The Sentinel: Search results for McKenzie Sprague

Photo Gallery | Photos from Urbana's 40-24 win over Danville

Urbana's Jasmine McCullough dribbles the ball around Danville Diamond Landfair in the first half. Three-for-four from the free throw line, McCullough finished the game with seven points to help the Tigers log their first home win since February 8, 2020. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Aziyaha Davis dribbles around senior Diamond Landfair during first half action of their Big 12 Conference game on December 8, 2022. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Tigers' Jasmine McCullough plays defense on Vikings' Jyah Parker. Urbana held Parker scoreless the entire game. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Urbana's Gabreille Mboyo-Meta fights to keep the ball away from Danville's Ajia Johnson in the second quarter. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

McKenzie Sprague is fouled going up for a shot between Danville's Diamond Landfair and Dajahnae Taylor. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Gabreille Mboyo-Meta goes up for a shot around Danville's Laila Johnson. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Urbana's McKenzie Sprague fires a jumper from the corner during the second half. The senior chipped in two points and four rebounds for the Tigers. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

McKenzie Sprague slides across the floor while try to get the ball away from Danville's Ajia Johnson. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Tiger freshman Elizabeth Lange reaches for a loose ball. Lange chipped in 2 points and collected one board for Urbana. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Urbana's Gabreille Mboyo-Meta goes for a second-half shot. Meta-Mboyo shared team-high scoring with eight points, three steals, and one rebound. The senior leads the team in steals (3.3), assists (7), and scoring (9.8) per game. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Freshman Mia Schroeder sees minutes in the Tigers' first home win in nearly three years. She collected five points and tallied a pair of rebounds in the rout. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Urbana fans cheer for their team in the fourth quarter. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Urbana's Aziyaha Davis is fouled as she goes up for a shot in the second half of the game by Danville's Diamond Landfair. Davis contributed eight rebounds and three steals with her three field goals in the Tigers' home win. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Tigers' Destiny Barber shares a funny story with teammates as the game clock with Danville passes the one minute to play mark. The senior forward finished the game with eight points, three steals, and five boards. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Still improving, Urbana Tigers just misses their first win

The Urbana girls' varsity basketball team was just a stone's throw away from winning their first basketball game of the season on Saturday. Though they delivered a solid defensive effort, the Tigers (0-9) fell at home 42-32 to Peoria Manual (2-5).

McKenzie Sprague brings the ball down the court in the fourth quarter of the Tigers' home game against Manual. She finished the game with eight points.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

"Defensively, when you hold a team to 42 points that is a great defensive effort. Throughout the game we had some really great defensive moments with our press where we were forcing turnovers and getting points off of those turnovers," said head coach Bobby Boykin. "We just need to continue to be smarter defensively, and continue to work on our communication."

Urbana took a one-point lead, going up 4-3, midway into the first quarter. The home team later stretched their advantage to as many as three before Manual's Alexis Smith hit a jumper to erase the deficit and tie the score at 11-all with 1:39 left in the period.

After a free throw from Thiah Butler with 7:48 left in the half, the Tigers enjoyed a brief lead for the last time during the conference game at Oscar Adams Gym before falling behind at the end of the second quarter, 22-18.

Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta played her best game of the season, collecting a season-high 12 points. By the end of the first half, she tallied all but two of her game-high finish.

Starting the second half with an 18-22 deficit, Urbana held the Rams scoreless for 3 minutes and 45 seconds. Back-to-back steals, the first by junior McKenzie Sprague followed up another from Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta, helped fuel a 10-point run to put the Tigers up 28-22 with 5:15 left in the third quarter.

Unable to sustain their dominance, Urbana gave up six unanswered points in the last two minutes and 42 seconds of the quarter only to fall behind, 34-30.

"We are improving as a team," Boykin added. "We just need to put everything together for four quarters."

Senior Zineria Edwards pulls down an offensive rebound in the fourth quarter for the Tigers. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Despite their best effort, the Tigers could not get a ball through the rim until Jasmine McCullough came off the bench with almost a minute left on the game clock to hit a field goal for the team's only points in the second quarter. The nearly nine-minute shooting drought starting in the third quarter quashed Urbana's chance to notch their first victory of the season.

