Winnebago junior Chas Cross led the list of local boys basketball players who were named to this year’s Illinois Basketball Coaches’ Association All-State Team for classes 1A and 2A.
Cross, a 6-foot-7 center who led Winnebago to a fourth-place finish in the state, was one of 15 players in the state named to the first team. Cross averaged 16.9 points, 10 rebounds and 4.5 blocks a game for the Indians (31-2).
Two area players made the fourth team — Eastland senior forward Tyler Zumdahl and Rock Falls sophomore guard Jake Junis.
Byron 55, Forreston 45: Forreston played better with Michael Schneiderman in the game.
The strange thing is, so did Byron.
“Isn’t it funny when it works out that way?” Forreston coach Jonathan Schneiderman said after his team’s 55-45 regional semifinal loss to Byron on Wednesday.
After missing most of the first half with two fouls, Michael Schneiderman returned in the second half to finish out the game. But when he returned, Byron also picked it up a notch and held the senior guard to three points. He averages 20.8 a game.
Lutheran 48, Byron 38: Lutheran held Byron to a season-low 38 points while getting 12 points from Eric Widstrom.
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Byron 85, Oregon 81: Led by Adam Head’s 25 points, Byron survived Oregon’s 33-point fourth-quarter to earn the win. Byron led 63-48 after three quarters. Drew Smith scored 20 for Oregon.
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Forreston 42, Byron 37: Holly Kortemeier and the rest of the Cardinals wouldn’t have any of Byron’s late charge.
Kortemeier scored 17 points and Stephanie Conkey had 10 to lead the Cardinals (20-9) past the Tigers (8-18) for a second time this season.
The win sets up a matchup against Stillman Valley at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
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Hampshire 45, Byron 30: Hampshire jumped to an 18-4 first-quarter lead and rolled to the win. Hampshire’s Christine Heine and Byron’s Meghan Fitts each scored 12 to lead their teams.
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Genoa-Kingston 64. Byron 61: Trevor Muench had 21 and Scott Suchy 20 to power the Cogs. Kyle Smith led Byron with 20.
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Byron 65, Stillman Valley 43: Byron’s Kyle Smith got the Tigers off to a good start with 11 first-half points, and Justin Rosecke helped finish off Stillman Valley with nine second-half points. Smith finished with a game-high 16 points and Rosecke added 13. Stillman Valley had three players with 10 points each.
WINNEBAGO — Mike Mann’s first 3-point attempt in the first quarter was an air ball. He tried another three in the second quarter, and it was a brick.
But the only shots anyone will remember about the Winnebago junior from Thursday’s game are the ones Mann took in the third quarter.
Mann drained four 3-pointers and scored all of his season-high 16 points in the third to lead Winnebago to a 63-49 win against Byron. The Indians improved to 20-0 and remained unbeaten in the Big Northern West (5-0) at the halfway point of their conference schedule.
Byron 49, Oregon 29: Byron recovered from a slow start to double up Oregon led by Emily Lehne’s 16 points.
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Byron 41, Genoa-Kingston 38: The Tigers led 37-19 heading into the third quarter before G-K outscored them 19-4 in the fourth to make it a close finish. Meghan Fitts and Mariah McMullen scored 13 and 11 points for Byron. Molly Meier’s 11 points led G-K.
Princeton’s 14-man rotation paved the way in a 68-55 nonconference boys basketball win over Byron on Monday.
“They were switching five guys out at a time,” Byron guard Kyle Smith said. “They just beat us down.”
Smith led Byron with 22 points and Adam Head added 17. Byron led 14-8 in the first quarter, but Princeton took control with a 12-0 run and wasn’t threatened.
“Every game this season, we’ve had at least 10 guys in the scoring column,” Princeton coach Jesse Brandt said. “We definitely shared the ball.”
ROCKFORD — Only one Byron player had more than one basket until the final two minutes. Only one Lutheran player finished with more than two.
“We’re teams that focus so predominantly on half-court defense, when we get together, it’s like we set basketball back 50 years,” Lutheran coach Devin Smith said.
And that’s fine with Smith. Especially when his Crusaders take an early lead. Byron never got closer than six points after the first period as Lutheran led wire-to-wire in a 45-33 boys basketball victory Saturday night that moved the Crusaders into second place in the Big Northern West.
Walther Lutheran 48, Byron 33: After trailing by three (14-11) at halftime, Byron was outscored 17-10 in the third quarter.
Meghan Fitts led the Tigers with 15 points.
ROCKFORD — Call it Costco basketball; Lutheran wins in bulk.
The Crusaders came at Byron in waves, throwing up 25 shots in the first quarter alone, in Tuesday’s 61-30 Big Northern West girls basketball victory over Byron.
Lutheran led 37-22 at halftime, with the Crusaders attempting 42 shots to Byron’s 17.
“If we have anything less than 70 shots a game, that’s a failure to us,” Lutheran coach Joni Carlson said. “We try to get as many shots up at the basket as we can. That’s one thing the girls will never get yelled at for doing is shooting the basketball.
Byron 32, Winnebago 29: BYRON — Meghan Fitts scored eight of her team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Tigers. Emily Lehne added 12 points for Byron. Emily Myers scored 13 to lead Winnebago.
Marengo 48, North Boone 33: POPLAR GROVE — Marengo outscored North Boone 13-2 in the first quarter and led 27-10 at halftime. Caitlyn Adams and Kelsey Edwards led North Boone with nine and eight points, respectively.
FORRESTON - Chas Cross stands out on the court because of his height.
