Aurora Christian takes title at State Farm Holiday Classic

Aurora Christian captured its second State Farm Holiday Classic (Small School division) championship in three years with Monday evening's 62-56 victory over Rockford Lutheran (7-5) at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center in Bloomington.

Senior guard Taaj Davis poured in a game-high 23 points, including a perfect 9 of 9 from the free-throw line, to lead the Eagles (9-2) while Danny New added 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Josh Cloyd, who connected on three 3-pointers, added 9 points while Daniel Walker and Karsen Olsen chipped in with 8 and 7 points, respectively.

Leading 31-24 at halftime, Aurora Christian outscored the Crusaders 13-4 in the third quarter to extend its lead to 44-28 entering the final 8 minutes.

Aurora Christian, which won the State Farm Holiday Classic in 2017, placed fourth at last year's event.

Ethan Watts led Rockford Lutheran with 13 points.

Batavia 77, St. Laurence 68: The Bulldogs closed out play at the 46th annual York-Jack Tosh Holiday Classic with a 9-point victory over St. Laurence Monday morning in Elmhurst.

Senior Jayden Johnson led four Batavia players in double figures with 24 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, supported by Luke Fehrenbacher (14 points), Devin Cheaney (10 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists) and Tyler Cooper (10 points, 5 rebounds).

Kyle Neibch added 8 points and 8 rebounds as the Bulldogs finished with a 2-2 record in the 32-team tourney.

Batavia, which outscored St. Laurence 26-5 at the free-throw line, led 40-29 at the half.

Finn Walsh led St. Laurence with 14 points and 7 rebounds.

The Bulldogs (6-6) visit Wheaton Warrenville South Saturday night.

Huntley 53, Rockton Hononegah 44: Ryan Vrugt scored a game-high 16 points, shooting 4 of 8 from 3-point range, while all-tournament selection Uchenna Egekeze added 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and a pair of steals as the Red Raiders (11-3) earned a fifth-place finish at the 92nd annual Chuck Dayton Holiday Classic in DeKalb.

Egekeze, a 6-foot-3 senior guard/forward, averaged 15.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in 4 tournament games for the Red Raiders, who shot 49 percent from the field against the Crusaders.

Huntley led 25-15 at halftime before stretching its lead to 47-29 entering the final period thanks to a 22-14 third-quarter spurt.

Ryan Sroka and Ryan Crosby added 8 points apiece for Huntley, which visits Burlington Central Friday night.

Isaiah Zawlocki and Chris Akelaitis had 13 points each for Rockton Hononegah.

Yorkville 50, Dundee-Crown 48: The Chargers dropped their 7th-place game to Yorkville at the Chuck Dayton Holiday Classic despite a 20-point, 5-rebound effort from Kyle Huber, who drained 5 of his 9 3-point attempts.

Justin Prusko had 9 points and 6 rebounds while Jason Huber added 7 points and 7 rebounds for Dundee-Crown.

Zak Konecny and Ryan Shimp led Yorkville with 11 points apiece.

The Foxes connected on five 3-pointers while building a 32-23 halftime advantage.

Dundee-Crown (6-6) visits Crystal Lake South on Jan. 8.

St. Edward 46, Catalyst Maria 37: The Green Wave (6-9) snapped their 8-game losing streak with Monday's victory over Chicago-Catalyst Maria at the ICCP/Westmont Christmas Tournament.

Sebastian Oquendo scored 14 points to lead St. Edward, which also received solid contributions from sophomore Jacob Breier (10 points) and freshman Ben Zielinski (10 points). Breier and Zielinski each connected on a pair of 3-pointers.

Trailing 24-23 after 3 quarters, St. Edward capped its comeback by outscoring the Wolves 23-13 in the final period.