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Mendota defeated Ottawa 77-60 on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 at Mendota High School.

During the holiday tournaments at Seneca and Plano, many Times-area boys basketball players put together tremendous efforts. A look at their accomplishments and what their coaches had to say about them in Brian Hoxsey's boys basketball notebook.

Mendota’s Oliver Munoz scored the Trojans' final six points, including the go-ahead basket with 1:30 remaining, to capture fifth place with a 46-45 win over Ottawa in the Plano Christmas Classic on Tuesday.

Newark senior center Cody Kulbartz's block in the final seconds helped secure the Norsemen's 59-58 victory over Streator in the 15th-place game of the 62nd Plano Christmas Classic on Tuesday morning.

Plano sophomore Jayden Zepeda scored 22 points off the bench, sending the Reapers past Sandwich 54-42 and into the semifinals of the 62nd Plano Christmas Classic.

The No. 4-seed La Salle-Peru boys basketball team scored the opening 16 points of Saturday's quarterfinal game against No. 5-seed Ottawa and eventually advanced to Monday's semifinal against top-seeded Kaneland with a 63-28 victory at the 62nd Plano Christmas Classic.

Marquette's boys basketball team trailed by 14 points in the second quarter but ultimately won by 15 over Hall for third place in the Seneca Shipyard Showdown.

The Marquette boys basketball team battled but eventually fell 63-56 to top-seeded Lexington in Friday's semifinals of the Shipyard Showdown Tournament at Seneca High School.

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Lexington defeated Marquette 63-56 to advance to the Shipyard Showdown Tournament Championship on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025 at Seneca High School. The Crusaders will play Hall in the third place game tomorrow at 6p.m. Check out photos from the game by Katy Arnold.