Girls High School Basketball
Ottawa finished strong at home to defeat Kaneland 32-26. For the Lady Pirates Marlie Orlandi led the way with 13 points and Cheyenne Joachim finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
The JV girls were winners over Kaneland 29-15 at Kingman Gym.
Marquette suffered a tough loss on the road to Lowpoint-Washburn 39-36 in a Tri County Conference matchup. Josie Eager finished with 17 points, and Lilly Craig added 11 points and six rebounds for the Lady Crusaders.
The JV squad won 30-19 with Makayla Backos leading the way with 13 points for Marquette.
Serena were winners over AFC 65-36. Katie Baker scored 20 points, adding five rebounds, five steals and seven assists for the Lady Huskers.
Newark won on the road at Rosary 53-38. For the Lady Norseman Kellie Snyder had six points, and 10 rebounds.
A couple results on Saturday in boys basketball, Serena hammered AFC 105-50 at Serena High School and Seneca fell short in overtime to Rochester 66-65.
Seneca won their 2nd consecutive championship at the Fighting Irish Invitational in wrestling. The Irish’s Robby Nelson, Owen Feiner and Chis Peura were champions in their weight classes. Kyler Hahn, Tommy Milton, Bill Farcus and Kyle Hamby had 2nd place finishes and Ryan Flynn placed 3rd on the day.
Elsewhere in sports
The Chicago Bears have fired head coach Matt Nagy after four seasons with the team following a 6-11 season. Nagy became the sixth-straight coach to leave Chicago without winning a championship.
The Bears ended their season with a loss to the Vikings in Minnesota 31-17.
The Minnesota Vikings reportedly have fired Mike Zimmer, the franchise’s third-winningest coach, after eight seasons with the team. They also reportedly have fired general manager Rick Spielman after 10 years at his post
Las Vegas defeated the Chargers 35-32 in an overtime Sunday Night thriller. Daniel Carlson nailed a 47-yard field goal as OT expired to send the Raiders to the playoffs. The Chargers finished the season 9-and-8 and were eliminated.
Tonight Alabama battles Georgia in the College Football National Championship in Indianapolis. The top-ranked Crimson Tide go for the title repeat by taking on the third-ranked Bulldogs. Alabama has won six of the last 12 national Championships.
Illinois has hired Barry Lunney Jr. to be the football team’s new offensive coordinator/ quarterbacks coach a day after firing Tony Petersen, who lasted one season with the Fighting Illini. Lunney comes from UTSA where he had a similar position and he has previously worked under Head coach Bret Bielema at Arkansas, coaching the tight ends for five seasons.
The Chicago Bulls nine-game winning streak is history. The Bulls were outscored 113-99 by the Mavericks in Dallas. The Bulls still lead the East at 26-and-11 and return home to host the Pistons tomorrow.
Junior High Basketball
The 7th grade Shepherd team defeated Spring Valley 55-8 in the first round of the Starved Rock Conference Tournament for Boys basketball. Leading the way for the Rams: George Shumway had 10 points and Griffin Dobberstein finished with 8 points. Shepherd will play Bureau Valley in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Also at the tournament Shepherd’s 8th graders received a forfeit from Peru Parkside and will face Lincoln LaSalle in the semifinals also on Tuesday.