10th-Seeded Neoga, Eighth-Seeded Beecher City Post Wins on Opening Night of the 80th NTC Tournament; Other Area Scores

If Monday night's games are any indication, it could be a very interesting National Trail Conference Basketball Tournament.

The 10th-seeded Neoga Indians posted a 51-45 win over the seventh-seeded Stewardson-Strasburg Comets, while the eighth-seeded Beecher City Eagles came back to defeat the ninth-seeded Windsor Blue Devils 53-50. Both games were heard on 979XFM and heard and seen on www.979xfm.com.

Neoga hadn't won a game this season, but has now posted three wins in about a 10-day span. The Indians got a 20-point performance from Luke Baker while Corey Kersey battled foul troubles to score 11 points and grab seven rebounds and Ronnie Kersey scored eight points and pulled down eight rebounds.

Neoga led 13-9 after one quarter, 26-20 at halftime, and 38-34 after three quarters. Eventually, Stew-Stras grabbed the lead, but Neoga fought back to post the six-point win.

Neoga shot 48% from the field, making 19 of 40 shots and made 10 of 18 from the foul line. The Indians turned the ball over 17 times and pulled down 21 rebounds while making three of five three-point shots.

Stew-Stras made 14 of 35 shots for 40%, and made 12 of 21 foul shots. Stew-Stras committed 18 turnovers while grabbing 25 rebounds and making five of 12 three-point shots

Mark Jones led Stew-Stras with 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds

With the win, Neoga advances to Wednesday night action at 6:15pm against #2 seed St. Anthony.

Meanwhile in the other contest, Beecher City led most of the game and eventually won the contest, but there were some tense moments in the meantime.

The Eagles were up 14-10 after one quarter and led 27-25 at halftime. However, Windsor grabbed the lead and pushed their advantage up to eight points before Beecher City made its comeback. Windsor led 43-42 after three quarters, but Beecher City posted an 11-7 edge in the fourth quarter to give the Eagles a narrow win.

Beecher City made 20 of 49 shots while hitting on 12 of 18 foul shots, turning the ball over just 13 times and pulling down 38 rebounds. The Eagles, though, made just one of 13 three-point attempts.

Windsor made just 33% of its shots, hitting on 17 of 51 attempts. The Blue Devils made just eight of 14 foul shots, turned the ball over 12 times, and grabbed 28 rebounds while making eight of 27 three-point attempts.

Austin Rexroad scored 20 points to lead Beecher City and grabbed nine rebounds, but Austin Stefanski had a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Daniel Harder scored 11 points and grabbed six boards.

Nic Hutchinson got hot in the second half for Windsor, finishing with 23 points and six rebounds. Tristan Warner scored 16 points, but just two in the second half, and grabbed seven rebounds.

Tonight, Beecher City moves into action against tournament top-seed Dieterich at 6:15pm, while Cowden-Herrick will follow against St. Elmo/Brownstown in a battle of the tournament's #4 and 5 seeds. Hear all 14 games of this week's tournament on 979 XFM, including live audio and video streaming here.

NTC Tournament

Game One

BEECHER CITY (53)

Kemme 0-0 -- 0, Wills 1-0 -- 2, Giles 0-0 -- 0, Arnold 0-0 -- 0, Bales 4-0 -- 8, Stefanski 3-4 -- 11, Rexroad 8-4 -- 20, Mueller 0-0 -- 0, Shelton 0-2 -- 2 , Harder 4-2 -- 10. TOTALS 20 FG, 12 FT.

WINDSOR (50)

Hutchinson 8-2 -- 23, Haddock 3-2 -- 9, Bennett 0-0 -- 0, Warner 5-4 -- 16, Gilbert 0-0 -- 0, Boyer 1-0 -- 2, Williams 0-0 -- 0, Kemper 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 17 FG, 8 FT.

Beecher City 14 13 15 11 -- 53

Windsor 10 15 18 7 -- 50

3-point FG -- Beecher City 1 (Stefanski 1), Windsor 8 (Hutchinson 5, Warner 2, Haddock 1).

Game Two

NEOGA (51)

Pygott 0-0 -- 0, Baker 7-4 -- 20, Abernathy 2-0 -- 4, Holt 1-0 -- 3, C. Kersey 4-3 -- 11, Ramert 0-1 -- 1, R. Kersey 3-2 -- 8, Moore 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 19 FG, 10 FT.

STEW-STRAS (45)

Hansen 2-0 -- 6, Rincker 2-3 -- 9, Ballinger 0-1 -- 1, Overbeck 0-0 -- 0, Jones 7-4 -- 19, Thies 0-0 -- 0, Blythe 0-3 -- 3, C. Kessler 0-0 -- 0, T. Kessler 3-1 -- 7, Kramer 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 14 FG, 12 FT.

Neoga 13 13 12 13 -- 51

Stewardson-Strasburg 9 11 14 11 -- 45

3-point FG -- Neoga 3 (Baker 2, Holt 1), Stewardson-Strasburg 5 (Hansen 2, Rincker 2, Jones 1).

In other area scores:

BOYS BASKETBALL

Little Illini Conference Tournament

Robinson 57, Newton 39

Red Hill (Bridgeport) 53, Edwards County (Albion) 43

GIRLS BASKETBALL

St. Anthony 47, South Central 27

Neoga 65, Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City 21

Dieterich 62, North Clay (Louisville) 36

Mattoon 49, Teutopolis 39

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

BOYS BASKETBALL

Class 7-1A Mulberry Grove Regional

Windsor 30, Sorento 17

Stewardson-Strasburg 30, Beecher City 22

Class 7-2A Assumption Central A&M Regional

Ramsey 35, Raymond Lincolnwood 31

Findlay Okaw Valley 31, Cowden-Herrick 9

Class 7-3A Casey-Westfield Regional

Marshall 43, Jasper County 11

Robinson Nuttall 52, Lawrenceville Parkview 47

Class 7-4A Tolono Unity Regional

Mattoon 37, Charleston 15

Danville North Ridge 42, Effingham 35