Sentinel area basketball scores for December 20

PHOTO: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

St. Joseph-Ogden's Kenzie Atwood and Hayden Dahl fight for rebound under the basket with LeRoy's Sadee Owens. The Spartans defeated the Panthers (8-4) on Friday, December 19, by 19 points, 59-40. The Spartans are back in action at home on Monday, hosting Watseka (10-1). Beating Rantoul back on December 3, SJO will be the Warriors' second Illini Prairie foe this season.

Here are scores and recaps for our area prep basketball teams from Saturday, December 20.

Girls Basketball

Heritage girls win two at Walsh tournament


BEMENT -The Heritage Hawks won two games on Saturday, improving to a 12-3 record after beating Arthur-Okaw Christian and Unity Christian at the annual Mike Walsh Memorial Tournament

The Hawks jumped out to a 10-point first quarter lead against the Conquering Riders and never looked back, winning 52-43. Avery Herschberger drained 25 points for AOC in the loss.

Heritage picked up their second win after knocking off Unity Christian 48-43 in tournament play. The Hawks face Windsor-Stewardson-Straburg (5-4) on Monday at 7:30 p.m.

Eagles outlast Conquering Riders in tournament play


BEMENT - Rantoul held off a fourth-quarter rally from Arthur-Okaw Christian (7-5) for another win on Saturday, beating the Conquering Riders, 53-51. Josie Roseman and Erykah Baltimore led the Eagles with 15 and 10 points, respectively. Jayden Rosenberger went 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Enjoying a three-game win streak, he Eagles improved to 8-9 on the season.

Brileight Mast grabbed eight team-high rebounds for AOC, finishing with six points. Sophomore Avery Herschberger led all scorers with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists. Elsie Beever scored 12 points to keep the game with in reach at the Mike Walsh Memorial Tournament in Bement.

Rantoul 56, Unity Christian 51


BEMENT - The Rantoul girls basketball team defeated Unity Christian 56-51 in tournament play on Saturday thanks behind 23 points from senior Josie Roseman. Erykah Baltimore, who shot 67% from the free throw line, finished with 14 points. Laniece Johnson chipped in 11 points against the Lions.

Girls' Area Scoreboard


Mt. Zion 57, Unity 25
St. Joseph-Ogden 68, Charleston 37
Rantoul 56, Unity Christian 51
Rantoul, 53, Arthur-Okaw Christian 51
Paxton-Buckley-Loda 42, St. Thomas More 23
Watseka 56, Centennial 19
Heritage 52, Arthur-Okaw Christian 43
Heritage 48, Unity Christian 43


Boys Basketball

Boys' Area Scoreboard


Urbana 51, Romeoville 42
Oakwood 55, Watseka 54


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TAGS: SJO girls basketball beats Charleston, Heritage wins back-to-back tournament games, Rantoul wins at Mike Walsh Memorial Tournament, Oakwood Comets basketball team defeats Watseka Warriors
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Saturday, January 17 area prep basketball scores

Here is a quick roundup of basketball scores and performances for area teams on Saturday, January 17.


Girls Basketball

Huge bench contribution secures Rantoul victory

Up 48-17 at the half, Rantoul (11-11) cruised to an easy win on Friday. Junior Erykah Baltimore led the Eagles with 15 points and Addyson Sherrick finished with ten points, leading a balanced scoring effort from Rantoul in their 73-44 non-conference win over Schlarman Academy.

The Hilltoppers' offense was led by Addison Forsyth's game-high 20 points.

Next up, Rantoul host the Unity Rockets in Illini Prairie Conference action on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Schlarman (2-9) will host Cissna Park in Danville.


Girls' Area Scoreboard


Rantoul 73, Schlarman 44


Boys Basketball

Rockets rock the Red Devils at shootout

#4 ranked Unity boys basketball team extended their 2026 win streak to six games after crushing Hall at the Central Catholic MLK Shootout on Saturday, 80-47. Four players contributed double figures in the Rockets 15th win of the season.

Trey Hoggard and Tyler Henry finished with 14 points each. Colton Langendorf scored 12 and Carter Schmid added ten to the scoreboard for the hottest team in central Illinois. Dailed in from the free throw line, Unity sank five of their six shots from the stripe.


Boys' Area Scoreboard


Mattoon 58, St. Joseph-Ogden 49
Unity 80, Hall 47
Bismarck-Henning 63, Georgetown-Ridge Farm 28
Kankakee 70, Centennial 57
Heritage 67, Judah Christian 41


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Prep Sports Notebook |
Katie Ericksen leads St. Joseph-Ogden, Urbana falls at Rantoul

La’yonna Harper led the Tigers with 14 points against Rantoul last Thursday. SJO wins opener at home over ALAH by 30.

SJO's Katie Ericksen in the Spartans' home game against Salt Fork
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

SJO's Katie Eriksen in last season's shootout game against Salt Fork. She scored 20 points against ALAH in the Spartans' first game of the 2025-26 season.

Girls Basketball

Erikcson drains 20 in season opener
Katie Ericksen led the St. Joseph-Ogden girls basketball team to a 63-33 win over Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond with a career-best 20-point night. The senior drained six 3-pointers in the team’s first home game of the season. Timera Blackburn-Kelley also reached double figures with 14 points, and Hayden Dahl came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers and finish with nine last Thursday.


Rantoul 48 - Urbana 39
The Urbana girls basketball team fell to 0-2 after a road loss to Rantoul last Thursday. La’yonna Harper led the Tigers with 14 points, and Lizzy Lange finished with six. Kaya Hill went 4-for-6 from the free-throw line. The Eagles had two players in double figures, as Josie Roseman and Erykah Baltimore powered Rantoul’s offense with 13 points each in the nonconference game last Thursday.


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TAGS: St. Joseph-Ogden girls basketball 2025 season opener, Katie Ericksen career high points game, Urbana girls basketball Rantoul nonconference loss, Illinois high school basketball scores 2025
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