Prep Sports Notebook: Pence scores 29 for SJO, Kimball drops 25 in Rockets' opener

Kimball doesn't miss a beat, scoring 25

Tolono -- After just two practices, Unity quarterback Blake Kimball hit his stride making the transition from the gridiron to the hardcourt on Tuesday. The senior led the Rockets to a 61-53 win over visiting Bismarck-Henning with 25 points after last Friday's state title football game against Byron.

Kimball is in perfect form starting his first foray back to the gym converting five treys and shooting 6-for-7 from the free throw line.

Unity also got double-digit scoring from another state football finalist. Linebacker Austin Langendorf, now at forward on hardwood, finished with 15 points. After missing the second of two attempts from the free throw line in the first quarter, he piled on 14 more in the last three quarters in the contest.

Starter Henry Thomas rounded out the Rockets' top three scorers with 10 points.

Unity hits the road Saturday to take on Teutopolis and plays another away contest on Monday at Arcola. Varsity games times are scheduled for 2:30pm and 7pm, respectively.

Box Score

Unity --
Kimball 19-6-25, Cowan 2-0-2, Thomas 10-0-10, Price 3-0-6, Langendorf 13-2-15, Maxwell 0-6-6.

Bismarck-Henning --
Meidel 24-5-29, Ingram 3-0-3, Rice 6-0-6, Tidwell 2-1-3, Sacket 9-0-9, Dodd 0-1-1, Hill 2-0-2.

Four Spartans notch double-figures

St. Joseph -- Ty Pence scored a game-high 29 points in the St. Joseph-Ogden varsity basketball team home debut Tuesday night at the Toyota of Danville Classic. The junior scored 17 of his total output in the first quarter for the Spartans.

Evan Ingram, Brock Trimble and Logan Smith also finished with 10 or more points in SJO's 78-55 win over Cissna Park on their home court.

Using just two quarters, Ingram contributed 14 points. Trimble, a sophomore, drained three shots outside the arc in the first half and added a field goal in the third quarter for 11 points. Smith, who is also a sophomore, added 10 points to the cause.

"It feels great," said Ingram on getting the W in front of a home crowd. "Our offense is really explosive. Good things are ahead."

The 2-0 Spartans are back in action tonight at 8pm to face Oakwood in Day 2 of pool play.

Box Score

St. Joseph-Ogden --
Brazelton 2-0-2, Carter 6-0-6, Taylor 2-2-4, Smith 9-1-10, Landrus 0-2-2, Trimble 11-0-11, Pence 27-2-29, Ingram 13-1-14.

Cissna Park --
Huse 3-0-3, Savoree 8-2-10, Neukomm 5-2-7, Verkler 15-3-18,Spitz 14-1-15, Bohlmann 2-0-2.

Unity girls rebound

Cissna Park -- After taking one on the chin on Monday evening, the Unity girls basketball team quickly rebounded back to their winning ways beating Cissna Park 44-22 on the road. The Rockets' defensive effort limited the Lady Timberwolves to just seven first-half points.

Forward Taylor Henry led all scorers with 17 points. The senior also tallied five rebounds and three steals in the non-conference victory.

Junior Lauren Miller also had five boards. In addition to her nine points, she was credited with four assists and a pair of steals.

Meanwhile, Erika Steinman finished with eight points behind 4-for-4 free throw shooting.

The Rockets continue their three-game road campaign with their next stop at Villa Grove tomorrow night. Varsity tipoff is scheduled for 7:30pm.

Box Score

Unity --
Ray 2-1-3, Miller 8-1-9, Steinman 4-4-8, Stringer 4-0-4, Reed 2-1-3, Henry 12-5-17.

Cissna Park --
A. Seggebruck 2-1-3, Knake 6-0-6, Morrical 4-4-8, Maul 0-1-1, Karas 4-0-4.

Other area sports scores

Oakwood defeated Schlarman 50-41 at the Toyota of Danville Classic.

Arcola-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond won big over LaSalette in their first appearance at the annual St. Joseph-Ogden early season tournament, 63-34.

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Shooting Stars | Area basketball athletes shined brightly last month

• Clifton Central 46 - Hoopeston Area 41

Preston VanDeVeer and Anthony Zamora finished with nine points each in Hoopeston Area's loss at home to the Comets. Kenddrick Sigerill led the Cornjerkers (2-3) on the boards with a season-high 11 rebounds finished with eight points. Hoopeston Area's Owen Root went 3-for-6 from the field putting eight points in the book.


Oakwood's Brody Taflinger
Oakwood's Brody Taflinger shakes hands with St. Joseph-Ogden Athletic Director Justin Franzen after recieving his recognition plaque for the Toyota of Danville All-Tournament team on December 3. Taflinger's efforts lead the Comets to a runner-up finish after falling to the hosts Spartans 66-31 in the championship game on Saturday. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

• St. Joseph-Ogden 66 - Oakwood 31

Ty Pence drained 33 points in SJO's title game against Oakwood at the Toyota of Danville Classic on December 3. The senior D1 recruit scored 15 points in the first quarter to put the host Spartans on cruise control to this year's tournament title.

Junior Brody Taflinger led the Comets, who entered the fray with an impressive 8-0 record, with a 13-point effort in the team's first loss of the season.


• Teutopolis 56 - Unity 40

Before boasting a four-game win streak, the Rockets suffered their second consecutive loss at the hands of the Wooden Shoes on December 3. Despite nine players contributing with two or more points, Unity fell 56-40.