"Offensively, we did a great job of getting the ball into their zone and then relocating. We just have to finish our shots." "As a team, this was probably our best performance of the season thus far," Boykin said.

Sprague was 2-for-2 from the free throw line and contributed eight points as the team's second-leading scorer. Butler and Destiny Barber added another four points apiece. Mboyo-Meta was also perfect from the charity stripe sinking the ball on both attempts.

The Rams were led on offense by sophomore guard Antaya Taylor who matched Mboyo-Meta's 12 points. Manual also got double-digit output from senior Jazzlyn Latta.

"This was a game that we were really close to pulling out," the first-year Urbana coach pointed out. "The turnovers at the end really took a toll on us. It just comes down to execution at the end."

Box Score

Final: Manual 42 - Urbana 32

Urbana --
Mboyo-Meta 10-2-12, Sprague 6-2-8, McCullough 2-0-2, Barber 2-2-4, Butler 2-2-4, McCullough 2-0-2, Hall 2-0-2

Manual --
Mack 4-3-7, Bryant 2-2-4, Taylor 8-4-12, Latta 9-1-10, Randle 3-0-3, Hinkle 2-0-2, Smith 2-0-2.

In The Know | Headlines you might have missed

Photo Gallery |
Urbana picks up home win over Danville

URBANA - McKenzie Sprague is fouled going up for a shot between Danville's Diamond Landfair and Dajahnae Taylor. See 13 more photos and a recap of the Tiger's first home win since 2020. Destiny Barber and Gabreille Mboyo-Meta led the Urbana offensive effort with a game-high eight points a piece. Junior guard Aziyaha Davis finished with seven points, and Jasmine McCullough rounded out the top four scorers for the Tigers with six points.

Check out the gallery »

New RF technology can make you look years younger in as little as 10 weeks

NewsUSA - With the holiday season upon us, and the return to attending in-person events, everyone wants to look their best. But many people who might consider a skin-tightening treatment shy away from needles, and have concerns about fillers and chemicals.

Taking care of yourself during the holidays, steps you can take

StatePoint Media - With seasonal stressors like end-of-year work deadlines, gift shopping and hosting potentially weighing on you, plus all those extra sweets and indulgent foods to nibble on, the holiday season may be the happiest time of year, but it’s not always the healthiest. Here’s how to take better care of yourself to feel your best this holiday season.

Photo of the Day | December 24, 2022

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Denied a home loan? Steps you can take to avoid it

StatePoint Media - You have researched the best areas to live within your budget. Spent countless hours visiting homes or viewing them online and talked to seasoned homeowners to ensure you haven't missed anything. You finally make an offer on your dream home that is accepted, and then the worst happens, the bank won't okay your loan.

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Jalapeno Sweetpotato Chowder

Family Features - Colder, shorter days call for a little comfort. Cozying up with a hearty meal on brisk winter evenings can help fight off the chill while savoring favorite flavors alongside the ones you love.

Avoid venturing into the cold for a trip to the store by turning to a pantry staple like sweetpotatoes. As one of the most versatile veggies, they’re easy to add to a variety of recipes while enhancing both flavor and nutrition.

Eye on the prize

RANTOUL - Urbana middle blocker Sammi Christman passes the ball to the front in our December 26 Photo of the Day.

The person who investigates suspicious deaths in your town may not even be a doctor

When a group of physicians gathered in Washington state for an annual meeting, one made a startling revelation: If you ever want to know when, how — and where — to kill someone, I can tell you, and you'll get away with it. No problem.

That's because the expertise and availability of coroners, who determine cause of death in criminal and unexplained cases, vary widely across Washington, as they do in many other parts of the country.

"A coroner doesn't have to ever have taken a science class in their life," said Nancy Belcher, chief executive officer of the King County Medical Society, the group that met that day.