But the 6-foot-7 Winnebago junior is more than just tall.
“He’s tall, and he’s got a seven-foot wingspan, his arms are so long,” Winnebago coach Joe Murphy said. “And he can move on top of it.
“If I was on the other side of the court, I’d be frustrated by him, too.”
Cross was too much for anyone to handle at this week’s 49th Annual Forreston Holiday Tournament. A two-year-starter, Cross led the Indians to their second-straight title with a 62-49 win against Morrison in Friday’s championship.
MUNDELEIN — Four players scored in double figures to lead Jefferson to a 61-47 win over Maine West at the Mundelein Holiday Tournament Monday.
Thaddeus Perry led the way with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Mario Manns followed with 12 points, while Jordan Kerley and Mershon Wilkes each added 10 points.
Genoa-Kingston Tournament
GENOA — Molly Meier (24 points) and Lauren Strohmaier (17 points) combined to score 41 of G-K’s points in the Cogs’ 68-44 win against South Beloit. Kristen Saari poured in 28 points for the Sobos.
Byron 41, Stillman Valley 39
BYRON - The Cogs (7-2) finished third in the Big Northern West Conference by holding off the Tigers, 15-13.
Byron scored first on a 31-yard pass from David Boyle to Brady Scheffler, but G-K answered with a 15-yard run by Garrett Johnsen, and the Cogs led 8-6 at halftime.
Chris Wilkins’ 9-yard run in the third gave the Cogs the lead for good. The Tigers added a 3-yard TD run in the fourth by Andrew Clark.
Byron finished 3-6 and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
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BYRON — David Boyle threw TD passes of 60 and 75 yards to Brady Scheffler to help Byron edge Winnebago, 34-32.
Adam Head also threw a 42-yard TD pass to Kyle Smith for Byron and Smith scored on runs of 7 and 9 yards. Michael Sojka scored three TDs for Winnebago on a 5-yard run, a 4-yard run and a 23-yard run.
Sojka’s last TD brought the Indians within 34-32, but they didn’t convert the extra-point attempt.
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ROCKFORD - Lutheran quarterback Jake Koehler went 11-of-20 for 189 yards, but the Tigers outrushed Lutheran 453-35 and took out Lutheran in the process, 42-12.
Kyle Smith led Byron with 273 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, and Andrew Clark also had two rushing touchdowns.
Stephen Baxter and Earl Grigsby had Lutheran’s two TD receptions of 46 and 30 yards, respectively.
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BYRON – Stillman Valley coach Mike Lalor earned his 100th career victory with a 56-15 win at Byron Friday.
The three-time state championship coach is in his 10th season with the Cardinals, which gives him an average of 10 wins per season.
“I think that says a lot about the great teams and great players we’ve had here,” Lalor said. “You don’t get to 100 wins that quickly without having an outstanding amount of kids through the years.”
The Cardinals (6-0) clinched a playoff spot for the ninth time in Lalor’s career with the road win.
OREGON - In a 42-0 loss to Oregon, Byron gift-wrapped and gave the first half to the Hawks. In the second half, Oregon (5-0) didn't need any generosity.
Capitalizing on four first half turnovers by Byron (1-4), the Hawks took a 21-0 halftime lead and then started the second half with a 16-play, 97-yard drive to show a packed homecoming crowd at Landers-Loomis Field it could also earn points the hard way.
"The turnovers set up scores for us, but having that long drive to start the third quarter broke (Byron),"
Oregon coach John Bothe said.
HAMPSHIRE — After a 20-6 loss to Hampshire, that wasn't as close as the score indicates, Byron finds itself in the critical phase of its season.
The 1-3 Tigers start BNC play with back-to-back games against conference favorites Oregon and Stillman Valley.
Plagued by mental errors, ineffective line play and sloppy tackling against Hampshire (1-3), Byron needs to get better in a hurry.
"This was probably the flattest we've been," Byron coach Mike Elsbury said. "We had mental mistakes on coverage and were diving at the feet on tackles."
BYRON — David Boyle and Andy Smith scored on a pair of 1-yard runs to help Byron overcome a 9-0 second-quarter deficit.
Smith’s run put the Tigers ahead 14-9 in the third quarter. Devon Pace added a 23-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
ROCK ISLAND — Kyle Smith gave Byron the lead with a 60-yard run midway through the fourth quarter, but Rock Island Alleman answered right back, scoring the winning touchdown in an 18-14 victory on a 1-yard run with four minutes left.
Byron (0-2) led 7-0 at halftime on an 11-yard pass from David Boyle to Brady Scheffler and Devon Pace’s extra-point kick. Pace’s kicks looked like they might be the difference after Alleman scored twice in the third quarter and Smith (155 yards on 22 carries) broke his big run, but the defense couldn’t hold.
The Big Northern West flip-flopped last year.
Teams that typically are on top of the conference were at the bottom, while teams that have struggled finally dug themselves out of the basement.
But one thing remained the same — Oregon.
The Hawks repeated as champions last year with a 4-1 conference record and finished 8-3 overall.
Mike Elsbury loved to pass when he was coaching at Winnebago.
But he knows things will change now that he’s at Byron, which has always had success with a ground-oriented offense.
“We’ll still run the wing-T,” Elsbury said. “It’s still what Byron’s known for.”
Even if Elsbury keeps the Tigers’ traditional offense, a new era still begins at Byron tonight. Elsbury takes over a program that will be without either Everett Stine or Ben Dalton for the first time in decades.
