Zamora leads Hoopeston Area in 8-point win over Westville

HOOPESTON -- Anthony Zamora stepped up with a 15 point finish to lead Hoopeston Area to a 54-46 conference win over Westville on Tuesday.

Zamora, averaging 12.3 points per game, made six of his eight shots from the field and drained half of his attempts from the line. The senior collected a team-high five steals.

Junior Owen Root and sophomore Trenton Montez also finished with double-digit scores against the Tigers. Root logged two boards and two assist to give the Vermilion Valley team their first conference win of the season with his 13 points performance. Montez came off the bench to score 10 points, four from the charity stripe.

The Cornjerkers improve to 4-5 on the season. The team travels to Milford (5-2) on Thursday to face the Bearcats in another conference test and follows up with another game on Friday evening at St. Anne (2-9), who are 1-3 at home against opponents this season.

Box Score

Hoopeston   13     7   16   18   - 54
Westville      13     5     5    23 - 46

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Hoopeston
Root 4(1)-3-2--13, Montez 3(0)-6-4--10, VanDerVeer 1(0)-1-3--5, Rush 0(2)-0-1--7, Zamora 6(0)-6-3--15, Sigerill 1(0)-2-1--3.

Westville
Not reported

Photo Gallery | Spartans notch win #18 to finish the season above .500

ST. JOSEPH - The SJO wrestling program went 3-0 on Saturday to finish the regular season dual schedule with an 18-16 record. St. Joseph-Ogden defeated Decatur MacArthur 54-21, Decatur Lutheran 72-9, and Hoopeston Area, 50-26.

Here are moments and memories from the Spartans' final match of the day against the Cornjerkers.

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Hoopeton's Anthony Zamora spins around SJO's Carlson Sarnecki during the first period of the 170-pound match. Moments later Zamora pinned Sarnecki for his team's first win of the match.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Grinning ear-to-ear Peyton Sarver celebrate his 39-second pin over Hoopeston's Bryson Baker.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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SJO's Owen Birt works toward keeping head control on Hoopeston's Landen Mills during their 220-pound match on Saturday afternoon. It took the senior just 1:31 for a first period pin to secure the win.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Spartan wrestler Quincy Jones pins Cornjerkers' Nick Brown during their 285-pound match.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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SJO wrestlers Camden Getty and Karleigh Spain cheer for 285-pound teammate Quincy Jones after his second period pin over Hoopeston's Nick Brown.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Owen Birt offers words of advice to teammate Jackson Walsh (right) before he heads out to wrestle Hoopeston Area's Owen Garrett for the 106-pound bout.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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SJO assistant coach Sean Thompson and head coach Bill Gallo yell instructions to 106-pound wrestler Jackson Walsh during the team's match against Hoopeston Area.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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SJO's Jackson Walsh scoots around Hoopeston's Owen Garrett during their 106-pound match. Up 2-0 at the end of the first period, Walsh took 22 seconds in the second period to win his third match of the day.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Sophomore grappler Jackson Walsh lets out a roar after a second period pin at 2:22 on Cornjerkers' Owen Garrett. Walsh, who wrestled in two other matches, finished the day undefeated.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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SJO's Brandon Goodwin wrestles Hoopeston's Aiden Bell in the 126-pound match. Surviving three rounds, Goodwin fell by major decision, 13-0.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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SJO's Holden Brazelton lifts Cornjerkers' Rsiah Jones for a throw. Brazelton cruised to a 16-0 tech fall.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Ashley Brazelton watches and records her son, Holden, while he piles on points on his way to a 16-0 technical fall on Hoopeston's Rasiah Jones during their 138-pound match.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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145-pounder David Bell from Hoopston tries to pull off a single-leg takedown on SJO's Vance McComas. Despite going the distance, McComas fell by major decision, 9-0.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Spartans' Coy Hayes tries to roll Hoopston's Aiden Larkew during their 152-pound match. Larkew, who was up 4-2 in the match, was able to prevail with a pin at 5:04.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Prep Sports Notebook | Area basketball teams post losses

Urbana 20, Normal Community 57: The Tigers didn't hit a shot from the field in the second quarter of their road game against the Lady Ironmen on Saturday. Junior Aziyaha Davis led all Urbana scorers with six points. Jasmine McCullough and Destiny Barber rounded out the top three scorers with five and four points, respectively.