5 tips to shed those extra holiday pounds

According to a recent poll of 2,000 U.S. adults aged 30 and above commissioned by Nutrisystem and conducted by OnePoll, two in three Americans credit the past two years with teaching them how important their health really is. And 71% believe the pandemic has taught them to be more observant of their health. The poll also revealed that two-thirds of Americans said weight loss is a “top health goal” for them over the next year.

However, for many, losing weight can seem like a difficult task. The truth of the matter is it doesn’t have to be. Courtney McCormick, corporate dietitian at Nutrisystem, offers the following tips to help you take that step toward a healthier you.

McGwire Atwood propels SJO to title game

Bloomington - St. Joseph-Ogden's McGwire Atwood celebrates his team's 72-69 win over Rockford Lutheran at the State Farm Holiday Classic on Thursday. With less than four seconds on the clock and Crusaders ...

Missed opportunities fuels Urbana's home loss to Richwoods

Urbana took control of the opening tip on Judge Green Court against visiting Peoria Richwoods on Saturday, however was the Knights who lit up the scoreboard first in the early season meeting between the Big 12 conference schools. Despite aggressive rebounding and forced turnovers, the Tigers came up short, 42-20.

Despite several missed opportunities by both teams, it took just over a minute and a half for the Knights to drop the game's first field goal.

After another minute and a half passed, on the team's sixth possession, Urbana's Destin Barber scored on a putback to tie up the score. Fouled on the play, she missed her chance at the free throw line.

Forty-six seconds later, junior McKinzie Sprague found herself at the same line. She missed the first shot but sank the second to give Urbana their first and only lead of the game at 3-2. Sprague then added another field goal to her total after hitting a shot near the basket on an inbound pass play for a 5-2 lead.

Richwoods fought their way back immediately replying with a three-pointer from Alyssa Ross to tie up the score at 5-all. The Knights would score again to end the quarter with the scoreboard in their favor, 7-5.

Much of the second quarter, thanks to controlling the paint, was a pretty even ball game until the Richwoods' Kamryn Heider sank a three-pointer for the last score in the half with 55 seconds left on the clock. Heider would go on to score a game-high 16 points after hitting three more shots from outside the arc in the second half. For the moment, heading into the locker room for the mid-game break, her team would enjoy a 20-10 advantage.

The second-half point production was identical to the first half for Urbana scoring another ten points against the Knights' 22 in the ledger.

After the final buzzer, Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta's seven points were a team-high. Junior Destiny Barber added six points, all from the first half. Meanwhile, Zineria Edwards had drilled a couple of field goals for four points and senior Thiah Butler found the net in the third quarter to finish with two. McKenzie Sprague rounded out the team's scoring effort with a free throw during the first quarter.

Box Score

Final: Richwoods 42 - Urbana 20

Urbana --
Barber 6-0-6, Mboyo-Meta 5-2-7, Sprague 0-1-1, Edwards 4-0-4, Butler 2-0-2.

Richwoods --
Spratttling 2-1-3, Thomas 4-0-4, Alyssa Ross 7-0-7, Alana Ross 3-0-3, Heider 16-0-16, Lana 2-0-2, Haines 4-0-4, Hickson 0-3-3

Prep Sports Notebook: SJO, Unity open girls basketball season with victories

SJO wins season opener

St. Joseph-Ogden's Abby Behrens attacks the basket while Urbana's McKenzie Sprague guards her during their Toyota of Danville Turkey Tournament game on Monday. The tournament opener was also the first game of the season for both teams. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

St. Joseph, IL - Ashlyn Lannert scored 11 points to lead the Spartans in their 55-8 win over the Urbana Tigers at the First Annual Toyota of Danville Turkey Tournament at St. Joseph-Ogden High School on Monday. Payton Jacob added another 10 points while Taylor Wells hit three second-quarter field goals and one in the first to start the season off with eight points in the season opener.

The Tigers' leading scorer was junior Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta with four free throws. Destiny Barber, who hit the team's only field goal, finished with two points. Mc Kenzie Sprague and Zineria Edwards each made one free throw to round out Urbana's scoring effort.

