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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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Living with HIV: Many face CVD health risks and access to proper care

American Heart Association

Research shows that people living with HIV have a significantly high risk for cardiovascular disease – as much as 2 times higher for heart attack and heart failure and 14% higher for sudden cardiac death than people without HIV. So, while many people living with HIV/AIDS are experiencing full, quality lives as AIDS has transitioned from a progressive, fatal disease to what is now a mostly manageable, chronic condition more than three decades after the first World AIDS Day was recognized on Dec. 1, 1988, challenges persist. Not only from increased other health issues, but also navigating a health care system that can still be discriminatory, as outlined in several scientific statements published by the American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary organization dedicated to building longer, healthier lives for all.

Characteristics, Prevention, and Management of Cardiovascular Disease in People Living With HIV: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association – In this scientific statement released in June 2019, the Association reported that living with HIV is associated with higher rates of heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, sudden cardiac deaths and other diseases, compared with people without HIV. The statement writing group’s chair, Matthew J. Feinstein, M.D., M.Sc., said this may be because of interactions between traditional risk factors, such as unhealthy diet, lifestyle and tobacco use, and HIV-specific risk factors, such as a compromised immune system and inflammation characteristic of chronic HIV.

"Lifestyle and clinical factors play major roles in the increased risk for heart disease among people with HIV," said Feinstein, an assistant professor of Medicine-Cardiology at Northwestern University in Chicago who specializes in cardiovascular risk in infectious and inflammatory conditions. "In people with HIV, cigarette smoking is quite common. This dovetails with a number of factors – ranging from chronic inflammatory and metabolic effects of HIV and its therapies to psychosocial stressors related to stigma and substance use disorders – to lead to increased risk for cardiovascular diseases among people with HIV."

The American Heart Association recommends people living with HIV talk to their doctor and assess their cardiovascular disease risk using a tool such as the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Atherosclerotic Disease Risk Calculator, which estimates a person’s ten-year risk of having a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular condition. The Association cautions that the risk calculator is a starting point as people living with HIV may have a higher risk than indicated by the calculator. Other factors to consider in risk assessment include family history of heart disease and HIV-specific factors, such as whether or not a patient started antiretroviral therapy soon after diagnosis.

To help improve the health of people living with HIV, the Association emphasizes the importance of a healthy lifestyle that includes not smoking, adequate physical activity, eliminating or reducing the amount of alcohol consumed and a healthy diet in keeping with the guidance in Life’s Simple 7 – the seven risk factors that people can improve through lifestyle changes to help achieve ideal cardiovascular health.

Assessing and Addressing Cardiovascular Health in LGBTQ Adults: A Scientific Statement of the American Heart Association – This scientific statement published in Oct. 2020, highlights the additional challenges LGBTQ people, a population especially vulnerable to living with HIV/AIDS, face in the form of discrimination in the health care setting.

The writing group noted trust toward health care professionals is still lacking among many members of the LGBTQ community – more than half (56%) of LGBTQ adults and 70% of those who are transgender or gender non-conforming report experiencing some form of discrimination, including the use of harsh or abusive language, from a health care professional.

"LGBTQ individuals often skip primary care and preventative visits because there is a great fear of being treated differently,” said the chair of the writing group for this statement, Billy A. Caceres, Ph.D., R.N., FAHA, an assistant professor at the Columbia University School of Nursing in New York City. “Being treated differently often means receiving inadequate or inferior care because of sexual orientation or gender identity."

Although much progress has been made over the past decade in understanding HIV-associated cardiovascular disease, considerable gaps exist, and more research is needed to address the growing physical and sociological challenges.