Jordan sparks Whitney Young to state title

Marcus Jordan's game-high 19 points carried Chicago Whitney Young past Waukegan 69-66 to win the boys Class 4A championship Saturday at Carver Arena in Peoria.

Late in the fourth quarter, two Whitney Young starters - Stanford Brown and Franklin Griffin - fouled out. But Jordan hit 4 of 4 free throws in the final three minutes to seal the victory.

Junior guards Jereme Richmond and Quan Conner led Waukegan with 17 points each. Richmond also grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds.

Sophomore forward Sam Thompson led Whitney Young with 7 rebounds.

Whitney Young led by as many as 17 points late in the first half.

It was the first state championship for the Dolphins. Helping celebrate their victory after the final buzzer sounded was Jordan's father, Michael Jordan, who attended the tournament.

Class 3A

Champaign Centennial 61, Oswego 59: Junior forward Rayvonte Rice poured in 21 points, including the 2 winning free throws, to lead top-ranked Champaign Centennial to a 61-59 victory over Oswego in the championship game. It was Champaign's first state crown.

The teams were tied at 59 with 15 seconds left when Oswego's Jordan Mitchell attempted a long pass in effort to find an open man for a last-second shot. But Rice snagged the pass and dribbled the length of the floor, only to be fouled with six seconds left. He made both free throws for the win.

Senior guard James Kinney scored 18 points for Champaign (32-1). Oswego (26-7) was led by junior forward Andrew Ziemnik and Mitchell, both with 22 points.

North Lawndale 91, Leo 77: John Taylor scored 17 points and had 5 assists to lead North Lawndale (30-5) past Leo (27-6) for third place. Isaac Smith led Leo with 17 points.

Softball

BC sweeps Elgin: The Burlington Central softball team opened its season Saturday with an 11-1, 10-3 nonconference sweep of Elgin.

Junior Jet Kein picked up the win in the circle in both games for the Rockets. On the day, she struck out 15 and allowed just 3 earned runs.

In Game 1, Kayla Oranger led the Rockets' offense going 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored and a stolen base. Brittany Priest (2-for-3, 3 runs, RBI, 2B, 2 SBs), Abby Morrow (3-for-3, 2 runs, RBI, 2 SBs), Lindsay Lange (2 RBI), Ashley Scheffler (2-for-4) and Kein (2-for-3, RBI) also contributed.

In Game 2, Scheffler (RBI), Priest (2-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI, 2 SBs), Sam Gruner (2b, RBI), Morrow (3b, RBI), and Lange (RBI) led the offense.

Elgin fell to 0-3 on the season.

Marengo sweeps CL South: Crystal Lake South committed 7 errors in dropping a nonconference doubleheader to Marengo 5-2 and 10-0. Emily Mahoney suffered the loss in Game 1, striking out eight and allowing 3 earned runs. Kaitlin Hardie was 2-for-4 with a double and 3 stolen bases and Vikki Pyan was 3-for-4 for the Gators.

In Game 2, Samantha Golf suffered the loss in the circle for CLS. Mahoney had a double for the Gators.

Baseball

Cary-Grove 20, Ottawa 1: Chris Waylock, Nick Hammonds and Keegan Mascarella each hit 2 home runs and combined to drive in 17 of Cary-Grove's 20 runs in this nonconference rout. Mascarella had 8 RBI and smacked a grand slam home run. Sean Kozeney was the winning pitcher.

St. Edward splits: Riley Coleman struck out nine to lead the Green Wave to a 5-3 win over Nazareth in the opener of this noncoference doubleheader. Nazareth came back to win Game 2 by a 5-4 score.

In the opener, Coleman scattered 3 hits and St. Edward got a 2-for-3 game with a double and an RBI from Mike Kondrath, who also got the save on the mound. Jim Fraczek's 2-run double was the game-winner for St. Edward. Fraczek suffered the loss on the mound in Game 2. Jordan Torres (3-run HR) and Coleman each had 2 hits for St. Edward.

Huntley 9, Marian Central 3: Tanner Funke allowed 2 hits and struck out six in 5 innings of work as Huntley opened the season with this nonconference win. Chris Klein (2b, 2 RBI), Nathan Sopena (3b), Zach Liebiman (RBI), Jim Gorclon (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Jordan Condreras (RBI) led the offense for the Red Raiders.

CL South 10, Streamwood 6: Brian Brauer had 2-for-3 with a home run and 3 RBI for Streamwood in a nonconference loss to Crystal Lake South.

Hampshire splits: Kent Larson threw a 6-hitter with 11 strikeouts and no walks in Game 2 as Hampshire salvaged a nonconference split with Stillman Valley by winning 14-3. Stillman won the opener 16-6. Ron Loraine, Zach Crinigan (2b) and Ryan DeChant (2b, HR, 3 RBI) led the Hampshire offense in the win. DeChant also had 3 hits, including a home run, and 2 RBI in the opener. Crinigan has 2 hits with a home run and Matt Kuefner has 2 hits. Eric Challberg was the losing pitcher for the Whip-Purs (2-1).

Girls soccer

Elk Grove 1, Dundee-Crown 0: Deanna Libricz had 7 saves in the net for the Chargers but D-C couldn't find the back of Elk Grove's net in this nonconference loss.

Huntley 6, Glenbard North 0: Aimee Wronski scored a hat trick and Corinne Wronski added 2 goals as Huntley (2-0) rolled to an easy win in its own tournament.

Larkin 2, Burlington Central 0: Morgan Smith and Kelli Johnson scored goals as Larkin (2-1-1) downed Burlington Central at the Huntley tournament. Anna Goodlove made 3 saves in goal for the Royals.

Boys track

Byron indoor: Burlington Central was strong in the field events and finished tied for second to Buffalo Grove at the Byron Indoor Classic. BG had 112 points and the Rockets and Sycamore finished with 91 each. Joe Manzie set a school record in the pole vault for BC going 13 feet, 7 inches and winning the event. T.J. Pasia won the long jump (21-4), Tre Llanes won the triple jump (41-7) and Kevin Kellish took first in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.3.

College baseball

Judson splits: In CCAC play, Judson defeated Saint Xavier 3-0 in Game 1 but fell in the nightcap 2-1. Heath Groves got the win on the mound in the opener for the Eagles. Tim Victor, Manny Bobadilla and Brett Ehrlich each drove in runs for Judson. In Game 2, Trent Golz suffered the loss for Judson.