SJO basketball game canceled, Unity soccer loses opener

Viking free throws sink Spartans

St. Joseph-Ogden dropped their home game to Danville, 59-53. Despite have three players in double figures, the Viking's Erin Haupt nearly single-handedly matched their effort with a game-high 30 points.

Ella Armstrong and Payton Jones scored 11 points apiece for SJO. Payton Jacob added another 10 points to the Spartans' side of the scoreboard.

Haupt, who converted 10 of her 11 free throw attempts, sank eight in the fourth quarter of the non-conference game.

The Spartans travel to Bloomington Central Catholic on Thursday for their final game of the season.

Unity opens soccer season

The Unity soccer team opened the 2021 season with a 9-0 loss to Illini Prairie Conference foe Bloomington Central Catholic.

The Saints' Jaylen Bischoff scored four times against the Rockets.

Unity travels to Monticello for their first road match of the season on Friday.

SJO soccer opens at home tomorrow

The first game of the season for DeJarnette Era and the Spartan soccer team will be played Wednesday at 4pm at the St. Joseph-Community Park. First-year head coach William DeJarnette will lead SJO against visiting Olympia in a conference match originally schedule for Thursday.

Under the state's modified Phase 4 protocol, each athlete can have four spectators attend games. Masks will be required and spectators must remain a minimum 10 feet away from the playing surface. Social distance between groups must be observed and the school will have blue x's marked in the spectator area to help maintain the required spacing.

Basketball game canceled

Four hours before it was to set to begin, St. Joseph-Ogden's road basketball game at Monticello was canceled as a precautionary measure for a possible COVID contact. According SJO Activities Director Justin Franzen, with the season ending on Saturday, the game will not be made up.

"We will base the games we have played in the conference off of percentages to determine end of the year standings," Franzen said. "We were able to practice tonight to prepare for St. Thomas More tomorrow."

St. Joseph-Ogden will host make-up JV game at 5:30pm tomorrow and follow up with a varsity contest around 7:00pm against St. Thomas More.

An unusual season: Coaches describe basketball challenges and success

St. Joseph-Ogden's Nolan Grindley tries to reel in a loose ball in the Spartans' home game against Teutopolis on March 5.

As teams head into the final week of prep basketball, The Sentinel contacted our four area coaches to get their thoughts on probably the shortest high school basketball season in the history of Illinois as it winds down to a close this weekend. Restricted fan access, wearing masks while playing and other health mandates is likely a season student-athletes and coaches won't forget.

Sentinel: This is the last week of the basketball season. What are your thoughts going into it?

Dave Ellars, Unity girls head coach: "Glad we got to play. The girls gave outstanding effort, win or lose. They are a great bunch of girls and glad I have the opportunity to coach them this year."

Kiel Duval, St. Joseph-Ogden boys head coach: "I hope our guys finish strong. It has been tough knowing there is not a post season. I've been proud of the guys daily approach. They have grown as a team. I just wish we could have had them for an entire year."

Kevin Taylor, St. Joseph-Ogden girls head coach: "It’s hard to believe the season is almost over. It has gone really fast. Overall I’m glad the girls got a chance to play But we would like to finish as strong as we can. Even with no postseason I feel it’s important to have a good finish."

Matt Reed, Unity boys head coach: "I'm just relieved that we got the entire season in. We didn't miss any games. We had a few kids get quarantined, but no one was tremendously sick, so that was a blessing."

Sentinel: How well did you and the team handle the COVID protocols? Of all the things required, what was the hardest to adapt?

Ellars: "I think we handled it very well, we were didn’t have any cases. The hardest thing is playing and coaching with a mask. Not having any fans at most away games was tough on the kids."

Taylor: "No question the girls have done an amazing job dealing with all the covid protocols. It is very difficult to play in a mask and try to maintain social distancing. But they have done the best they could."

Matt Reed: "The kids adapted very well. The biggest issue with all teams was the kids wearing the masks properly. Its hard to tell a kid to constantly pull up their mask when they are playing as hard as they can, but that was the mandate."

Sentinel: What did you learn personally coaching basketball this season and what has been the most memorable moment so far?

Matt Reed: "Our team has really improved from the beginning of the season. We have had a chance to win every game since our game with St. Joe. We competed well in that game, beat PBL and Olympia, then lost two straight games by 2 points."

Ellars: "Kids are willing to adjust so they can play. Senior night, In January I never thought we would have a season."

Taylor: "This year, seeing the emotional struggle of the pandemic and seeing how it has affected everyone. The thing I had the chance to realize is how important the team atmosphere is. Seeing everyone go through tough times but In the end how the girls have come together and develop that team bond and support each other has been a really good thing to see as a coach."

