SportShorts for Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023

Sauk Valley women’s basketball wins at home

The Skyhawks defeated College of DuPage 73-66 on Monday night in a nonconference game in Dixon.

Sauk Valley led 22-12 after the opening quarter and took a 39-30 lead into halftime. The Skyhawks then pulled away from a 58-53 lead through three periods with a 15-13 scoring edge in the fourth.

Hailey Walters hit six 3-pointers and led the Skyhawks with 22 points. Jenna Johnson scored 17 points, and Caylyn Kimmel had 12; both made a pair of 3s. Ainsleigh Hendrix nailed three 3s and finished with nine points.

Alyssa Havard and Mykah Berkompas both had 18 points for DuPage; Berkompas hit four 3s, and Havard made three. Katlyn Allen added 17 points, including a pair of 3s.

Sterling wrestlers earn all-conference nods

Three Golden Warrior wrestlers earned spots on the Western Big 6 all-conference team, the league announced last week.

Junior Dylan Ottens was a first-team pick at 138 pounds, while sophomore Zyan Westbrook (113 pounds) and senior Tommy Tate (160 pounds) were second-team selections. All three advanced to sectionals.

Moline senior Noah Tapia (145 pounds) was named league MVP.

Golden Warriors bowlers earn all-conference honors

Sterling bowlers Olivia Barton and Hannah Conderman were named to the All-Western Big 6 Conference first team, the league announced last week.

Conderman, a senior, and Barton, a freshman, advanced out of the Dixon Regional and competed at the Decatur Eisenhower Sectional.

United Township’s Kloey Miner was named conference MVP.

Sterling swimmers named all-conference

Five Sterling swimmers were named to the All-Western Big 6 Conference second team, the league announced last week.

Seniors Skylar Drolema, Connor Pham and Evan Scott, junior Peter Garland and sophomore Conner Porter earned spots on the second team for their performances at the Western Big 6 Conference Meet on Feb. 4.

Rock Island’s Luke Rettig was named the league MVP.

Sterling duo signs to play football in South Dakota

Golden Warriors seniors Kael Ryan and Antonio Tablante will continue their football careers at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, next season.

Ryan was a dual-threat quarterback for Sterling last fall, leading the team with 1,178 yards and 22 touchdowns rushing while completing 33 of 68 passes for 387 yards and two touchdowns. He also had three receptions for 571 yards and a score.

Tablante was second on the team with 772 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground, and he also caught five passes out of the backfield for 47 yards and a touchdown.

Local hoopsters selected for national team

A pair of local sophomores have been selected to play for Team USA in an international competition in Europe at the end of June.

Dixon’s Darius Harrington and Sterling’s Nico Battaglia will represent the U.S. as part of a PhD Hoops team to play in the United World Games Tour in Germany, Italy and Austria from June 18 to 27.

Both players were chosen out of a pool of applicants based on their playing ability, character and desire to represent the U.S. in this international event.

Oregon teams earn academic awards

Five Oregon High School athletic teams competing in the Fall 2022 season qualified for the IHSA Team Academic Achievement Award.

The boys and girls golf teams, the boys soccer team, the girls cross country team and the volleyball team all maintained a team GPA of 3.0 or higher throughout the fall season.

Stillman Valley AD earns award

Stillman Valley High School Athletic and Activities Director Heather Alderks has been named Illinois’ 1A/2A Athletic Director of the Year.

The announcement was made during halftime of the girls basketball game Feb. 16. The award is given by the Illinois Athletic Director Association.

Alderks started teaching physical education at Meridian Junior High in 2003. She was recognized as “Those Who Excel” in the teaching category in 2016.

She also has been coaching since 2003 and was the varsity girls basketball head coach when the team went to state and placed third in 2012. She also received the IBCA Coach of the Year that same season.

She became athletic director at SVHS in 2017.

Senior bowlers hit the lanes in January

The Sauk Valley Senior Bowlers competed every Tuesday and Thursday morning at Plum Hollow Lanes in Dixon throughout the month of January.

Individual high scores for the month were: Bill Bontz 175 game, 458 series; Connie Bontz 148, 402; David Bucher 187, 492; Steve Byars 214, 549; Chico Contreras 203, 499; Charlotte Dierdorff 117, 301; Anita Dunphy 182, 417; Dan Dunphy 220, 565; Ron Erickson 254, 717; Barb Jacobs 153, 446; Dave Jacobs 208, 487; Jan Kuepker 129, 373; Ken Masters 186, 509; Ron Meagher 189, 521; Doug Near 207, 446; Ron Odenthal 172, NA; Larry Reed 211, 518; Cruz Rivera 181, 509; Jim Shuman 179, 479; Frank Stenzel 98, 265; Karen Stenzel 46, 116; Glenn Stroh 151, 349; Dee Szymanski 159, 404; Ed Webb 188, 468; Shirley Webb 126, 292; Charlie Warner 149, 412; Jay Wolf 194, 554; Barbara Young 180, 521.