St. Joseph-Ogden takes Tri-County on Tuesday, while Urbana will face Big 12 rival Centennial on day 2 of the tournament.

Henry starts 2021-22 season with a double-double

Fisher, IL - Unity cruised to a 52-22 win behind Taylor Henry, who delivered an 18 points, 11 rebound performance in Unity's first game of the season over at the Lady Falcon/Bunnie Tip-Off Classic on Monday. The senior scored all by one of her points in the second and third quarters against Fisher.

Starting at forward, Katey Moore scored nine points in the first quarter and added two more in the third period to finish with 11 points and seven boards.

Unity football players earn All-State recognition

Wide receiver Dillon Rutledge and defensive lineman Austin McDaniel were named to the 2021 IHSFCA Class 3A All-State team.

The pair will be in action again this Saturday in Unity's home semifinal against Mt. Carmel. Kick-off is at 2pm.

Anemic roster fuels Tigers' conference loss to Wildcats

NORMAL -- Taking the court with a seriously depleted roster, the Urbana girls basketball team dropped their fifth conference game of the season on the road on Saturday, January 8. The Tigers, with just six players available players, suffered a 52-10 loss at Normal West.

Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta led Urbana's scoring effort with six points. Junior McKenzie Sprague and freshman Jasmine McCullough rounded out their team's side of the scoreboard with two points apiece.

Though there were limited opportunities between numerous turnovers, neither team was able to score until there was 4:28 left in the opening quarter. Megan Williams sank a trey to put the Wildcats up 3-0.

Normal West then capitalized on an overthrown Tigers' pass to go up 5-0 thanks to a bucket in the paint from Meredith Bertsche. With a little more than three minutes to play in the quarter, Ashley Wilcox added two more points from under the basket to give the Wildcats a 7-0 advantage.

Urbana responded by stepping up their defensive effort. Next, the squad put their first points on the board with a free throw from Mboyo-Meta. A minute and 45 seconds later, the Tigers were back in the game down, 7-4.

The understaffed Urbana team was limited to just eight first-half points.

It was Normal West's Monie Howard and her two-quarter, ten-point run and the inability to rotate players in that sealed Urbana's fate.

The Wildcats had three players reach double figures. Williams had 11 points, Howard was good for 10, and Wilcox drained another 10 points in the Big Twelve Conference victory.

Mboyo-Meta and the Tigers are scheduled to play on the road for the next three contests starting Thursday at Danville, Saturday at St. Teresa in Decatur, and at Rantoul next Tuesday. Urbana's next home game will be against Mattoon on January 20.

Box Score

Final: Urbana 10 - Normal West 52

	1	2	3	4	F
Urbana	4	4	0	2	10
Normal West	7	16	21	8	52

Urbana --
Mboyo-Meta 1 (1) 1-2 -- 6, Sprague 1 (0) 0-0 -- 2, McCullough 1 (0) 0-0 -- 2, T. Hall 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Edwards 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, J. Hall 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0

Normal West --
Kobel 1 (2) 0-0 -- 8, Wilcox 4 (0) 2-2 -- 10, Wertheim 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Gale 1 (1) 1-1 -- 6, Wilson 1 (0) 0-1 -- 2, Howard 5 (0) 0-0 -- 10, Williams 1 (3) 0-0 -- 11, Tinsley 0 (0) 1-3 -- 1, Bertsche 1 (0) 0-0 -- 2, Patton 1 (0) -9 -- 2

Urbana suffers non-conference loss at home, but still has room to grow

URBANA - Going toe-to-toe in the first quarter with St. Teresa (7-7), the Urbana girls' basketball team used three treys - one each from Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta, Jasmine McCullough, and McKenzie Sprague - for a competitive frame and 16-14 lead.

Unfortunately, plagued by too many turnovers and missed shots, the Tigers (2-9) dug a hole too deep to recover in the second quarter on their way to a 60-44 non-conference loss on Saturday. Destiny Baker's field goal and free throw along with another free throw from Mboyo-Meta were overshadowed by St. T's 18 points run before the half.

