The Sentinel 2021-22 Boys All-Area Basketball Team

Andrew Beyers goes up for a shot against the Eagles

Andrew Beyers goes for a layup between Rantoul seniors Angel Soto and Avontay Anderson (left) during second half action. Beyers, named to this year's Sentinel All-Area basketball team, and the St. Joseph-Ogden basketball team rolled over the visiting Eagles in their Illini Prairie conference game back on February 8, 74-54.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Sentinel All-Area First Team

Here is our list of the best area players for the 2021-2022 season.

First Team

Andrew Beyers, Senior
St. Joseph-Ogden

Will Cowan, Junior
Unity

Evan Ingram, Senior
St. Joseph-Ogden

Blake Kimball, Senior
Unity

Austin Langendorf, Junior
Unity

Ty Pence, Junior
St. Joseph-Ogden

Henry Thomas, Sophomore
Unity

Logan Smith, Sophomore
St. Joseph-Ogden

Second Team

McGwire Atwood, Junior
St. Joseph-Ogden

Hayden Brazelton, Senior
St. Joseph-Ogden

Nolan Grindley, Senior
St. Joseph-Ogden

Jacob Maxwell, Junior
Unity

Dalton O'Neill, Sophomore
Unity

Trustan Price, Senior
Unity

Coy Taylor, Freshman
St. Joseph-Ogden

Andrew Thomas, Sophomore
Unity

Honorable Mention

St. Joseph-Ogden:
Maddux Carter (Jr)

Unity:
Jay Saunders (So)

Unity's Trustan Price celebrates a three-point shot during the Rockets' Class 2A regional title game against St. Joseph-Ogden. Price and the Rockets' season came to end after a 58-50 loss to the Spartans at the Rocket Center. Price, a senior, is a member of The Sentinel's all-area Second Team.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Editor's Note:

A Certificate of Recognition is available for each of the players listed above. Players, coaches, or parents/guardians can email us at sports@oursentinel.com to receive their 2021-22 certificate.

Looking for their voice, young Spartans ready for forging

St. Joseph-Ogden head coach Kiel Duval watches the Spartans during first half action in their home game against Williamsville in 2019. After undergoing COVID-19 protocols resulting in the cancellation of one contest and rescheduling of another last week, he and the SJO squad are ready start playing basketball tonight.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Game day.

With barely a month left in an already shortened basketball season season due the pandemic, tonight the St. Joseph-Ogden boys basketball team will finally be able to run the floor, drill three-point shots, haul in rebounds and foul a couple of players.

Are they ready to play? You bet.

"It's exciting. I'm excited for the kids," said head coach Kiel Duval. "They have been waiting for this for a long time. It has been a roller coaster year for them to say the least. I told them tonight - there will be nerves. We are going to make mistakes."

The delay from the typical November start, COVID protocols, wearing masks and a canceled week of competition will be unforgettable in the lives of tonight's players.

The lads from SJO open their season against Rantoul at home tonight. The Eagles with two games under their belt, both resulting in losses, dropped their first game 64-42 to Champaign Central and suffered a 68-37 loss to Prairie Central last night.

"I do think this will be a game they remember for a long time because of the road it took to get here," Duval said. A math teacher at the school, he was a three-sport athlete for the Spartans.

Is there a reason to be a little nervous at this point?

Sure. With hours to go until the opening pass - there are not tipoffs under COVID rules, a positive test from one or more player on either team between now and then could jeapordize tonight's conference game between the two schools. Fingers are cross tightly, for whatever good it will do, there are fans, players and coaches hoping that it doesn't happen.

The first interview of the season, I asked Coach Duval what I should be writing about or looking at that no one else is talking about. Here is what he said:

Ty Pence is going to draw a lot of attention every night. The guys that are out there with him are starting to understand that his attention he draws will give them opportunities. What will be interesting to me is what guys step up to be "Robin" each night.
Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. There are multiple guys that can score, but which one it will be on a given night - I have no clue. The next question that we have been asking ourselves is which guy is going to be our "lockdown" defender. We've always had one. Every team as far back as I can remember. It has been what has made this program special over the years. We are searching.
We have ideas of guys that have the ability. It comes down to if they want to do it for 32 minutes consistently. That part is tough. "How bad do you want to be really good?" is a question we ask them all the time.

