In a game heard on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com, Tolono Unity picked the ideal time to end a 17-game slide against its biggest rival Monticello, and rolled to a 57-41 win in Class 2A Regional semifinal action Wednesday night in Monticello.

Eric Miebach led the Rockets in scoring with 15 points but his off-the-ball defense on Monticello leading scorer Trey Welter shut down the Sages senior most of the night and Monticello's offense had few answers. 

Tyler Blythe and Ike Young each scored 11 points to pace the Sages. Welter finished with nine points and four assists. 

Monticello hit three earlier threes to lead 9-5 in the first quarter but Unity finished the half outscoring the Sages 24-6 and controlled the game the rest of the way. 

The Rockets had 23 points off 16 Monticello turnovers and scored 28 points in the paint. 

The Unity bench outscored Monticello 20-5, a strength all season for the Sages but they got few contributions from its reserves Wednesday.

Unity recovered from a slow shooting first half to finish at 47.6 percent for the game. Monticello shot just 36.6 percent. The Rockets made 11-of-16 free throws and outrebounded the Sages 27-25. 

Monticello finishes the season 15-15 overall. Unity improves to 25-4 overall and moves on to a Regional Championship on Friday against Warrensburg-Latham at Monticello High School.