Jacob, a sophomore, led all scorers with a game-high 14-point performance. Cramer finished with 10 points.
"We tried to make sure we stayed calm and not focus on their record," said Jacob about their Illini Prairie Conference foe. The Grey Ghost had only one win on the books heading into their bout against SJO. "If you just looked at their record it would have been easy to go out and assume we had the win." Not wanting to take IVC lightly, the Spartans concentrated on their execution to dominate nearly every facet of the game. "We made sure we were focus on our game and not on the way they were playing," said Jacob. Taylor Wells came off the bench yet again this season for yet another solid output on both sides of the court. In addition to the sophomore's eight points, she battled under the rim snagging four defensive boards and a pair of offensive ones for a total of six. Payton Vallee led the team in rebounds with 11 on the day. Even with a 29-10 first half advantage fueled by Jacob's 11 points, the Spartans kept their foot on the gas adding another 18 points in the third quarter before coasting to the final buzzer. Remarkably, IVC sent the Spartans to the free throw line just once in the 32-minute affair with Jacob capitalizing on both shots in the third-quarter. "She's been really working on her shot and some other things," said head coach Kevin Taylor about Jacob. "Today, it paid off. It's nice to see was rewarded for the extra work she has been putting in." In typical fashion this season, the rout was built on a balanced scoring effort. Abby Behrens and Ashlyn Lannert distributed five assists apiece allowing 10 different players to put points on the scoreboard. "We're excited to get conference play going and wanted to start the right way," said Taylor after leading SJO to their 14th win of the season. "Overall it was a good effort by the girls to start conference." Next up, Jaoob and Cramer face St. Thomas More at home on Monday. Varsity tip-off is slated for 7pm.
"I've been off kind of lately. It is kind of nice to be back in the rhythm of things." ~ Senior Katie Cramer
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| Team 1 | 17 | 12 | 18 | 8 | - 55 |
| Illinois Valley Central | 6 | 4 | 8 | 1 | - 19 |








The St. Joseph-Ogden girls basketball team put their collective feet on the gas and didn't let up for four quarters in last week's home game against Rantoul. Rallying behind Peyton Jacob,
It was a spectacular evening for two-time state Long Jump champion Atleigh Hamilton, who led the Spartans with three individual titles. The senior gave gold medal performances in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Later, she broke a long-standing school record of 59.2 in the 400-meter dash.
Hamilton also qualified for this week's state meet on Thursday in her signature event the long jump. The Illinois State University signee finished in second place behind Salt Fork's Gracie Jessup with her best attempt at 5.25 meters.
Meanwhile, Abby Behrens cleared 1.52 meters to win the High Jump competition. Teammate Macy Reed-Thompson finished third to help SJO rise to the top in the 14-team meet.
The Spartans also swept all three relay events.
Kailyn Ingram, Helene Jones, Malorie Sarnecki and Ashlyn Lannert combined for a time of 10:27.70 in the 4x800 Meter Relay besting squads from Urbana University High School (2nd), Clifton Central (3rd) and Milford.
The Spartans faced stiffer competition from Bismarck-Henning-Rossville and Uni High in the 4x200 Meter Relay. The SJO foursome of Payton Carter, Raegan Crippen, Grace Schmitz, and Hope Rajlich finished less than a second ahead of the Blue Devils with their time of 1:51.47. Uni High finished third at 1:55.59.
To close out the meet, Lannert, Ingram and Jones from the four-by-eight, along with Rajlich from the 200-Meter Relay squad punched their ticket to state with a 4:15.17 finishing ahead of Uni High and BHR.
Also turning in top-three finishes were Raegan Crippen, who finished third in the Triple Jump, Ava Knap clocked in at second place in the 1600 meter run
Grace Schmitz and Payton Carter finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively in the Pole Vault
Indians' three-sport star Addison Masching led all scorers with 20 points, but it wasn't enough to tilt the scales from ten scoring Spartan players.
Making all four of her free throw attempts, Ella Armstrong was the only SJO player in double figures with 11 points. Payton Jacobs and Peyton Jones, who hit three treys, added nine points apiece. Meanwhile Ashlyn Lannert and Taylor Wells chipped in another eight.