The Spartans is a team full of youth. There's going to be some aches and pains as inexperienced varsity players and their cohort matures.

"We have a lot of guys that need to figure out how to play at a varsity level. It is very different going from freshman to jv to varsity," Duval explained. "The transition is huge. I think our goal should be to make strides and improve each day. For us to have a chance to be successful at all in the future our guys need to grow together now. This time together is critical."

Andrew Beyers see action for the Spartans during the team's 2019 home game against Paxton-Buckley-Loda, who will join the Illini Prairie Conference this fall. Duval expects down the road, opponents will be intimidated by his speed and quickness.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

The departure of the Class of 2020 took left ten openings for the 2020-21 season. Only two players, Ty Pence, whose play has already earned him an offer from Western Illinois University in Macomb, and Cameron Costa.

"We do not have a lot of varsity experience," Duval said. "In my mind, we have 7 starters."

The seven, who hope to become magnificent this season are Ty Pence, Andrew Beyers, Lukas Hutcherson, Jackson Rydell, Evan Ingram, Cameron Costa and Hayden Brazelton. Duval said the goal for him and his coaching staff is to help all seven "find their voice."

"There will be other guys that will have roles that will likely grow throughout the year, but these seven will likely play significant minutes early," Duval said highlighting the talent on the team. "They all have strengths individually, but they are figuring out in practice they are much better when they play together.

"When they communicate. When they pick each other up. Show leadership. I'm hoping by the end of the year they grow as leaders and develop toughness that will help them far past basketball."

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In addition to Pence, there are three players Duval is anxious to measure, mold and see mature.

"Hutcherson will handle the point guard spot for us most nights. He has really looked like a senior in practice," he said. "He is very easy to root for."

Then there is a "quiet and reserve", 6-2 junior forward to watch.

"Andrew Beyers is a kid that is very skilled, but you would never guess it. When he really gets his basketball legs under him, people will hate guarding him," Duval said about Beyers' future and the potential impact he will have on the program. "He has a refuse-to-quit mentality on the offensive glass."

Then, there is another junior, Evan Ingram, who "has the makings to be a very good high school basketball player".

Duval said, "We are still working on him everyday to understand all the aspects of the game to be great. He has grown. He has become more coachable each day."

A junior varsity game starting at 6:30p will precede tonight's 8pm varsity game. Both St. Joseph-Ogden and Rantoul fans can watch both Illini Prairie Conference games via live stream on the NFHS network.

This story originally reported St. Joseph-Ogden's opening game as a home game. An oversight on the editor's part, this game was originally scheduled and played as an away game. We regret this error.

Photo-of-the-Day: January 6, 2022

Andrew Beyers makes a diving catch for SJO

Got it!

Andrew Beyers makes a diving catching in St. Joseph-Ogden's baseball game against Charleston on April 29. The Spartans won the non-conference home contest, 3-0. The high school 2021-22 season officially starts on February 28 this year. See more photos from this game.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Prep Sports Notebook: Unity drops conference game, SJO hammers Monticello

Rockets suffer first loss of the season

The Unity baseball team (2-1) scored four runs but it wasn't enough to slide by Illinois Valley Central (7-1) in their road conference game on Saturday. The Grey Ghost handed the Rockets their first loss of the season, 7-4.

On the hill, Damin Knoll, who went 1-for-3 at the plate, surrendered 4 hits and 3 walks in the pair of innings to suffer the loss. The junior was responsible for one-quarter of the Rockets' runs. Blake Kimball batted .500 on the day and turned in one as well.

Tyler Hensch pounded a double and pushed one RBI across the plate.

Spartan baseball team burn Sages on the road

The bats were smoking hot for St. Joseph-Ogden on Saturday morning during their 11th game of the season. Putting runs on the board in every inning, the Spartans burned their Illini Prairie Conference rival, 17-9.

Down 5-3 at the top of the third, the Spartans'ignited a huge 13 run rally scoring five runs, then four and another four across the middle three frames.

Zach Martinie earned the win throwing 62 pitches during his four-inning appearance after relieving junior Hayden Brazelton on the mound.

Coby Miller and Tyler Altenbaumer paired up to drive in nine of the Spartans' 17 runs. Miller had all three of the Sages' pitchers numbers going 3-for-3 with a 2-run homer in the top of the fifth and double in the earlier frame.

