The No. 3-seeded Putnam County boys’ basketball team led Wilmington 31-20 at halftime in their Marquette Christmas Tournament opener on Monday, but the Wildcats beat the Panthers 35-13 in the second half to pull off an upset 55 -44 at Bader Gymnasium.
Jackson McDonald had 17 points for PC (11-4) and Wyatt Grimshaw added 10.
Wilmington’s Ryan Meents led all scorers with 24 points.
Seneca 80, Indian Creek 31: At the Marquette Christmas Tournament, the top-seeded Fighting Irish, behind 33 points from Paxton Giertz, 23 more from Braden Ellis and eight from Calvin Maierhofer, triumphed over the Timberwolves.
The Fighting Irish (11-0) led 21-9 after the first quarter, 49-16 at halftime and 76-23 going into the fourth quarter against the Timberwolves (3-10).
Indian Creek was beaten by eight points from Jeffery Probst, six from Landon Schrader and five from Logan Schrader.
Seneca will now play at the Hall at 5 p.m. Tuesday, while Indian Creek will face St. Bede at 10:30 a.m. in the consolation bracket.
Serena 61 ans, Dwight 54 : At the Marquette Christmas Tournament, the No. 5-seeded Huskers trailed the Trojans 13-12 after the first quarter, but held a 29-21 halftime advantage and a 43- 30 after three before holding off a late Dwight charge.
Carson Baker led a balanced offense from Serena (11-1) with 14 points, followed by 13 from Tanner Faivre, 12 from Cam Figgins and 10 from Braxton Hart.
Dwight’s Wyatt Thompson scored a record 23 for Dwight (3-9), while Conner Telford added 16 and Dawson Carr nine.
Serena will now play against Lexington at 3:30 p.m., while Dwight will face Somonauk in the consolation bracket at 9:00 a.m.
Lexington 66, Somonauk 40 : At the Marquette Christmas Tournament, the Bobcats trailed the No. 4-seeded Minutemen 20-10 after the first quarter, 38-18 at intermission and 58-28 before the fourth.
Coleton Eade had 13 points for Somonauk (4-8), Brock Sexton adding nine and Carson Bahrey adding five.
Griffen Hari led all scorers with 24 points for Lexington (12-1), while Alec Thomas added 16.
Reed-Custer 63, Flanagan-Cornell 38 : At the Marquette Christmas Tournament, the Falcons led 12-11 after the first quarter and the teams were tied 25-25 at halftime before the No. 6-seeded Comets used a 38- 13 in the second half to claim the triumph.
Connor Reed led FC (5-6) with 13 points, Kesler Collins adding 10 and Seth Jones nine. Reed-Custer (8-1) received 14 points from Jake McPherson, 13 from Wes Shats and 12 from Jace Christian.
FC will now face Putnam County in the consolation bracket on Tuesday at 12 p.m., while Reed-Custer takes on Wilmington at 6:30 p.m.
Earlville 70, Gardner-South Wilmington 48 : At the Marquette Christmas Tournament, the Red Raiders qualified with victory over the No. 8 seeded Panthers.
Earlville’s Ryan Browder had 24 points, nine rebounds and three assists, while Adam Waite had 17 points, 11 rebounds. Griffin Cook had 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals for the Red Raiders (7-4), Garret Cook had 11 points, seven assists and five steals, and Diego Vazquez five assists.
Cale Halpin had 15 points for GSW (7-7) and Bennett Grant added 11.
Earlville will now face Marquette Academy at 8 p.m. Tuesday, while GSW will face Woodland in the consolation bracket at 1:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Earlville 78, LaMoille 17 : At the Earlville Christmas Tournament, the Red Raiders – led by 35 points, 12 assists and eight steals by Madyson Olson – opened their own tournament with a solid victory over the Lions.
Nevaeh Sansone had 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Earlville (6-8), while Lexie Campbell had seven points, six rebounds and four assists.