The Rockets led at the halfway point by five and trailed by one, 38-37, at the end of the third quarter. Jay Saunders, who led the team in the loss with nine points, hit the team's only field goal during a fourth-quarter offensive collapse. Dalton O'Neill sank one of two free throw attempts to round out the scoring in the frame to just three points. O'Neill, Unity's second-leading scorer, finished with seven points. Henry Thomas tallied five points in the third quarter.

Joey Niebrugge, a junior, led all scorers with in the contest with 18 points.


• St. Joseph-Ogden 68 - Watseka 28

Junior Logan Smith and senior Ty Pence combined effort produced 48 of SJO's 68 points in the team's romp over the Warriors at the Toyota of Danville Classic.

Pence, an 2023 Illinois State basketball recruit, drained 28 points while Smith rained down 20 more. Six other Spartans including Maddux Carter and Brock Trimble contributed to the victory.


• Rochester 56 - Unity 46

Andrew and Henry Thomas sank 11 points apiece in the Rockets' second game of the season. Without home court advantage, Unity (1-1) came out of the locker room cold after the halftime break, scoring just six points to Rochester's 17.


• St. Joseph-Ogden 44 - Danville 14

Addisyn Martinie dropped a game-high 16 point in the Spartans' first game during the month of December that snapped a three-game early season slide. Addison Seggebruch supplied 13 points in the non-conference victory.

SJO's improves to 2-4 heading into their next contest against Maroa-Forsyth at home.


• URBANA 39 - Charleston 34

Senior Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta led the Tigers girls' basketball effort with 16 points in the team's first win of the season. Junior Jasmine McCullough also delivered a double-digit finish with 13 points. Urbana (1-3) enjoyed a team effort with six points from McKenzie Sprague and two points apiece from Savannah Blanden and Elizabeth Lange.

Trojans' Ally Logsdon all scorers with 19 points, 15 of those delivered in the fourth quarter of the non-conference game on December 1.

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Prep Sports Notebook: Unity baseball wins opener, softball coach gets 100 wins

Knoll RBI forces 11-1, 5 inning decision
Damian Knoll went 2-2 and drove in the game-winning run sealing Unity's 11-1 opening day win over visiting Hoopeston Area. The junior right-hander notched 3 RBIs in the Rockets' first game since 2019.

Tyler Hensch pitched 5 innings for Unity, giving up one hit and one run while striking out seven batters.

Dillon Rutledge, who scored the runs, along with Dylan Moore and Thomas Cler were also 2-for-2 for the Rockets.


Unity coach gets 100th win
Head coach Aimee Davis picked up career win 100 after her Rockets beat visiting Mt. Zion on Saturday in their season opener, 13-3. The milestone happened a year later than anticipated thanks to COVID and the resulting gameless season last year. Davis, now in her sixth season at the helm, and the Unity softball team started the season with a #7 Class 2A preseason ranking by the Illinois Coaches Association.


SJO softball holds off Fisher's 7th innning rally
SJO pitcher Maggie Ward
Maggie Ward earned yesterday's win after the St. Joseph-Ogden softball team held off a seventh inning momentum shift from the Fisher Bunnies to win 5-3. The pitcher surrendered three runs on nine hits over seven innings, striking out six and walking zero. Ward allowed three runs on nine hits while going the distance in the circle.

Striking out six batters and allowing not a single walk in the non-conference road game for SJO, Ward recorded 79 strikes out of the 118 pitches she put across the plate.

The Spartans put 11 hits in the book. Kennedy Hudson, Peyton Jones, Shayne Immke, Kelsey Martlage, and Audrey Short had two apiece and Alyssa Acton rounded out the offense with one of her own.

SJO improves to 5-3 on the season and faces Villa Grove at home on Wednesday.


Knott wins two of four firsts for Spartans
Last Thursday, field event specialist Hayden Knott won both throwing events in dual meet competition against Eureka.

Knott won the discus throw by just over 10 meters throwing the platter 47.93 meters further than runner-up Brock Trimble. The senior won the shot put competition with his best throw at 16.56 meters.

The Spartans also received first place performances from Brandon Mattsey in the 1600-meter run and Logan Wolfersberger in the 800.

Mattsey completed his four laps in 4 minutes and 43.62 seconds, moving closer to achieving the all-elusive sub-four-minute mile. Teammate Carson Maroon finished behind him second at 4:48.94.

Wolfersberger set a new personal record in the 800, finishing the two loops around the track in 2 minutes and 8.65 seconds.


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St. Joseph-Ogden first quarter Honor Roll

Earlier this week, St. Joseph-Ogden High School announced their list of students who earned high honor roll status during the first quarter.

To receive honor roll recognition at SJO students must earn a grade point average of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Students whose GPA soared above 3.74 are recognized as High Honor Roll students.

High Honor Roll

Freshmen

Sophomores

Juniors

Seniors

Honor Roll

Freshmen

Sophomores

Juniors

Seniors

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St. Joseph-Ogden third-quarter Honor Roll

St. Joseph-Ogden High School Honor Roll This week, St. Joseph-Ogden High School announced the third-quarter Honor Roll and High Honor Roll recipients. To receive honor roll recognition at SJO students must earn a grade point average of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Students whose GPA soared above 3.74 are recognized as High Honor Roll students.

High Honor Roll

Freshmen

Sophomores

Juniors

Seniors

Honor Roll

Freshmen

Sophomores

Juniors

Seniors

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