Roundup: Belvidere North cheerleading captures state title

A year after being the state runner-up, Belvidere North’s coed cheerleading team is the state champion.

The Blue Thunder’s score of 93.29 today earned them the title at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington. They topped second-place Hoffman Estates Conant by 3.66 points in the coed division — the largest margin of victory out of the four divisions, which include large, medium and small teams.

Rockford Lutheran placed fourth in the small-team division after recording a score of 81.15. Byron was ninth with 74.27. Breese Central took first with 86.31.

Basketball

Girls

Le-Win tournament

Galena 47, Stillman Valley 46: NUIC West champ Galena closed out a tremendous regular season in impressive fashion, beating Class 3A Stillman Valley for the tourney title. Tournament MVP Katie Furlong scored a game-high 19 points, including seven in the final quarter to help lift the Pirates over the Cardinals. Sydney Schuler added 11 for Galena, which heads into the postseason with a record of 25-1. Macy Weaver scored 18, while Grace Timm had 16 and Alexa Ballard added 10 for Stillman.

Le-Win 54, Erie 49: Bri Haight hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 25 points, 22 of which came in the first half as the Panthers held off Erie.

Dakota 56, Le-Win 52: The Indians blew an early 13-point lead and trailed by eight with three minutes left in the game before rallying for a win. Ellie Packer scored 13 points, while Ashley Porter added 11 and Laura Rankin 10 for Dakota. Bailey Baldauf led all scorers with 18 for the Panthers.

Stillman Valley 51, Dakota 35: Grace Timm (18) and Macy Weaver (15) combined for 33 of the Cardinals’ points as they beat the Indians.

Galena 46, Aquin 26: Katie Furlong scored a game-high 16 points for the Pirates, who pulled away with a 15-4 third quarter. Maggie Bald had 11 points to lead the Bulldogs.

Boys

Eastland 56, West Carroll 44: The Cougars pulled away with a 17-9 fourth quarter. Ethan Christians scored 25 points and Brighton Haverland added 19 for Eastland. Jacob Dunk’s 16 led the Thunder.

Forreston 74, Amboy 66: Brandon Schneiderman scored a game-high 26 points as the Cardinals held off the Clippers. Michael Singley had 15 points Brayden Fyock added 10 points.

Polo 83, A-FC 65: Led by Justin Young’s game-high 30 points and Reid Taylor’s 25, the Marcos blew past the Raiders. Adam Hart’s 15 points was tops for A-FC.

Warren 61, Galena 53: Andrew Kaiser led all scorers with 24 points, while Payton Calow added 13 and Brian Holland had 10 to lift the Warriors to the win. Cameron Spillane scored 20 points and Hunter Holland had 16 for the Pirates.

Pearl City 52, Le-Win 46: Brock Smargiassi scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter when the Wolves outscored the Panthers 16-9 to pull out the victory. Parker Magee led Le-Win with 15.

Christian Life 65, Pecatonica 64: Dominic Ferrell and Treye Tucker scored 22 points apiece and the Eagles held on despite 30 fourth-quarter points for the Indians. Cole Heim had 22 to lead Pec.

Dixon 48, Stillman Valley 38: The Dukes outscored the Cardinals 18-10 in the second quarter to build a 10-point halftime lead and Stillman couldn’t bounce back. Parker Abbott led the Cardinals with 18 points, while Matthew Mandzen had 15.

Mendota 81, Oregon 61: The Hawks scored 21 first quarter points to jump ahead by nine, but were outscored by 29 the rest of the way. Jared Pottorff had 19 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead Oregon. Cody Ebens had 12 points and Dalton Hermes added 11 for the Hawks.

College Men

NIU 81, Eastern Michigan 69: Aaric Armstead scored 21 points as Northern Illinois defeated Eastern Michigan to gain a half-step in the Mid-American Conference West Division race. Marin Maric and Levi Bradley each chipped in 14 points for NIU (14-9, 6-4), which entered the game in a divisional tie with Eastern.

Rockford 99, Edgewood 86: Zach Wallace scored 22 points and pulled down eight boards to help lift the Regents (8-14) to the win.  Ben Weber added 18 points and Trae Blumhorst had 16, while Tony Diemer recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds for Rockford.

Rock Valley 109, Wilbur Wright 58: The Golden Eagles led by 32 at halftime in a blowout victory. Seven of the nine players who scored for RVC (19-7) reached double figures, including Alec Pena who had a team-high 22 points. Andrew Squires scored 17, while Equavion Monroe and DeMari Davis each had 12. Jace Kitchen and Dalton Menke had 11 apiece and Malique Ross added 10.

College Women

NIU 67, Western Michigan 62: The Huskies (16-5, 9-1) outscored Western Michigan 24-12 in the fourth quarter to pull out a comeback victory. Cassidy Glenn, Ally Lehman and Courtney Woods combined for 55 of NIU’s points. Woods led with 20. Glenn added 18, 10 of which came in the fourth, while Lehman had 17 points and 14 rebounds.

Rockford 72, Edgewood 54: The Regents (7-14) outscored Edgewood 46-23 in the second half. Nicole Silvers had 18 points, draining four 3-pointers and adding seven assists and six rebounds for Rockford. Taylor May scored a game-high 21 points and Lexie Collins added 11 points for the Regents.

Rock Valley 88, Wilbur Wright 15: Ten players scored for the Golden Eagles (22-3), who easily picked up their 12th consecutive victory. Tierra McGowan posted a double-double with 18 points and 20 rebounds, while Chrisseesha Clark added 14. Emily Cox scored 12 and Jaycee Cleaver added 11.