Urbana's Savannah Blanden wrestles the ball away St. Teresa's Zakyrie Mayes during second half action on Saturday. After a strong first quarter, the Tigers' could not make up a second-quarter deficit to snag another victory at Oscar Adams Gymnasium. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

"As a team, we got off to a great start in the 1st quarter. In the second quarter we just got into too much of a hurry and couldn’t finish our shots," said Urbana head coach Bobby Boykin reflecting on the miscues. "We also missed a few closeouts on (Lucy) Corley from St. Teresa. She is a great scorer for them and we just lost track of her a few too many times."

Corley led St. Teresa's offensive effort with 19 points. Two other Bulldogs also finished in double figures. Grace Lees knocked down 15 points, and senior Jaida Taylor contributed another 11.

"For the 2nd half, we tried to change things up defensively and St Teresa had answers for it. St Teresa just did a great job executing their game plan," said Boykin, praising the Bulldogs.

Urbana's Mia Schroeder is fouled while going up for a shot by St. Teresa's Grace Lees in the second half. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

St. Teresa used the third quarter to extend their 12-point advantage at the half to 20 by the time the game clock showed less than two minutes to play before the final quarter. Meanwhile, Mboyo-Meta, who finished with a team-high 13 points, converted four of her five free throw attempts and collected another bucket for seven points. McCullough, who closed out the contests with 10 points, hit a three-pointer, and Savannah Bladen made the second of two shots she earned from the line.

Invigorated by McCullough's trey, the Tigers' played an aggressive fourth quarter offensively and defensively, outscoring the visiting team 14-10. The outcome might have been significantly different if Boykin's squad could play with the same intensity and tenaciousness displayed in the final eight minutes on Saturday.

"Playing four quarters has been a struggle for us this season. We just need to be ready to play for 32 minutes," Boykin said. "We have room to continue to grow and we still have some great opportunities to get better."

An Urbana fan holds up a sign while spectators cheer after Tigers' Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta scores on hard-charging shot to the rim for two of her 13 points at Saturday's home game. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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.

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

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

Sentinel 2021-22 All-Area girls basketball team

Welcome to the Sentinel's 2022 All-Area Girls' Basketball Team. Our list is a compilation of the best players from three of the four area high school programs we cover.

Among the top 15 players selected for the first and second teams, four are from the Class of 2023, and three are sophomores who we expect to rise to prominence this fall.

The performances of our first-team members were the cornerstones to each of their team's success this season. These player's leadership, commitment, and contributions on offensive or defensive was key to earning a spot on this year's Sentinel All-Area Girls Basketball Team.

Sentinel All-Area First Team

St Joseph-Ogden basketball player Payton Jacob

First Team

Ella Armstrong, Senior
St. Joseph-Ogden

Taylor Henry, Senior
Unity

Payton Jacob, Senior
St. Joseph-Ogden

Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta, Junior
Urbana

Lauren Miller, Junior
Unity

Maddie Reed, Senior
Unity

Taylor Wells, Senior
St. Joseph-Ogden

Second Team

Destiny Barber, Junior
Urbana

Zineria Edwards, Senior
Urbana

Addison Frick, Sophomore
St. Joseph-Ogden

Peyton Jones, Junior
St. Joseph-Ogden

Ashlyn Lannert, Senior
St. Joseph-Ogden

Katey Moore, Sophomore
Unity

Raegan Stringer, Sophomore
Unity

Erika Steinman, Senior
Unity

Honorable Mention

St. Joseph-Ogden:
Alyssa Hamilton (Sr), Alison Kearney (Sr), Kaytlyn Baker (Jr)

Unity:
Hailey Flesch (Sr), Gracie Renfrow (Sr), Savannah Alagna (Sr), Calli Chandler (Sr), Bridget Henry (Sr), Addison Ray (So)

Urbana:
Amarah Howard (Sr), McKenzie Sprague (Jr), Teri Hall (So), Savannah Blanden (So)

Editor's Note:

A Certificate of Recognition is available for each of the players listed above. Players, coaches, or parents/guardians can email us at sports@oursentinel.com to receive their 2021-22 certificate.