Hoopeston Area 69, Horizon Science Academy Southwest 48: Trenton Montez and Anthony Zamora led the Cornjerkers with 16 points apiece in pool play against the Huskies. Montez snagged four steals, while Zamora collected four of his own out of the team's total of 11. Preston VandeVeer added another eight points while Owen Root provided seven at the Watseka Christmas Tournament.

Kendrick Sigerill, who finished with six points, led the team on the boards with six rebounds. Root and fellow junior Wyatt Eisenmann hauled in four rebounds apiece. The Hoopeston boys will face VVC foe Westville in the 5th-place game at the tournament on Tuesday.

St. Joseph-Ogden 26, Pleasant Plains 55: Addisyn Martinie scored a team-high 10 points in the Spartans' road loss against the Cardinals in non-conference girls action on Saturday. Addie Brooks came off the bench to post two third-quarter treys for six points. Senior Taylor Hug was held to just five points for SJO. The St. Joseph-Ogden (4-7) varsity squad hosts the one-loss Cissna Park Timberwolves (10-1) tomorrow at 6pm.

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Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

6-foot-3 senior Austin Langendorf gets a hand slap from a young Unity basketball fan after his team's tough 45-43 overtime loss to Pleasant Plains on Saturday.

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Unity 43, Pleasant Plains 45: Unity snagged 21 rebounds and tallied eight assists in the 2-point overtime loss to Pleasant Plains. Head coach Matt Reed said his 5-3 team will learn from the loss and improve, especially with a tough conference schedule in front of them. "The effort [and] the desire, that was definitely there. It was just a great high school basketball game. A really good basketball game."

The Rockets will attempt to shake the loss off and prep for an upcoming non-conference game against Paris at the Rocket Center on Tuesday.

Unity 36, Mt. Zion 51: Addison Ray led the Rockets with a team-high 14 points and had five boards in the program's third loss this season. Senior Abbie Piecaynski knocked down six fourth-quarter points, but it wasn't enough to close the gap with the generous Lady Braves' lead. Frosh Claire Meharry also produced her offense contribution in the final quarter with four points and grabbed eight rebounds for the now 9-4 Rockets. Lauren Miller contributed three points, three rebounds and four steals during the home stand.

Shooting Stars | Area basketball athletes shined brightly last month

• Clifton Central 46 - Hoopeston Area 41

Preston VanDeVeer and Anthony Zamora finished with nine points each in Hoopeston Area's loss at home to the Comets. Kenddrick Sigerill led the Cornjerkers (2-3) on the boards with a season-high 11 rebounds finished with eight points. Hoopeston Area's Owen Root went 3-for-6 from the field putting eight points in the book.

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Oakwood's Brody Taflinger shakes hands with St. Joseph-Ogden Athletic Director Justin Franzen after recieving his recognition plaque for the Toyota of Danville All-Tournament team on December 3. Taflinger's efforts lead the Comets to a runner-up finish after falling to the hosts Spartans 66-31 in the championship game on Saturday. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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• St. Joseph-Ogden 66 - Oakwood 31

Ty Pence drained 33 points in SJO's title game against Oakwood at the Toyota of Danville Classic on December 3. The senior D1 recruit scored 15 points in the first quarter to put the host Spartans on cruise control to this year's tournament title.

Junior Brody Taflinger led the Comets, who entered the fray with an impressive 8-0 record, with a 13-point effort in the team's first loss of the season.

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• Teutopolis 56 - Unity 40

Before boasting a four-game win streak, the Rockets suffered their second consecutive loss at the hands of the Wooden Shoes on December 3. Despite nine players contributing with two or more points, Unity fell 56-40.

The Rockets led at the halfway point by five and trailed by one, 38-37, at the end of the third quarter. Jay Saunders, who led the team in the loss with nine points, hit the team's only field goal during a fourth-quarter offensive collapse. Dalton O'Neill sank one of two free throw attempts to round out the scoring in the frame to just three points. O'Neill, Unity's second-leading scorer, finished with seven points. Henry Thomas tallied five points in the third quarter.

Joey Niebrugge, a junior, led all scorers with in the contest with 18 points.

