Batavia's Golden scores 1,000th point at Montini Classic

Erin Golden reached the 1,000-point plateau for her high school career Monday morning during Batavia's 48-23 loss to Fremd on the final day of the 11th annual Montini Catholic Christmas Tournament in Lombard.

Golden, a 5-foot-8 senior guard, scored a team-leading 13 points for the Bulldogs (4-10), who finished with a 1-3 tournament record. Fremd finished 2-2 at the tourney.

Through 14 games this season, Golden leads the team in five notable categories, including scoring (14.1 points per game), rebounding (6.8 rpg), steals (20), assists (52) and pass deflections (38).

Batavia returns to DuKane Conference action Saturday night at Wheaton Warrenville South.

Aurora Christian 54, Plainfield South 48: Aurora Christian (14-1) jumped out to a 35-18 halftime lead before holding off a valiant second-half comeback from Plainfield South on the way to capturing the tournament championship at the Blue Devils Holiday Classic in Peotone.

Two days after having their 13-game winning streak snapped in a 50-45 loss to Joliet Catholic, the Eagles returned to their winning ways, featuring a balanced offensive attack with 4 players in double figures.

Lexi Lamanna led Aurora Christian with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, while Aspen Weeks added 12 points and Anna Griffin and Thaya Luse chipped in with 10 points apiece.

The Eagles outscored Plainfield South 11-3 at the free-throw line.

Aniya Mabry scored 11 points for Plainfield South.

Hersey 62, Geneva 47: The Vikings suffered a 15-point loss to Hersey in Monday afternoon's seventh-place game of the Montini Christmas Tournament.

Senior Lindsay Blackmore paced the Vikings (10-3) with 18 points, all of them coming in the first 3 quarters. Grace Hinchman scored 9 points for Geneva while juniors Kate Palmer and Kelly McCloughan added 6 and 5 points, respectively.

Geneva, which entered the tourney with a 9-0 record, finished with 3 consecutive losses after being outscored 40-25 in the first half by the Huskies.

Hersey (12-6) was led by junior forward Mary McGrath's 18 points and junior guard Mary Kate Fahey's 17. The duo combined for 24 first-half points.

Both teams will participate in the inaugural Grow the Game Shootout this weekend at Glenbard West. Geneva faces Lane Tech at 4:15 p.m. Friday while Hersey plays Stevenson at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Rockton Hononegah 52, South Elgin 47: South Elgin (12-5) finished with a 0-4 record in the Charger-Komaromy Christmas Classic at Dundee-Crown following Monday's setback at the hands of Rockton Hononegah.

Caroline Croft hit 4 of her 8 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc en route to a 19-point performance for the Storm while senior teammate Megan McClure added 12 points and 6 rebounds.

Alison Murdoch had 20 points and 15 rebounds for Rockton Hononegah.

The Storm plays host to St. Edward at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

St. Edward 42, Reed-Custer 38: The Green Wave improved to 5-10 overall with Monday's win over Reed Custer (9-6) at the Lisle Holiday Tournament.

Brooke Biggins tallied 7 of her game-high 16 points in the third quarter when St. Edward began its second-half comeback.

Down 18-11 at halftime, the Green Wave enjoyed a 15-9 surge in the third quarter to pull within 27-26 before outscoring Reed-Custer 16-11 during the decisive final period.

Madison Schueler and Sam Ottinger added 9 and 8 points, respectively, as St. Edward finished the tourney with a 2-2 record.

Kylie Balgemann and Maddie McPherson scored 10 points apiece for Reed-Custer, which hurt its cause with 12 of 26 free-throw shooting.

Boys basketball

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.