Defending champion Hillsboro is cast as the favorite in an eight-team Carlinville Holiday Tournament boys basketball field mired with records around .500 or below.
The Hiltoppers looked the part in the 51st annual tourney on Tuesday while rolling past the winless Bunker Hill Minutemen 74-47 on opening day Tuesday in Carlinville.
The Toppers, who are 6-5 after starting the season 0-4, broke fast with leads of 21-12 after one quarter and 39-23 at the half. Peyton Tester and Jordan Gregg both scored 15 points and Drake Paden scored 12 for Hillsboro.
Bunker Hill got a game-high 22 points from Devin Ralsten, with Braden Morris adding eight and Matthew Weidner seven for the Minutemen. Bunker Hill is 0-7.
Carlinville 51, Mount Olive 46 – The host Cavaliers took command with a 15-6 third quarter to erase the Wildcats' 24-23 halftime lead and won the pool game at the Carlinville Tourney.
Logan Rosentreter scored 12 points, Josh Hinzman had nine and Jarret Easterday added eight for the Cavs, who are 4-5. Mount Olive was led by 15 points from Roger Conlee and 14 from Quintin Kosowski. The Cats are 5-6.
Litchfield 70, Gillespie 58 – The Purple Panthers were up 38-24 at halftime and beat the Miners in a first-day pool game at the Carlinville Tourney. Litchfield is 5-7. Gillespie is 1-8.
A 15-for-18 night from the foul line was not enough for the Miners. Anthony Kravanya made 5 of 6 free throws and scored 20 points, and Devin Stroh went 9 of 10 at the line and scored 18 points for Gillespie, which got seven points apiece from Michael Robbins and Frankie Barrett.
Litchfield, which converted 18 of 23 free throws, had four players score in double figures. Sam Painter scored 19 points, Dre Holloway and Cam Morris both scored 15, and Chase Lauderdale had 11 for the Panthers.
West Central 72, Carrollton 38 – The unbeaten Cougars, the top seed in the 16-team bracket, rolled to a first-round victory over the No. 9-seeded Hawks in the 67th annual Waverly Tourney.
West Central led 24-4 after one quarter and 44-19 at the half. Carrollton, which dropped to 3-4, got 11 points from Gabe Jones and seven from Hunter Flowers. The Cougars pushed their record to 12-0. Gabe Cox scored 15 points and Drew Evans had 14 for West Central.
Concord Triopia 66, Greenfield 40 – The third-seeded Trojans used a 23-8 second-quarter surge to take a 39-16 halftime lead and finished off the 11th-seeded Tigers in Waverly.
Zach Thompson poured in 30 points for 7-1 Triopia. Greenfield, which dipped to 4-5, received 14 points from Dylan Pohlman and 11 from Ben Bayless.