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• St. Joseph-Ogden 68 - Watseka 28

Junior Logan Smith and senior Ty Pence combined effort produced 48 of SJO's 68 points in the team's romp over the Warriors at the Toyota of Danville Classic.

Pence, an 2023 Illinois State basketball recruit, drained 28 points while Smith rained down 20 more. Six other Spartans including Maddux Carter and Brock Trimble contributed to the victory.

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• Rochester 56 - Unity 46

Andrew and Henry Thomas sank 11 points apiece in the Rockets' second game of the season. Without home court advantage, Unity (1-1) came out of the locker room cold after the halftime break, scoring just six points to Rochester's 17.

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• St. Joseph-Ogden 44 - Danville 14

Addisyn Martinie dropped a game-high 16 point in the Spartans' first game during the month of December that snapped a three-game early season slide. Addison Seggebruch supplied 13 points in the non-conference victory.

SJO's improves to 2-4 heading into their next contest against Maroa-Forsyth at home.

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• URBANA 39 - Charleston 34

Senior Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta led the Tigers girls' basketball effort with 16 points in the team's first win of the season. Junior Jasmine McCullough also delivered a double-digit finish with 13 points. Urbana (1-3) enjoyed a team effort with six points from McKenzie Sprague and two points apiece from Savannah Blanden and Elizabeth Lange.

Trojans' Ally Logsdon all scorers with 19 points, 15 of those delivered in the fourth quarter of the non-conference game on December 1.

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Prep Sports Notebook | Hoopeston drops close game at Watseka tourney, SJO picks up win

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Cornjerkers suffer heartbreaking loss

WATSEKA - The Hoopeston Area basketball team dropped their first conference game of the season to Milford at the Watseka Christmas Tournament on Thursday. Despite seven players contributing to the final outcome, the Cornjerkers (4-6, 1-1) came up short, 70-67.

Anthony Zamora led Hoopeston's scoring effort with 19 points. Preston VanDeVeer finished the night with a 13-point effort. Kendrick Sigrill, who hauled down 12 rebounds, and Wyatt Eisenman chipped in 12 points apiece. Owen Root added another 8 points, Mason Rush finished with 2 points, and Ethan Steiner added one more in the conference loss.

Cornjerkers continue their quest at the Watseka tournament facing St. Anne tomorrow.

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Hug drains 5 treys

BISMARCK - St. Joseph-Ogden Taylor Hug led all scorers with a game-high 19 points in her team's 50-31 win over Bismarck-Henning. The senior was also a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line. She swished a three-pointer in every quarter except for the third, where she drained an extra.

Teammate Addison Frick hit three shots from behind the arc on her way to a 12-point finish for the Spartans. Addie Martinie contributed 12 points, and Addie Seggebruch rounded out the team's scoring effort with nine points.

The road win improves SJO's season record to 4-6. The Spartans travel to Pleasant Plains on Saturday for another non-conference contest.

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Uni-High falls to Salt Fork at home

URBANA - The Illineks scored 10 points in all four quarters but came up short in their non-conference home game against the visiting Storm from Salt Fork 74-40 on Wednesday. U-High is 1-11 on the season after the loss.

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** This page will be updated as results are reported oursentinel.com **

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5 area wrestlers win a title at the Unity Invitational

St. Joseph-Ogden's 106-pound wrestler Emmitt Holt after win over Oakwood's Steven Uden earlier this month. Holt, one of two seniors on this year's squad, won the Unity Invitational title on Saturday for his weight class.

Photo: PhotoNews Media

TOLONO - Eleven area wrestlers finished in the top three in their weight class at the Unity Wrestling Invitational on Saturday. The Rockets turned in a solid performance, with seven wrestlers finishing at or near the top of the podium. Meanwhile, St. Joseph-Ogden had four wrestlers who placed third or better.

Unity's title winners were Hunter Eastin at 190-pounds, Thayden Root at 175-pounds, and Abram Davidson at 157-pounds. Hudson DeHart (215 lbs), Kaden Inman (144), and Hunter Shike (132), earned silver medals for their efforts. Ryan Rink finished the day with a bronze medal in the 165-lb weight class.

Lightweights Emmitt Holt (106-pounds) and Holden Brazelton (132) won titles for the Spartans. Quincy Jones (215) and Coy Hayes battled to a third-place finish.

