The Sentinel: Holiday Basketball Tournament

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.

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.

More SJO sports news ~

3 Spartans deliver double-digits in 14-point win over Bago at State Farm basketball tournament

NORMAL - The St. Joseph-Ogden's boys basketball team snagged their first win at the annual State Farm Holiday Classic on Thursday, handing Winnebago a 56-42 loss. The Spartans (5-3) manufactured a 32-23 lead after the first two periods, stretching their advantage in the second half by 14 points in the remaining 20 seconds.

Coy Taylor goes up for a shot during the Spartans' Toyota of Danville Classic game against Charleston. Taylor was instrumental in SJO's win over Winnebago. The senior went 4-for-4 in the first quarter to give his team a three-point lead over the Indians.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

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. Taylor went 6-for-7.

The Spartans advance to the Small School Boys bracket quarterfinals to face Tri-Valley at 4:30 PM on Friday. The Trojans advanced after knocking off Rock Falls, 58-40.

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2024 Toyota of Danville Classic starts next Monday

ST. JOSEPH - Next week, the St. Joseph-Ogden boys basketball team will attempt to repeat as tournament champions at the Toyota of Danville Classic. The Spartans were crowned champions in the previous installment after beating the Oakwood Comets, 74-42.

SJO and the Comets also squared off in the 2022 championship game.

St. Joseph-Ogden's Kendrick Johnson falls to the floor with Watseka's Myles Lynch while going for a loose ball. SJO won the pool game last November, 74-38.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

This year's teams in Pool A are Cissna Park, Oakwood, PBL, and Kankakee Bishop McNamara. Pool B teams include Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond, Charleston, St. Joseph-Ogden, and Watseka.

Spectators and basketball fans can expect 16 exciting, fast-paced games with the return of the 35-second shot clock.

The admission fee for this year's tournament is $5 for adults. Tickets will be available at the ticket booth at the main entrance before each game.

Toyota of Danville Classic
Tournament Schedule

Monday, 12/2/24:
5:00 PM: Kankakee Bishop McNamara vs. Oakwood
6:30 PM: ALAH vs. St. Joseph-Ogden
8:00 PM: Cissna Park vs. PBL

Tuesday, 12/3/24:
5:00 PM: Charleston vs. ALAH
6:30 PM: Watseka vs. St. Joseph-Ogden
8:00 PM: Oakwood vs. PBL

Wednesday, 12/4/24:
5:00 PM: Watseka vs. Charleston
6:30 PM: PBL vs. Kankakee Bishop McNamara
8:00 PM: Oakwood vs. Cissna Park

Friday, 12/6/24:
5:00 PM: Cissna Park vs. Kankakee Bishop McNamara
6:30 PM: ALAH vs. Watseka
8:00 PM: Charleston vs. St. Joseph-Ogden

Saturday, 12/7/24:
1:00 PM: 7th Place Game
2:30 PM: 5th Place Game
4:00 PM: 3rd Place Game
5:30 PM: 1st Place Game

In Tolono, and still undefeated!
Rockets win Williamsville Holiday Tournament

Williamsville - Three-point shots from Andrew Thomas, Eric Miebach, and Jay Saunders in the first quarter gave Unity a six-point lead over Williamsville on Saturday at the Williamsville Holiday Tournament. Henry added two field goals in the frame to make the score 13-7 going into the second quarter.

Unity's Andrew Thomas brings the ball down the court in last year's home game against Paxton-Buckley-Loda. Thomas and the Rockets won this year's Williamsville Holiday Tournament and play in the Christie Clinic Shootout on Saturday in St. Joseph. The Rocket basketball program is enjoying it best start in decades at 13-0.

PhotoNews Media

The Rockets kept the six-point or better margin for two more quarters on the way to a 48-45, winning this year’s title, remaining one of the few Class 2A teams in the state with an unblemished record now 13-0.

Miebach and Henry Thomas finished with 11 points each. Dalton O’Neill scored six-for-six at the free-throw line, adding ten to the team’s scoring.

Unity has remained undefeated thanks to the depth of its roster. Six other players also contributed to the title win.

Andrew Thomas added a fourth-quarter free throw to his first-quarter trey, finishing with four points. Saunders and Eisenmenger chipped in three points each, with two points apiece from Tre Hoggard, Dane Langendorf, and sophomore Brayden Henry.

Brayden Scott led the Bullets’ scoring effort with 15 points. Brayden Saling scored one less to finish with 14 points and Carson Kohler had ten points. Brecken Thomas rounded out the team’s scoring with two treys, one in the first and fourth quarters, for six points. Williamsville’s record drops to a still impressive 11 wins against 2 losses.

Unity returns to action this weekend hosting Maroa-Forsyth on Friday at home for Alumni Night. The Trojans are 8-4, including a 55-34 win over St. Teresa (7-7) and posted a 52-42 victory over Monticello on December 9.