Unity goes toe-to-toe with Tuscola Warriors

by Daniel L. Chamness
Special for The Sentinel

The Unity Rockets and the Tuscola Warriors are not that far apart. How close were they?

For three and half quarters, the Rockets, playing in the friendly confines of Rocket Center, hung in there. With 4:30 left to play, the Rockets and the Warriors were tied up at 47-47. Jalen Quinn, the Warriors superstar junior, had just hit a three pointer to tie up the score. It was that last four and half minutes the Rockets could not stay with one of the better teams in the area.

Quinn would lead the run as he would nail an old fashioned three pointer at the 2:37 mark in addition to his game-tying three pointer. Quinn would finish the final quarter with 11 points to lead Tuscola, who were playing without four seniors, to a 64-54 victory.

The fourth quarter started with Unity up by five points.

They stayed one step ahead of the Warriors until the middle of the final period after Unity got points from Blake Kimball, Austin Langendorf and Tyler Hensch early in the quarter.

Tuscola was not idle either. Preston Brown and Quinn scored in the first minute of the quarter and with a a pair of Josiah Hortin three pointers, one at 6:03 and another at 5:01, had clipped the lead to one, 45-44. Kimball gave Unity their final lead of the game, when he scored at the 3:35 mark.

Tuscola Warrior junior Jalen Quinn brings the ball up the court, while Unity sophomore Will Cowan keeps a close eye on him and plays defense. The visiting Warriors defeated the Rockets at the Rocket Center 64-54 on Saturday afternoon.

Photo by Daniel L. Chamness

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"We love to play Tuscola," said Matt Reed, Unity's head coach. "Quinn is a special player, anyone can see that.

"Both teams play hard and with intensity and energy. We did not want Quinn to beat us on his own."

Reed then explained: "We lost our composure in the fourth quarter. We play physical so we have a chance to win. We had a 10-point lead and with a team like that it does not take much to close that gap. We had a couple of bad possessions and they made us pay for it. Hortin's treys turned the momentum of the game."

Other than the final, the Rockets led at the other three breaks.

Holding a three-point lead (11-8) at the end of the opening stanza, a two-point (28-26) lead at the end of the first half and a five-point advantage (39-34) at the end of the third period.

Unity drew first blood in the contest, as Unity junior guard Damian Knoll hit a three pointer at the 6:15 mark. They closed the quarter with a trey as well, as senior Nate Drennan found the hole from the right wing with 1:35 left in the quarter.

The Rockets would extend their lead to as many as ten points, 28-18 with 2:17 left in the first half. Kimball nailed a three-pointer only to have the Warriors would clip the lead to just two by halftime.

After Quinn snagged a bucket in the first minute of the second half, Unity went to work.

They went on an 11-0 run as their lead ballooned to 39-28. The run started with a short jumper by Langendorf, followed by a lay in by Langendorf. Kimball would score the next five points, starting with a three pointer at 5:05 followed by a pair of free throws at the 3:20 mark. With 2:22 to play, Drennan put the ball through the rim on a regulation bucket to complete the run.

"We have played Unity four times over the last three years and they are always a physical team," said Tuscola head coach Justin Bozarth. "Unity threw some great defenses at Quinn, trying to get the ball out of his hands or denying him the ball totally. They did great on some junk defenses." The Unity Rockets are 3-9 overall. Tuscola improved to 11-4 overall. Kimball was in double figures with 24 points. Quinn led all scorers with 28 points.

Prep Notebook | SJO get road win, Miller snags 9 rebounds for Unity

Spartans pick up conference win

St. Joseph-Ogden made 66% of their free throws in 65-41 win on the road against Monticello.

Ella Armstrong and Taylor Wells tied for team-high scoring honors for the Spartans with 13 points apiece. Payton Vallee added 8 points while Atleigh Hamilton and Nora Walden chipped in another six piece to help SJO improve to a 7-1 record in the Illini Prairie Conference.

The Sages (IPC 2-2) were led by Lizzie Stiverson's game-high 16 points. The junior was perfect from the free throw line hitting all seven attempts. Renni Fultz contributed 10 points in the team's second straight loss.

Rockets fall 54-36

Chloee Reed led the Unity's offensive attack with 15 points, but it wasn't enough to get past the visiting Lady Saints from Bloomington Central Catholic. The senior added one steal and five rebounds to her effort.

Meanwhile teammate Erika Steinman also reached double figures with 11 points. Lauren Miller led the team's defensive effort with nine boards and three steals.

BCC's senior Abby Davis delivered a 24 point performance after making eight long-range three-point field goals.