Urbana Loses to Champaign Central but Defeats Rich Central Over Weekend

A busy weekend of hoops led to Urbana picking up both a win and a loss in games against Champaign Central and Rich Central. On Friday night, the Tigers were blown out by the Maroons with a score of 75-51. Urbana rebounded on Saturday afternoon with a 27 point victory over Rich Central.

Friday: Urbana vs. Champaign Central

Leading scorer Tim Finke led the Central Maroons over Urbana with 22 points in Urbana’s Oscar Adams gymnasium on Friday evening.

A competitive first half ended with Champaign leading by 7, a relatively small deficit for the underdog Tigers. The first half effort was led by the Tigers’ leading scorer Payton Sheen who had 18 points total in the game.

The rout was on early in the 2nd half as the Maroons started the half on a 13-0 run while taking advantage of Urbana’s sloppy play. Jonte Coleman’s 14 points, a dunk from Khalieo Terry, added with Finke’s 22 points proved to overmatch Urbana’s defense.

The Tigers will not get another chance to play the Maroons as only one crosstown matchup between the rivals was scheduled this season.

Saturday: Urbana vs. Rich Central

Urbana’s fortunes reversed less than 24 hours later as they took on Rich Central High School on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers won the contest with a score of 72-45 led by top scorers Payton Sheen, Jamonte Williams and Corez Anderson.

The victory serves as a nice lift for the Tigers after a defeat in an intense rivalry game. Urbana will hope to bring this momentum with them as they take on Normal West in Normal on Friday.