Less than 24 hours later, the Rockets travel to St. Joseph to face Quincy Notre Dame (8-6) in the annual Christie Clinic Shootout. The Raiders finished third in the consolation bracket on Friday beating Rockford Lutheran 78-56. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 pm on Saturday.

The agony of defeat; buzzer-beater sinks Spartans at the Classic

BLOOMINGTON - SJO's Luke Landrus reacts after El Paso-Gridley's Chancesaye Maxon, Jr.'s last second three-pointer goes through the net in hit team's State Farm Classic finale on Saturday. Up by two and with less than two seconds on the game clock, St. Joseph-Ogden lost the back-and-forth game by one point when the 20-footer was good just before the buzzer, 49-48. More photos coming after the new year.

"You got to be ready" - SJO bench steps up when called in SFHC opener

SJO's Tanner Siems takes control of the opening tipoff at the State Farm Holiday Classic on Wednesday.

NORMAL - From the opening tip through the first quarter, the St. Joseph-Ogden basketball team's efforts were dismal against East Dubuque in the second game of the Small School Division at the State Farm Holiday Classic. Up 27-25 at the start of the second half, the Spartans extended their fragile lead by as much as 11 in the third quarter over the tenacious Warriors on the way to a 56-47 win Wednesday afternoon at Normal Community West High School.

The East Dubuque punched SJO in the mouth early, going up 6-0 and led on the scoreboard the entire quarter. Spartans' Ryker Lockhart tied the game up with 3:37 left to play in the half, followed by two more SJO buckets to up 24-20.

"It didn't seem like we were ready to play," Spartan head coach Kiel Duval confessed. He gave credit to the way the Warriors came out to play. "They had a lot more energy from the start. They were more aggressive on both ends and that took us out of what we wanted to do."

The slow rev up to aggressive play was not ideal.

"In this tournament, you can't approach games like that," he explained. "One through 16 is really, really good. If you don't come ready to play, you saw what happened in the first quarter. You have to be ready to play when you walk off the bus."

Tanner Jacob goes up for a contested shot with East Dubuque's Carter Widmeier. Jacob scored 11 points for the Spartans in Wednesday's game.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

On the next possession, Warriors' Aaron Culbertson hit a jumper, closing the scoring gap. Tanner Jacob answered back with a trey of his own for SJO to make the score 27-23. East Dubuque would sink one more basket before the intermission and head in the locker room down by two.

It took just under a minute and a half at the start of the third quarter for Jacob to bag another trey and sink a field goal, giving SJO a 32-25 lead. Coupled with aggressive defensive play, the Spartans let the Warriors get close twice in the third quarter before taking full-control of the contest.

"It wasn't really a great start. We weren't ready to go," said Luke Landrus, who finished with eight points and four rebounds. "We picked it up after the second quarter. In the third quarter we really started playing defense and getting rebounds. That helped us offensively."

Landrus credited the bench for helping St. Joseph-Ogden get the win.

"Our bench helped us a a lot. We didn't start off fast, but we had good people come off the bench, played hard, and did their job."

Combined, Lockhart, Parker Fitch, Tim Blackburn-Kelley, Logan Lackey and Collin Thomey saw 32 minutes.

Ryker Lockhart, hopped of the bench, playing five minutes for SJO. He hit the second quarter, game-tying shot the Spartans needed against East Dubuque.

Photo: PhotoNews Media

"We got a lot of guys with the ability to play. We told them 'you got to be ready, whatever your roll is'," Duval said. "You got to play just like the other guys. There shouldn't be any drop-off. I thought the did today."

Three SJO players finished with double figures. Shooting 75% from the field, junior Tanner Siems finished with 15 points. Logan Smith accumulated 13 points during his 26 minutes on the floor. Both Siems and Smith had three rebounds and three assists. Jacob contributed 11 points and credited with two steals.

One-for-two from the free-throw line, Thomey led the Spartans' rebounding effort with five.

Tonight, the Spartans face Rock Falls in the tournament's nightcap at 8:30-ish at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center.

Spartans dive in to win first game at the State Farm Holiday Classic

NORMAL - St. Joseph-Ogden's Logan Smith dives in to catch a loose ball over East Dubuque senior Wyat Kruser and teammate Tanner Siems in the second half of their State Farm Holiday Classic first-round game on Wednesday. The Spartans (10-1) defeated the Warriors thanks to second-half reboot, 56-47. Siems led the SJO contingent with 15 points, while Smith delivered 13 in the first three quarters. St. Joseph-Ogden advances in the winner's bracket to face the Rockets of Rock Falls (10-3) in a quarterfinal contest at approximately 8:30 pm on Thursday.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks