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
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
Grace Bickers contributed 15 points and Claire Meharry added 11 for Unity (8-12), which had defeated St. Thomas More 67-44 four days earlier.
Rantoul (11-11) received 12 points apiece from Khloee McMorris and Laniece Johnson, who came off the bench to match her season high. Senior Josie Roseman chipped in 11 points for the Eagles.
Both teams head into February with postseason preparations in mind. Unity has three regular-season games remaining, while Rantoul will play four more contests—two home and two away—before the playoffs begin.
