Team effort fuels Unity's 15-point win over Paris

Coleton Langendorf dribbles down the baseline during Unity's home game against Paris. The junior scored 21 against the visiting Tigers. See more photos from the game here.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Less than 24 hours after beating the Tri-Valley Vikings by 19, Unity picks up a second victory by 15 over visiting Paris.

TOLONO - The Rockets (8-5) start 2025 with back-to-back wins, the latest coming on Saturday at home against Paris. It took a team effort, with nine members contributing to the victory, for Unity to reverse a first-half 13-point deficit in the 65-50 win over the Tigers.

Scoreless in the first quarter, Coleton Langendorf hit his stride in the last two frames to lead the Rockets' offensive effort with 21 points. Tre Hoggard reached double digits, dropping 15 points on the Tigers. Mason O'Neill rounded out the top three scorers for Unity with seven points.

Despite losing the opening tip, Paris took an early 6-0 and stretched it into a 20-7 advantage by the end of the first quarter.

"Give Paris credit. They played really good out of the gate," said Unity head coach Matt Franks. "We were just sluggish. I have to give credit where credit is due. They played really well."

Sluggish. Yeah, a less than 24-hour turnaround after a tough game the night before does that to young legs.

"We had a really hard-fought game at Tri-Valley," he explained. "You could see that in our legs early. We didn't make shots early and it kind of snowballed."

Unity knocked off the 10-4 Vikings on the road, 60-41.

Down by 13 at the start of the second quarter, Dane Eisenmenger started the Rocket comeback hitting two free throws. The junior delivered the next UHS bucket to cut the lead to nine. Making every trip to the free throw line count, Unity converted on six of nine attempts along with three shots from Langendorf and another from Hoggard. By halftime, Unity trailed by three, 26-23.

"Our guys settled down and settled into the game, and were able to make enough plays," Franks said. He credited Unity's brutal early season schedule for the comeback. "Our first 11 games, eight of them were either 3A or 4A opponents. We played a really tough schedule early. It's done a good job preparing us for this stretch."

The Rockets' momentum continued in the second half to a 31-30 advantage. The two teams exchanged leads briefly before Unity slid ahead by four after Hoggard banked a layup off the glass at the end of the third period to up 40-36.

Thanks to eight fourth-quarter points from Langendorf and six points from Brayden Henry, Unity racked up a 15-point lead while limiting Paris to just 11.

Jackson Rigdon scored 27 points for Paris, 15 of those coming in the first half. The 5'10" senior drained five treys and went 4-for-6 from the free throw line. Juniors Carter Eastham and Karic Vitale contributed eight points each in the non-conference loss.

Hoping for a packed house, the Unity is back in the Rocket Center on Tuesday at 7 PM, hosting Normal University High (9-6). Like the Rockets, the Pioneers started the season facing larger basketball programs. U-High, who enters the game 3-0 against Illini Prairie Conference teams, notched victories over Bloomington, Normal West, and Rochester.

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.

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.