Over the weekend in high school basketball
Ottawa fell short at Kingman Gym in a 4th quarter rally to Dundee-Crown and lost 47-41. The Pirates’ Payton Knoll had a team-high 10 points and Anthony Miller and Braiden Miller each finished with 8 points apiece.
The JV team defeated DC 45-25 with Huston Hart scoring 13 points for Ottawa.
Serena won at home over Hall 74-73. Camden Figgins led the Huskers with 19 points.
Newark lost at Plano 55-49. Zach Carlson scored 17 points for the Norseman in the loss.
Tonight the Marquette Lady Crusaders will host Dwight in girls basketball at Bader Gym for the start of the Tri-County Conference Tournament.
At the Minooka Regional in Bowling, the Ottawa Pirates placed ninth as a team and will send Colin Sheridan who scored a six game series of 1,174 to this weeknd sectional round.
The LP team placed fifth and will send Peyton Baker, Ethan Picco and Chance Hank also to the Sectionals.
Elsewhere in sports
Results from the Wild Card round in the NFL. The defending champion Bucs blasted the Eagles 31-15 on Sunday to advance. The Niners upset the third-seeded Cowboys 23-17, while the Chiefs cruised past the Steelers 42-21. Cincinnati and Buffalo both advanced with wins on Saturday. The Wild Card round wraps up with the Cardinals facing the Rams in the first-ever Monday night playoff game. The winner visits The Buccaneers in the divisional round. In other divisional round action next weekend, the 49ers visit the Packers, the Chiefs host the Bills, and the Bengals travel to Tennessee to face the Titans.
The Chicago Bulls are in Memphis to battle the Grizzlies this afternoon. The Bulls are dealing with their first three-game losing streak of the season after falling to the Celtics in Boston on Saturday. The Bulls still lead the Eastern Conference at 27-and-14, but now sit just a half-game ahead of Brooklyn.
The Blackhawks are in Seattle to clash with the Krakens tonight. The Hawks sit at 15-18-and-5 on the season.
The 24th-ranked Fighting Illini are back on the hardwood this afternoon hosting the fifth-ranked Purdue Boilermakers in Champaign. Illinois has won six straight after Friday’s home victory over Michigan. The Illini sit at 13-and-3 on the season including 6-and-0 in Big Ten play.
Also today, Notre Dame is on the road to face Howard this afternoon.
MLB’s international signing period is underway. The White Sox reportedly reached deals with outfielders Oscar Colas and Erick Hernandez over the weekend. Colas is ranked as the number-five international prospect according to MLB Pipeline. The Cubs landed several players including two of MLB.com’s top-50.
Over in the PGA, Hideki Matsuyama is celebrating another tournament victory after winning the Sony Open in Hawaii. Matsuyama joins Isao Aoki as the only two Japanese players to claim the title.
In Junior High Basketball
Shepherd’s 7th graders defeated Streator Northlawn 35-14 to win the Starved Rock Conference Championship. Leading the way for the Rams: Griffin Dobberstein with 10 points and Landon Mangold with 8 points.
The 8th grade team took 4th place with the loss to Bureau Valley 31-18 in the 3rd place contest. Archer Cechowicz scored 5 points for Shepherd.