Unity says farewell to 2024 with a win a Christmas tournament

BISMARCK - Unity girls' basketball team ended 2024 with a win, defeating Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin (BHRA) 33-26 at the 2024 Blue Devil Classic on Saturday. The victory broke a three-game losing streak after the Rockets' last successful outing in a 36-27 win over Armstrong.

Claire Meharry led all scorers with 16 points and went 2-for-2 from the free throw line to secure Unity's eighth win. Teammate Lauren Haas finished the game strong with eight fourth-quarter points on her way to ten points. Selected to the All-Tournament team, like Meharry, Haas shot 100% from the charity stripe.

Unity also received contributions from Grace Bickers and McKinley Weller, who had four and three points, respectively.

Alivia Reifsteck was responsible for nearly half of BHRA's scoring effort with 12 points. Draycee Nelson added another nine for the Blue Devils. Sophomore Gentry Elson supplied three points, and Sophia Stines rounded out their point production with two.

After taking a much needed rest and get in the gym for quality practice sessions, Unity returns to action on Monday, January 6, with a road game at Arcola. Meharry and the team will play two more contests on the road before taking their home court against St. Thomas More on January 13 for an Illini Prairie Conference matchup.

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Guest Commentary |
Transitioning Into 2025

by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator


A new year is transition. The date changes. Some of us will mess up writing a check a time or two because we’ll write 2024 until it finally sinks in that we are in a new year.

The new year means change. It always has and this year will not be any different. We will see a changing of the guard in our Presidency. President Biden is exiting after an unbelievable 50 or so years in national politics. President Trump is coming back and he has done what no other human has done before.

I’m not simply referring rot being elected a second time after sitting out a term because that has happened. What I mean is no one has been vilified and harassed as he has been and even survived let alone ascend to the highest office in the world. January will bring immediate change upon his inauguration. However, it remains to be seen what will change and what won’t.

Life is always transitioning but we sometimes have difficulty making the transition. Some men never get over their high school sports career. They live in the past of the time when they were star athletes, but that may have. been 20 – 40 years ago. We often have great difficulty overcoming a failed relationship or marriage. It happened ten years ago but the impact of it still troubles us. We often still grieve over the loss of a loved one who died 20 years ago.

We still miss them and the joy they brought into our lives. We often cannot transition from our jobs or careers. We remember those 20 to 40 years that we worked a certain job or business. We look back to those days often as great days that we would like to go back to.

It's not easy to transition., The college freshman often misses their senior year of high school. Even as adults we remember those wonderful wasted days of childhood. The 35-year-old misses their teen years, the 80-year-old would like to bra fifty again.

Often, we dread birthdays. The actual birthdate brings a new number. The 15-year-old loves that 16 number because it means freedom to drive. The 64-year-old anticipates 65 and Medicare and the Social Security check soon to come.

Our hope must be to transition as well as we can because transition is coming for us all.

Glen Mollett is the author of 13 books including Uncommom Sense, the Spiritual Chocolate series, Grandpa's Store, Minister's Guidebook insights from a fellow minister. His column is published weekly in over 600 publications in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.

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Sentinel Digest | Our stories this week

Dec 27, 2024 06:18 pm  .::. 
Illinois farmers await proposed Trump tariffs, questioning how they will affect their agribusiness operations

A new president will move into the White House in less than a month and Illinois farmers are questioning whether Donald Trump's tough talk on tariffs will become a reality, and how his decision will affect their livelihood.

Dec 27, 2024 10:14 pm  .::. 
Commentary |Am Yisrael Chai is not just a slogan

Am Yisrael Chai – It’s just a slogan, it is a way of life

I remember growing up as a kid in Brooklyn singing the Am Yisrael Chai chant, we’d sing it with great excitement and with great pride. And then I remember myself as a young adult, growing into my career as a professional Jew working for various nonprofits, always ending my talks, and my social media posts, with the chant: Am Yisrael? (audience) Chai. I remember how friends and colleagues thought it was cute, reminiscent of a time when they too may have sung the song as kids, they’d chuckle. That’s what I was known for, I was the guy who people knew would scream out AM YISRAEL CHAI wherever and whenever possible. Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.

