points, and Carson Goss chipped in six points in the loss.


Boys' Area Scoreboard


Toyota of Danville Classic

Watseka 55, Oakwood 54

Other area game results

Springfield HS 53, Central 42


Girls Basketball

Comet girls fall to Illineks


Oakwood - A weak second quarter allowed U-High to take a five-point lead at the half in their road game at Oakwood on the way to a 37-36 win on Wednesday.

Caydence Vermillion finished the game for the Comets with 11 points and 13 boards. Gracie Hanner turned nine points and four rebounds in the non-conference loss.

Josie Roseman leads Eagles in loss


Watseka - Rantoul's Josie Roseman scored 15 points and made 8 out of her 10 free throws in the Eagles road game against the Warriors. Junior Addyson Sherrick hit three treys for nine points and senior Joselyn Espinoza had two of her own on the way to an 8-point finish.


Girls' Area Scoreboard


Urbana University 37, Oakwood 36
Watseka 72, Rantoul 50
Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin 36, Paxton-Buckley-Loda 31
Glenwood 65, Centennial 29
Clinton 64, Unity 24




TAGS: Central Illinois basketball scores, Watseka boys basketball team wins, Toyota of Danville Classic scores

Day 1 in the books, here's a look at the Toyota of Danville Classic winners


St. Joseph-Ogden built a 31-point halftime lead and defeated ALAH 66-30 in its season opener.


Bishop McNamara 60, Charleston 37

ST. JOSEPH - Bishop McNamara made a strong opening statement at St. Joseph-Ogden's annual Toyota of Danville Classic on Tuesday, defeating the Charleston Trojans 60-37.

Bishop McNamara jumped out to an early lead behind 11 first-half points from senior Karter Krutsinger, who finished with a game-high 15. Krutsinger was supported by teammates Coen Demack (11 points) and Callaghan O’Connor (10 points). The team was efficient from the free-throw line, making seven of eight attempts. The win improved the Fightin’ Irish’s record to 4-0.

Meanwhile, Charleston (0-3) struggled to keep pace, heading into halftime facing a 30-12 deficit. The Trojans hit seven three-pointers in the game but could not generate consistent offense. Tyler Oakley led Charleston with nine points, while Rohen Walters added seven. Eight other Trojans scored in the contest.

The Fightin’ Irish are scheduled to face Paxton-Buckley-Loda in the next round of the post-holiday tournament. Charleston will next face Cissna Park as it searches for its first win of the season.


Paxton-Buckley-Loda 58, Cissna Park 47

A quiet third quarter for Ethan Williams set the stage for a roaring fourth. From that silence erupted a 12-point performance that propelled Paxton-Buckley-Loda to a 58-47 comeback victory over Cissna Park on Tuesday.

The Panthers found themselves staring at a 27-18 halftime deficit. But the game shifted, possession by possession, until the teams stood knotted at 34-all heading into the final quarter. That's when Williams, who finished with a team-high 20 points, took over. His late surge, combined with 18 points from teammate Tyler Cole, secured the win and kept PBL (1-1) in title contention.

Yet, for all of Williams' and Cole's combined effort, neither could outduel the singular performance of Cissna Park's Dierks Neukomm. Neukomm poured in a game-high 28 points, including 11 in the frantic fourth quarter. Other than two free throws from Seth Walder, it was all Neukomm. But in the end, even that remarkable individual effort wasn't enough to hold off the Panthers' collective rally.


St. Joseph-Ogden 66,
Atwood-Hammond-Arthur-Lovington 30

For the ALAH Knights, the trouble began in the first quarter. By halftime, it was a distant memory of a contest.

Nolan Franzen made his varsity debut one to remember, scoring all 21 of his points in the first half to power the St. Joseph-Ogden Spartans to a commanding 66-30 victory over ALAH in the season opener for both teams at the Toyota of Danville Classic on Tuesday. The Spartans built a 31-point lead by intermission, a cushion so substantial that a five-point fourth quarter was merely a footnote in the cruise-control win.

Franzen’s explosive opening act was the catalyst. He was joined by teammates Parker Fitch and Lane McKinney, who notched their first double-digit scoring games of the season with 11 and 10 points, respectively, as the Spartans’ offense fired on all cylinders early.

For the Knights, Easton Frederick paced the effort with eight points, but the team fell to 0-2 with the loss.

Both teams return to action Thursday in the tournament. ALAH will look to rebound against Oakwood in a 5 p.m. tip-off, while the Spartans aim to carry their momentum forward against the Watseka Warriors at 6:30 p.m.



Prep Hoops |
Wednesday Basketball Scores


Boys' Basketball

Charleston 55 - Watseka 30
Charleston's Tyler Oakley needed just three quarters of play to score 18 points during the team's second pool game at the annual Toyota of Danville Classic at St. Joseph-Odgen High School. Luke Bonsetter drained three treys to finish with 16 points.

Payton Schaumburg and Quinn Starkey paced the Warriors with six points each. Watseka is back on the hardwood Friday night at 6:30 against Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond (ALAH).

The Trojans will play in the following game looking to beat the host St. Joseph-Ogden, also 2-0 in tournament play, to punch their ticket into the title game on Saturday.


Bishop McNamara 65 - Paxton-Buckley-Loda 42
The Fightin' Irish continued to dominate the competition at the Toyota of Danville Classic. Cole Czako scored 17 points and Wille Felton added another 10 points in the win over the PBL. A win Friday night over Cissna Park will put Bishop McNamara in their first-ever tournament championship appearance.

The Panthers, who will play in Saturday's third-place game, had a solid first-half performances from Robert Boyd-Meents and Tyler Cole with 11 points each. Carson Goss and Ethan Williams bolstered the scoring effort, combining for 16 points, each each.


Cissna Park 69 - Oakwood 68
The Timberwolves rallied back from a 56-49 third-quarter deficit to beat the Comets by one at the Toyota of Danville Classic. Dierks Neukomm went for 5-for-6 from the free throw line on his way to a tournement-high 30 points. Teammate Seth Walder nearly duplicated the feat, finishing with 29 points.

Carson Dudley led the Comets with four quarters of scoring, finishing with 23 points. Jackson Dudley came up with key shots all in all four periods to contribute 15 points in the loss. Brandt Hobick also finished in double figures with 13 points.

Neukomm, Walder and Cissna Park play again on Saturday in the 5th place game against the winner of Friday night's showdown between ALAH and Watseka. Oakwood gets a day of rest to prepare for Saturday's 7th place contest against the loser between the Warriors and the Knights, starting at 1 PM.


Springfield 64 - Central 50
Sophomore Daniel Sago and Senior Chris Bush scored 12 points each in the Maroons' loss at Combes Gym. Central (4-2).

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