Ty Reynolds - Shaw Local News Network correspondent

The Duchesses bounced back with a 52-43 win over Stillman Valley to take third at the Dixon Christmas Classic on Monday night.

Newman nailed its first three 3-pointers to take an early lead, but Lincoln used a huge run to take control in a 61-27 victory in their Silver Bracket semifinal Saturday at the Dixon Christmas Classic.

Dixon started off hot from the perimeter and never looked back Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Dixon Christmas Classic, building a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter in a 67-27 win over Aurora Central Catholic in their final pool-play game on Day 1.

A shootout between Dixon and Sycamore essentially came down to one quarter Saturday night, and it was the Duchesses’ big run in the second period that sunk the Spartans in a 55-47 victory at Lancaster Gym.

Sycamore scored 11 points in the final 59 seconds of the first half to turn a first-half deficit into a 71-59 victory over Dixon in a nonconference game Friday night at Lancaster Gym.

Z'Viyon Martin's 3-pointer with two seconds left completed Rock Falls' 15-point comeback against Mendota on Monday.

Sterling never trailed in its Western Big 6 game against rival Geneseo on Thursday at Musgrove Fieldhouse, using big runs in the first and third quarter to pull away for a 61-40 victory.

Dixon scored the first 21 points of the game and used a suffocating defense to defeat Kaneland 35-16 on Wednesday night at Lancaster Gym.

Faith Christian used a 16-0 third-quarter run to pull away from Quad Cities Christian for a 73-49 victory Tuesday in their Northern Illinois Christian Conference rivalry game in Grand Detour.

Sterling used big runs to close the first half and start the second half to break open a close game and pull away from Geneseo for a 77-47 win in their Western Big 6 opener Friday at Musgrove Fieldhouse.

Anna Propheter scored a career-high 22 points, and Newman built a big lead with smothering defense and a hot offensive start and never looked back in an 82-14 TRAC East win over Mendota on Thursday night in Sterling.

Kewanee overcame an aggressive Dixon defense to pull out a 66-62 road win in Tuesday night's nonconference game at Lancaster Gym.

The loss of back-to-back impactful senior classes the last two seasons means the Dixon Dukes are looking for a lot of new players to step up this season.

The experienced Dixon Duchesses have adjusted their playing style this season to account for a lack of size on the interior. They are off to a 5-0 start.

Newman used a huge first-half run to pull away from Fulton in a 64-27 nonconference win over its former Three Rivers Conference foe Tuesday in Sterling.