Dec 27, 2024 09:59 pm  .::. 
Prep Hoops |Thursday Basketball Scores

Basketball scores from December 26 for area basketball teams.

Dec 27, 2024 09:01 pm  .::. 
Outlasting a talented Tri-Valley squad, SJO basketball advances to State Farm tournament quarterfinals

The St. Joseph-Ogden boys basketball team trailed on the scoreboard for 19 minutes of their quarterfinal game against Tri-Valley (10-1) at the State Farm Holiday Classic. That was until Spartan Coy Taylor sank a field goal with 4:57 left in the game to give his team the one-point go-ahead, 41-40. Persistent and tenacious, SJO (5-3) held the late game lead to win by two 44-42 at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center on Friday.

Dec 27, 2024 07:13 pm  .::. 
Kearney steps up to lead Spartans in State Farm win over U-High

Rebounding from their 41-29 loss to Bishop McNamara on Thursday, the St. Joseph-Ogden girls' basketball team advanced forward in the consolation bracket at the State Farm Holiday Classic after holding off a huge second-half surge from Normal University to win, 36-33 on Friday. The victory guaranted SJO at least a fourth-place finish in the consolation bracket.

Dec 27, 2024 06:41 pm  .::. 
Think a toy is unsafe, there are options available to report the potential danger to children

The National Retail Federation expects people will spend nearly $989 billion by year's end on holiday shopping but the costs cannot compare to an injury or death due to unknowingly buying a faulty product.

Many children's toys are manufactured in countries like China and India. In their haste to avoid possible Trump administration tariffs, a few safety steps may have been skipped before sending them to the States, said one product liability attorney.

Dec 27, 2024 05:55 pm  .::. 
Exposing misconceptions about infant nutrition for new moms

Bringing a new baby home raises the focus on their and mom’s well-being. Toward the top of the list: what and how the child is being fed. Whether you choose to breastfeed or use formula, misconceptions about infant nutrition are everywhere. Xandra Anderson, a certified lactation consultant at OSF HealthCare, cuts through the noise.

Dec 27, 2024 02:54 pm  .::. 
New Year - New Diet: Be wary of fad diets on social media

Among the New Year’s resolutions worldwide, many people have pledged to find and stick with a healthy diet. But there’s a lot more to it than just grabbing every “reduced fat” item off the grocery store shelf.

Karen Whitehorn, MD, an OSF HealthCare internal medicine physician, hears questions all the time about diets. Her first question back is usually: what do you want out of your diet? Do you want to be healthy? Lose weight? Manage a medical condition? Sort through the details, and you’ll find the best option.

St. Joe-Ogden Athletics


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How sweet it is! Spartans extract revenge over Titans in semifinal game

NORMAL - For a third year in a row, the St. Joseph-Ogden boys' basketball program is in the State Farm Holiday Classic small school championship game. The Spartans prevailed in an exciting seesaw battle against El Paso-Gridley, 52-49.

After leading the entire first quarter and nearly half of the second, EPG took the lead behind three treys from Braden Hayes combined with a three from Jayvion Maxon and buckets to start and end the period, 32-29.

Ryker Lockhart (7 points) put the Spartans back on top with back-to-back three-pointers, going up 35-32 early in the third quarter. Hayes, who finished with 22 points, drained two more from the outside to help the Titans to a 45-40 advantage.

EPG stretched their lead to seven after a bucket from Micah Meiss (12 points) to start the fourth quarter. SJO quickly responded, scoring three unanswered buckets after a free throw from Coy Taylor to retake the lead with 2:24 remaining, 49-47. Meiss immediately knotted the score at 49-all and missed a critical free throw.

With less than a minute on the clock, Tanner Siems, who led the Spartans with 19 points, broke the deadlock with his fourth bucket in the frame. Up 51-49 and one second away from revenge for last year's loss, Coy Taylor (12 points) missed his first of two free throws and converted on the second to secure the Spartan victory by three.

