Here is a quick roundup of basketball scores and performances for area teams on Thursday, January 15.
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks
St. Joseph-Ogden's Timera Blackburn-Kelley looks for an open teammate in the Spartans' home game against LeRoy in December. The senior led all scorers with ten points in SJO's 38-20 road win over Paxton-Buckley-Loda on Thursday.
Girls Basketball
Scoring struggle sinks Tigers
Lai'yonna Harper led the Tigers with nine points and seven rebounds in the team's conference game at home against Bloomington. Kaya Hill finished with five points and eight boards in the 54-25 loss. The Raiders had four players finish with double figures. Maddie Embry led all scorers with 17 points and 16 rebounds. Senior Bianca Ellis added 13 points, Tina Lenard chipped in 11, and junior Josie Skeate finished with 10 after her 22 minutes. Urbana (1-11) travels to Decatur to take on the Panthers on Tuesday while Bloomington (6-13) hosts East Peoria at 9 a.m. for an early MLK day contest.Spartans prevails in low scoring affair
St. Joseph-Ogden held Paxton-Buckley-Loda to an average of just five points a quarter in their conference win on Thursday. Timera Blackburn-Kelley finished the road game with a game-high ten points. Fellow seniors Katie Ericksen added eight and Kayla Osterbur chipped in six more. The Spartans (11-6) travel to Williamsville on Monday for a non-conference matchup against the Bullets. On the other side of the court, Emmy Bagwell scored a quarter of the Panthers (4-13) scoring effort with a field goal and three free throws for five points. PBL faces Bloomington Central Catholic at home on Tuesday.Strong rebounding effort helps Heritage roll Blue Ridge
Hawks' Addison Harper made 50% of her shot from beyond the arc to finish with 16 points in Heritage's 55-8 home win. Freshman Ryann McComas was fierce in the paint, grabbing 13 rebounds while adding four points in her 27 minute varsity appearance. Sophomore's Kalyn Miller and Violet Chesnut got in on the rebounding fun with seven and five, respectively against the Knights (2-3).Girls' Area Scoreboard
St. Joseph-Ogden 38, Paxton-Buckley-Loda 20
Georgetown-Ridge Farm 46, Oakwood 22
Bloomington 54, Urbana 25
Calvary Christian 36, Urbana University 26
Heritage 55, Blue Ridge 8
Mahomet-Seymour 74, Sacred Heart-Griffin 46
Boys Basketball
Urbana holds first-half lead to squeak past Bloomington
Nursing a three-point advantage at the half, the Tigers (6-8) engineered an explosive 30-point third quarter outburst to an eight-point win over the visiting Purple Raiders (8-8). The Urbana seniors stood tall, leading the way to extend the team's win streak to two games. Jessie MfWamba posted a double-double with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Landyn Hannah delivered 18 points and Kyree Hillsman contributed 13.Boys' Area Scoreboard
Unity 67, St. Thomas More 53
Urbana 79, Bloomington 71
Monticello 48, Rantoul 38
