MACHESNEY PARK — The girls Rising Stars game turned into a free-throw shooting contest Saturday, which worked to the advantage of the area girls. “I was kind of surprised that every time we went down the floor, someone was shooting free throws,” River Ridge/Scales Mound senior Brooke Wheelwright said. “We were joking at halftime that the last four minutes of that half took about 15 minutes." The area girls went 33-for-47 at the line to beat the NIC-10 girls 85-71. Wheelwright, who had a team-high 17 points, was named MVP.
The old format wasn’t working for the small-school boys. But throw in a couple of standouts from DeKalb and Rochelle, and the Rising Stars Classic promises to be more competitive this year.
Eastland has shooting star Tony Dunlap Jr. Catlin Salt Fork counters with Josh Chandler, a specialist who shoots down shooting stars. Joel Learnard, a 6-foot-5 forward, leads No. 1-ranked Salt Fork in scoring, but Chandler looms as their key player in today’s 12:15 p.m. Class 1A state semifinal against Eastland at Peoria. That’s because Chandler will be asked to stop Dunlap, who scored 36 points in Eastland’s supersectional victory, including a Convocation Center-record nine 3-pointers.
ROCKFORD — Stepping to the free-throw line when your team has the lead in the fourth quarter is a situation most teams would love.
DEKALB — Marcus Posley missed an easy break-away layup with 7:30 left in regulation. Michael Mann committed a turnover when he dribbled the ball of his foot and it rolled out of bounds with 1:56 remaining. Then with 2.9 seconds left and the game tied, A.J. Thomas had another turnover when he threw his inbound pass so high it hit the scoreboard in the center of the court. “It didn’t end up the way we wanted,” Winnebago senior center Chas Cross said. “The ball just didn’t bounce our way I guess.”
DEKALB — Tony Dunlap had been on this stage before. And the Eastland senior played like it. Dunlap poured in 36 points to lead Eastland to a 70-57 supersectional win against Newark Tuesday in the Class 1A showdown at NIU’s Convocation Center. Dunlap, the only remaining starter from Eastland’s first sectional championship team in 2007-2008, Dunlap had a Convocation Center record nine 3-pointers and shot 61 percent from the field and 69 percent from 3-point range.