The win extended the Spartans win streak to four games while improving to 7-3 overall.

Heading into Monday's title game, Tanner Siems has scored 43 of the 153 produced by SJO during the tournament. Coy Taylor, the second-leading scorer and free-throw shooter (13-19), has 37 points. Meanwhile, Parker Fitch and Collin Thomey have contributed 21 and 19, respectively.

On Saturday, after beating Quincy Notre Dame 80-57 a day earlier, Pecatonica slipped Normal University 56-54 to punch their ticket into the finale. The Indians opened the State Farm tournament with an impressive 83-53 win over Olympia.

This will the the toughest test for the Spartans so far this season. The Indians have four players who need to be contained defensively. Cooper Hoffman has drained 67 of his team's 220 points. Zion Briamah with 32 points, Brody Black with 41, and Jaxon Diedrich with 27 are threats. Hoffman scored 33 against Quincy Notre Dame.

The Small School Division championship game is scheduled to start at 5:15 PM on Monday at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center. Admission is $15 for adults at the door. Ticket prices for Students with ID (K-12), Senior Citizens, Active Military, and Veterans are $10. Admission is good for all four title and third-place contests.

December 7, 2024 .::. 27 Photos
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SJO girls close out tournament with a loss, Miller leads team's scoring effort

NORMAL - Atleigh Miller, a freshman, came off the bench to score eight points, leading St. Joseph-Ogden's offensive production in their 59-26 loss to Rockford Lutheran (11-4) at the State Farm Holiday Classic on Saturday. The Spartans (6-8) finished the tournament with a 1-2 record.

The Lady Crusaders held the Spartans to just 12 points in the first half while padding their half of the scoreboard with 37 of them. Rockford Lutheran kept their foot on the gas in the second half, scoring another 23 points to advance to the Small School division's consolation championship game five hours later against Sacred Heart-Griffin.

Trying to help dig the Spartans out of the hole early on, Addison Brooks, normally an outside shooting threat, was held to just six points from a pair of three-pointers. Timera Blackburn-Kelley contributed a pair of baskets also finishing with four points.

Lady Crusaders' Soraya Parker led all scorers with 23 points. Teammate Wrigley Meanovich added another eight points with Shauna Jones finishing the semifinal with seven points, rounding out the top three scorers.

St. Joseph-Ogden returns to action in the new year on January 4 in a home non-conference game against Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.

December 14, 2024 .::. 39 Photos
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Commentary |
Am Yisrael Chai – It’s just a slogan, it is a way of life

by Leor Sinai, Rabbi


Am Yisrael Chai – It’s just a slogan, it is a way of life

I remember growing up as a kid in Brooklyn singing the Am Yisrael Chai chant, we’d sing it with great excitement and with great pride. And then I remember myself as a young adult, growing into my career as a professional Jew working for various nonprofits, always ending my talks, and my social media posts, with the chant: Am Yisrael? (audience) Chai. I remember how friends and colleagues thought it was cute, reminiscent of a time when they too may have sung the song as kids, they’d chuckle. That’s what I was known for, I was the guy who people knew would scream out AM YISRAEL CHAI wherever and whenever possible. Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.

The earliest use of the slogan appeared as early as 1895 in a Zionist songbook

Fast-forward to post October 7, 2023, Am Yisrael Chai has once again re-emerged as the rallying cry for the global people of Israel. My wife jokes that I should’ve copywritten the slogan back then, not that I think that would’ve been possible, but boy I would’ve been a millionaire by now! The reality is that we stand at an intersection of historic proportions, a point of reference requiring us to rise to the challenges confronting our people, once again elevating the rallying cry: Am Yisrael Chai!

I know, I see it all over social media, and I hear it all the time, you do too, and I love it.

Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.