Unity Invitational Results

106 -
1st Place - Emmitt Holt, SJO
2nd Place - Charlie Flores, Hoopeston
3rd Place - Zane Stanley, Benton
4th Place - Braxton Tittle, Benton
5th Place - Pierce Bultmann, Rochester
6th Place - Noah Whiteside, Olympia

113 -
1st Place - Dylan Eimier, Olympia
2nd Place - Connor Carroll, Rochester
3rd Place - Cohen Sweely, Benton
4th Place - Travis McCarter, Unity
5th Place - Jackson Walsh, SJO
6th Place - Briggs Miller, Benton

120 -
1st Place - Austin Kisner, Olympia
2nd Place - Noah Pelletier, McNamara
3rd Place - Miles Carroll, Rochester
4th Place - Camden Getty, SJO
5th Place - Wyatt Strait, Prairie Central
6th Place - Brawnsen Bloodworth, Carterville

126 -
1st Place - Garrett VerHeecke, Unity Christian
2nd Place - Chase Stedman, Tremont
3rd Place - Mateo Martinez, Olympia
4th Place - Jack Zucco, Rochester
5th Place - Talan Nelson, Hoopeston
6th Place - Kaden Blades, Benton

132 -
1st Place - Holden Brazelton, SJO
2nd Place - Hunter Shike, Unity
3rd Place - Aiden Bell, Hoopeston
4th Place - John Traub, Prairie Central
5th Place - Matthew Flowers, Tremont
6th Place - Jake Kuhn, Charleston

138 -
1st Place - Mason Mark, Tremont
2nd Place - Anthony Hernandez, Benton
3rd Place - Cooper Phillips, Olympia
4th Place - Malachi Hutchinson, Urbana
5th Place - Taylor Finley, Unity
6th Place - Austin Winters, Unity

144 -
1st Place - Mason Tieffel, Benton
2nd Place - Kaden Inman, Unity
3rd Place - Micah Spinazzola, Peotone
4th Place - Drake Pfeiffer, Rochester
5th Place - Emiliano Bedello, Urbana
6th Place - Spencer Crotser, Carterville

150 -
1st Place - Bentley Wise, Olympia
2nd Place - Conor Pasch, Peotone
3rd Place - Ethan Fordham, Rochester
4th Place - Derek Wilkey, Benton
5th Place - Ethan Ziller, Prairie Central
6th Place - Caleb Berg, Unity Christian

157 -
1st Place - Abram Davidson, Unity
2nd Place - Ayden Larkin, Hoopeston
3rd Place - Coy Hayes, SJO
4th Place - Josh Heath, Unity
5th Place - Kelton Graden, Olympia
6th Place - Santino Izzi, Peotone

165 -
1st Place - Bowden Delaney, Tremont
2nd Place - Angel Zamora, Hoopeston
3rd Place - Ryan Rink, Unity
4th Place - Tiffin Kouzoukas, Benton
5th Place - Jacob Grob, Carterville
6th Place - Edwin Villagomez, Urbana

175 -
1st Place - Thayden Root, Unity
2nd Place - Cole Bauer, Olympia
3rd Place - Laith Abunijmeh, Peotone
4th Place - Peyton Robinson, Benton
5th Place - Jack Rathbun, Prairie Central
6th Place - Ian Eatock, Tremont

190 -
1st Place - Hunter Eastin, Unity
2nd Place - Darian Holloway, Olympia
3rd Place - Blaine Williams, Tremont
4th Place - Conner Broughton, Rochester
5th Place - Marcellx Boling, Charleston
6th Place - Dominic Mendez, Urbana

215 -
1st Place - Jared Lauwerens, Rochester
2nd Place - Hudson DeHart, Unity
3rd Place - Quincy Jones, SJO
4th Place - Jacob Balsimo, Tremont
5th Place - Nathan Galant, Benton
6th Place - Elias Rodriguez, Charleston

285 -
1st Place - Zechariah Miller, Carterville
2nd Place - Drake Spears, Benton
3rd Place - Stormy Hughes, Charleston
4th Place - Tucker Deck, Hoopeston
5th Place - Brayden Riblet, Olympia
6th Place - Yeshua O`Brien, Charleston