SJO girls advance to Lady Falcon/Bunnies Tipoff Classic title game
Tonight, St. Joseph-Ogden girls basketball team will play for their first tournament championship trophy of the season.
The shot at the Lady Falcon/Bunnies Tipoff Classic title comes on the heels of a fourth quarter surge by the Spartans. Clawing past Villa Grove/Heritage's offensive duo of Aliya Holloman (20 points) and Kyleigh Block (17 points), SJO secured their third win of the season, 46-43.
On the wrong end of a 19-15 score at the half, the Spartans dug in and drained five three-pointers in the third quarter. The Blue Devils countered with 16 points of their own, eight courtesy of Block, six from Holloman and a bucket from Samantha Campbell.
Holding VG-H to just eight points in final quarter, SJO matched that number and then added a few more.
Katie Cramer, still hot from three-point range, hit two more shots and drilled a pair of free throws. The senior finished the night with 14 points and was 2-for-2 from the line.
With the help of a clutch free throw from Payton Vallee, Taylor Barnes' third three-pointer of the game and a bucket from Payton Jacob, the Spartans prevailed improving to 3-0 on the season.
In all, St. Joseph-Ogden tallied a total of ten three-point shots from Jacob (1), Barnes (3), Cramer (4) and sophomore Abby Behrens with two.
You will want to saddle up early to help pack the gym tonight for what will surely be a barnburner at Fisher. The championship game, scheduled to start at 7pm, pits the Spartans against Paxton-Buckley-Loda, who knocked off tournament co-hosts GCMS 56-38 to reach the final.
A three-peat in the making, the Spartans have won the tournament the title past two seasons. The Panthers have the offense to keep that from happening tonight.
PBL had three players with double-digit scoring against the Lady Falcons. Mackenzie Bruns delivered 13 points, Hannah Schwarz added 12 and Baylee Cosgrove's hit 10 to lead the Panthers' offensive scoring.
Box Score
| Team 1 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 16 | - 46 | Team 2 | 2 | 17 | 16 | 8 | - 43 |
Scoring
St. Joseph-Ogden: Ashlyn Lannert 3, Payton Jacob 7, Katie Cramer 14, Abby Behrens 6, Taylor Barnes 13 and Payton Vallee 3.
Villa Grove-Heritage: Kyleigh Block 17, Samantha Campbell 2, Aliya Holloman 20 and Jordyn Ray 4.