The earliest use of the slogan appeared as early as 1895 in a Zionist songbook, and again at the Second World Jewish Conference in 1933, summoned to fight Hitler's new Nazi regime through economic boycott. Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise ended the final address by declaring to the crowd: "We are prepared to defend ourselves against the will of Hitler Germany to destroy. We must defend ourselves because we are a people which lives and wishes to live. My last word that I wish to speak to you is this – our people lives — Am Yisrael Chai!"

And again, on April 20, 1945, five days after the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was liberated, British Army chaplain Rabbi Leslie Hardman led a Friday evening Shabbat service for a few hundred survivors at the camp. Knowing the service was being recorded by Patrick Gordon Walker of the BBC radio service, a Jewish army chaplain proclaimed "Am Yisrael Chai!, the children of Israel still liveth" after the group sang the anthem Hatikvah at the conclusion of the service.

The slogan reemerged in 1965, when Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach was asked to compose a song ahead of a planned Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ) rally in front of the Soviet Mission to the United Nations in New York on April 4, 1965. While in Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia, Carlebach wrote and first performed "Am Yisrael Chai" before a group of youth in Prague.

At each of these historic instances the slogan Am Yisrael Chai served as a living reference and driving force inspiring Am Yisrael at its most challenging times – The People of Israel LIVE!

Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.

Fast-forward to today, we know that Am Yisrael Chai isn’t merely a slogan, rather Am Yisrael Chai is a way of life with a purpose that is projected forward from generations before our time to future generations yet to be born, driving our active participation in reclaiming, retelling, and realizing our story. Just as in the examples shared above, so too today, the slogan serves our current global Jewish anchor of hope and forward moving existence.

Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.

Our ancestors who outlived exile and perpetuated Jewish life for 2000 years in exile

The question is how do we perpetuate and live this value? By doing something about it. By being an active participant and not a bystander. By getting involved in every which way possible, by educating yourself, educating your children, and sending your kids to Jewish youth group and sleepaway camps, and by educating your community. It means getting involved in your local synagogue/temple, in a local communal organization, and getting involved with a cause that directly impacts Jewish Peoplehood and Israel, and it means role modeling for your children and others.

Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.

What kind of ancestors will we be to our future generations?

My hope is that we will be just as amazing as those who came before us. Our ancestors who outlived exile and perpetuated Jewish life for 2000 years in exile, ancestors who witnessed the rise and fall of empires, ancestors who maintained their Jewish way of life—in hiding if needed, ancestors who survived the worst that humanity has to offer during the Holocaust, ancestors who came out from the ashes of the Holocaust to make the dream of the modern nation state of Israel, a reality.

And now it is our turn, Generation Zion, to choose life!

In the future, this period of history will be learned about, talked about, and will be celebrated. Who knows? It may become a holiday (think Hannukah or Purim) where we read a megillah, pray and sing, make kiddish, eat a meal, maybe candy, and celebrate that the People of Israel live, all because you, we, did something about it.

And remember: Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.

Rabbi Leor Sinai is Principal of Sinai Strategies, a consulting agency focused on advancing Global Jewish – Israel relations, Education, Leadership Development, and Organizational Advancement. Sinai also serves as a motivational speaker, sits on the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Board of Governors as Chair of the Youth Aliyah & Absorption Committee, and serves on the board of Atchalta—a non-partisan think tank advancing social cohesion and national resilience in Israel. Originally from New York, Sinai made Aliyah with his family in 2011.
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Prep Hoops |
Thursday Basketball Scores

Girls' Basketball

Attica 39
Oakwood 47

Caydence Vermillion hit seven three-pointers on her way to a team-high 23 points and 15 rebounds against the Red Ramblers. Gracie Hanner hauled in 11 rebounds of her own, finishing nine points and five assists for the Comets.

Armstrong 27
Unity 36

Unity 53
North Vermillion 54

Kera Dunham tallied 15 points and Nora Thomann, a freshman, contributed another 13 in the non-conference win for the Falcons. Thomann led her team with eight rebounds and three assists. Dunham credited with six steals and four assists.

St. Joseph-Ogden 29
Bishop McNamara 41

The Spartans fall in State Farm Holiday Classic action at Normal West. Senior Katie Erickson scored three treys to lead SJO's scoring effort with nine points.

