Here are the Sangamon County boys basketball tournament results and schedule from Cass Gymnasium at Lincoln Land Community College.
This page will be updated throughout the week ending with the championship game on Friday, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. The schedule for upcoming games can be found below the results.
Auburn won last year's tournament.
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Last week's top performers: Auburn's Cooper Carter, Clayton Kessler combine for 45 points vs. Calvary
No. 1 Williamsville 55, No. 5 Pleasant Plains 48: Williamsville passed its first test as the newly anointed No. 1 team in the Class 2A state rankings.
Senior guards Blake Shoufler and Brayden Saling combined to shoot 6-for-8 from the free throw in the fourth quarter to stave off Plains' late comeback and advance to the final against Thursday's winner between No. 2 Auburn and No. 3 Riverton. The title game is set for 8 p.m. Friday.
The Cardinals (10-8) ended the third quarter on an 8-0 run and trailed 46-41 with 2 minutes, 30 seconds to play before the Bullets held on.
Shoufler, who missed last year's tournament due to a broken ankle, led the Bullets (16-0) with 20 points. Saling summoned 14 points, while senior teammate Carson Doran had 13.
"Having the ball in Blake's hands, we're pretty confident in him," Williamsville coach Nick Beard said. "I think we have multiple guys who can handle it. Like I said, we've got to get better in that situation -- handling it, being strong with the ball, making the right play, not overdribbling. That's something we know we've got to get better at."
Plains senior guard Cooper Schallenberg engineered 13 of his team-best 15 points in the second half. He also had nine rebounds.
"We knew at halftime he only had two (points) and they were going to try to get him going," Beard said, "and they went right to him in the first two or three possessions in the second half. He put his head down, he uses his body well and gets to the free throw line. He doesn't need much space, he's a great player."
No. 9 Pawnee 37, No. 4 New Berlin 33: Pawnee senior Cory Banister scored a team-high 14 points to advance to Thursday's consolation semifinal against No. 7 Calvary. New Berlin's Reid Hepperly had a game-high 21 points.
No. 6 Athens 61, No. 10 Lutheran 52: Nathan Hesson hit a key 3 in the fourth quarter and finished with 14 points, while Trevor Schilling led the Warriors in the consolation quarterfinal with 15 points. Athens trailed by one entering the final period. Lutheran's Parker Cloyd had 12 points.
No. 5 Pleasant Plains 51, No. 4 New Berlin 38: Pleasant Plains guards Grady Grisham and Cooper Schallenberg combined for 39 points to advance to the semifinals against top seed Williamsville.
The junior Grisham opened the game with a 3 and scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the first half. He shot 8 of 12 from the field and the Cardinals led by as much as 24-8 in the second quarter before the Pretzels staged a rally in the third. Schallenberg, a senior, shot 7 of 11 from the floor for 16 points. He converted two 3s.
Junior forward Reid Hepperly led New Berlin with 19 points.
"I thought Grady did a great job of getting to the basket," Plains coach Kyle Weber said. "I think it's important for us with our lack of height, we've got to make up with heart, and I thought our kids came out and competed tonight."
No. 1 Williamsville 69, No. 8 Buffalo Tri-City 30: Blake Shoufler converted four 3s and led the 15-0 Bullets with 17 points. Carson Doran (13 points) and Brayden Saling (nine points) combined for five 3s. Williamsville led 31-21 at halftime before holding Tri-City without a field goal in the third quarter.
No. 2 Auburn 58, No. 7 Calvary 48: Clayton Kessler drained a 3-pointer for an 11-point lead early in the fourth quarter and the Trojans will meet No. 3 Riverton in the semifinals. Carter Hunley scored a team-high 18 points, while Kessler and Cooper Carter had 17 and 15 points, respectively. Ryan Lash rounded out the scoring with eight. Luke Blackford led Calvary with 22 points.
No. 8 Buffalo Tri-City/Sangamon Valley 50, No. 9 Pawnee 44, OT: Tri-City/Sangamon Valley junior Donavyn Riley hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to force overtime, then had the final basket in the Tornadoes' 50-44 win in the County Tournament lid-lifter. Riley scored 13 points to lead Tri-City while R.J. Sullivan, who finished with 10, had half of his points in the overtime period.
Ryder Smith gave Pawnee a 41-38 lead with 6.4 seconds left when the sophomore scored a layup then made an ensuing free throw. Smith led all scorers with 14 points.
-- By Ryan Mahan
No. 3 Riverton 57, No. 6 Athens 46: Julian Rice led all scorers with 19 points in the Hawks' win. He carried Riverton's offense with 15 points in the first half as the Hawks built a 31-21 lead. Teammates Carter Miller (12 points) and Jaxon Miller (11) provided the Hawks a third-quarter lift.
Senior Carson Moscardelli and sophomore Sawyer Hill each led Athens with 11.
-- By Ryan Mahan
No. 7 Calvary 55, No. 10 Lutheran 47: Calvary junior Luke Blackford scored 10 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter. The Saints led 40-38 before outscoring the Crusaders 15-9 in the fourth quarter.
Antione Hunter added 10 points for Calvary before he was involved in a scary situation. On a final play of the third quarter, Hunter and teammate Reese Huffman collided and both hit the floor. Hunter was inadvertently hit in the face while already wearing a face protection guard and was bleeding profusely from his nose.
Lutheran got a team-high 16 points from Parker Cloyd and 14 from Connor Hilligoss.
-- By Ryan Mahan
No. 7 Calvary vs. No. 9 Pawnee, consolation semifinals, 5 p.m.
No. 3 Riverton vs. No. 2 Auburn, semifinals, 6:30 p.m.
No. 6 Athens vs. No. 8 Buffalo Tri-City, consolation semifinals, 8 p.m.
No. 1 Williamsville vs. No. 2 Auburn/No. 3 Riverton winner, championship game, 8 p.m.
No. 5 Pleasant Plains vs. No. 2 Auburn/No. 3 Riverton loser, third-place game, 6:30 p.m.