Boys' Basketball

Oakwood 37
Tuscola 94

Harding Academy 52
Champaign Central 60

Maroons' Cayden Love shot 75% from the free throw line on his way to a team-high 16 points. Chris Bush and Luke Swanson nudged Central in the non-conference win with 13 points each. Love, a sophomore, collected four steals in the win.

St. Joseph-Ogden 56
Winnebago 42

Coy Taylor led SJO's scoring effort with 19 points. Tanner Siems added another 14 points and Collin Thomey chipped in 10. The trio, frequent visitors to the free throw line, made 12 of their 17 attempts.


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St. Joe-Ogden Athletics
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Outlasting a talented Tri-Valley squad, SJO basketball advances to State Farm tournament quarterfinals

BLOOMINGTON - The St. Joseph-Ogden boys basketball team trailed on the scoreboard for 19 minutes of their quarterfinal game against Tri-Valley (10-1) at the State Farm Holiday Classic. That was until Spartan Coy Taylor sank a field goal with 4:57 left in the game to give his team the one-point go-ahead, 41-40. Persistent and tenacious, SJO (5-3) held the late game lead to win by two 44-42 at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center on Friday.

Down by four, seven minutes away from being bumped into the consolation bracket, Ryker Lockhart drilled a three-pointer to close the gap by one before Taylor's bucket.

After a brief six-point advantage, SJO led by two at the end of the first quarter, 14-12. Vikings' Tommy Kinsella tied the game up a little over a minute into the second quarter, forcing SJO to battle through the next two and a quarter periods in catch-up mode.

Senior Tanner Siems led the team offensively, scoring 10 points. Will Haley added nine points of his own, and Parker Fitch finished with 8 points in SJO's scoring effort.

Tri-Valley Kinsella led all scorers with 15 points, and teammate Ayden Jensen, who went 6-for-6 from the free throw line, chipped in 12 more.


St. Joseph-Ogden's Coy Taylor tries to dribble around El Paso-Gridley's Chancesaye Maxon during last December's small school title game at the Shirk Center. Up by two and with less than two seconds on the game clock, St. Joseph-Ogden lost the back-and-forth game 49-48, thanks to a 20-footer launched by Maxon at the buzzer.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

One game away from making a third-consecutive appearance in the tournament's championship contest, St. Joseph-Ogden will face a familiar foe at 4:30 PM on Saturday at Normal West High School. The Spartans will be looking for revenge on El Paso-Gridley, last year's small school champs, after suffering a heart-breaking loss in a buzzer-beater at the Shirk Center last December.


St. Joe-Ogden Athletics
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Kearney steps up to lead Spartans in State Farm win over U-High

BLOOMINGTON - Rebounding from their 41-29 loss to Bishop McNamara on Thursday, the St. Joseph-Ogden girls' basketball team advanced forward in the consolation bracket at the State Farm Holiday Classic after holding off a huge second-half surge from Normal University to win, 36-33 on Friday. The victory guaranted SJO at least a fourth-place finish in the consolation bracket.

In an outstanding defensive effort, the Spartans held the Pioneers to just two free throws in the second quarter, taking a 22-9 lead into the locker room at the half spearheaded by senior Sara Kearney's seven points. Kearney added another bucket in the third quarter to finish game two at the tournament with a team-high nine points.

SJO got off to an explosive start thanks to a three-pointer from Addison Brooks, Kayla Osterbur, and Hayden Dahl. Brooks went on to finish with eight points, tied with Timera Blackburn-Kelley as the team's second-leading scorer. Osterbur sank another trey in the final quarter to finish with six points, rounding out the top four scorers.

Kendyl Schroeder led U-High's offensive effort with 11 points. Scoreless in the second and third quarters, Schroeder bookended the drought with six points in the first frame and five in the fourth.

The Spartans, who improved their record to six wins against seven losses, return to Normal Community High School for a 1 PM semifinal game against Rockford Lutheran.

St. Joe-Ogden Athletics
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