Meanwhile, Alterbaumer's two hits yielded 5 RBIs.

Box Score

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
SJO	1	1	5	4	4	1	1			-	17	13	3
Monticello	2	3	0	3	0	0	1			-	9	11	6

Pitching
Hayden Brazelton 3.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R , 5 K, 5 BB
Zach Martinie 4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R , 3 K, 1 BB

Batting
2B: Andrew Beyers, Zach Martinie, Coby Miller 2, Ty Pence; 3B: Tyler Altenbaumer; HR: Coby Miller

Baserunning
Stolen bases: Tyler Altenbaumer, Andrew Beyers 2, Hayden Brazelton 2, Isaiah Immke 2

Prep Sports Notebook: Rocket softball team wins, SJO baseball records first shutout

Spartans notch conference win

Adam Price makes a play at first

Adam Price prepares to scoop a throw to first out of the dirt on a play in the top of the sixth inning in St. Joseph-Ogden's home baseball game against St. Thomas More. Price delivered a sacrifice fly to left field to score teammate Taylor Voorhees in the bottom of the third inning. SJO prevailed 9-0 to win the Illini Prairie Conference game.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

The St. Joseph-Ogden baseball team improved to 6-1 on the season after a seven-run inning in the bottom of the 4th to cruise past St. Thomas More, 9-0.

Luke Landrus and Taylor Voorhees scattered 2 hits apiece while senior Andrew Beyers tallied 2 RBI. Voorhees and Beyers crossed the plate twice for SJO.

Caleb Ochs earned the win on the mound for the Spartans.

Next up, St. Joseph-Ogden plays two conference games next week. On Monday, SJO hosts Bloomington Central Catholic and travels to Rantoul to take on the Eagles on Thursday.

Unity softball blanks A-O

Ruby Tarr notched pounded out four hits and scored three runs to lead the Unity softball team to a 15-0 win over Argenta-Oreana on Friday. Hailey Flesch also scored three times for the Rockets.

Flesch and Madeline Reed collected a home run apiece on Bomber pitcher Michelle Hollon.

Rockets' Ashlyn Miller included six strikeouts among the 43 pitches she hurled in the four-inning shutout.

Attention high school coaches

We need your help covering your team this spring to help keep fans, college recruiters, and area readers informed. If you are coaching a spring sport at Unity, Uni-High, Urbana High School, or St. Joseph-Ogden, please send us your game or meet results for our Prep Sports Notebook and weekly stats leaders for our All-Area team selection after the season.

The best way to send us box scores and other info is via email to sports@oursentinel.com or editor@oursentinel.com.

Do you have a player on the verge of breaking a school record, signing an LOI, or have a story idea? Don't hesitate to email us.

75 SJO seniors named to 3rd quarter Honor Roll

St. Joseph-Ogden's Dillon Uken provides protection on the line of scrimmage in his team's first-round game against Monticello on October 27 during last fall's IHSA football postseason playoffs. Uken was one of 75 SJO seniors who made the third quarter Honor Roll. (PhotoNews File Photo/Clark Brooks)

Seventy-five seniors, 67 juniors, 57 sophomores and 69 freshmen earned recognition for academic excellence in the third quarter at St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

Students named to the High Honors earned GPAs of 3.75 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Those attaining GPAs of 3.25 to 3.74 are recognized as Honor Roll students.

High Honor Roll

Seniors: Gage Atwood, Cassidy Bagby, Erin Beyers, Kaylee Blanchard, Rebecca Campbell, Sarah Chahine, David Cummins, Emmy Daniels, Liam Davis, Abigail Dunham, Avery Edwards, Nathan Emmert, Emory Ericksen, Jasmine Febus, Emilie Fox, Adam Frerichs, Rachel Gherna, Zachary Hill, Kalli Ingram, Kenneth Lahners, Hannah Lewis, Nathan Logan, Erinn Miller, Caroline Moore, Eve Owens, Angela Palmer, Benjamin Reitmeier, Adam Rose, Madison Rubin, Abigail Schlueter, Elizabeth Schluter, Samantha Schmidt, Benjamin Setterdahl, Jacob Shaw, Kaitlin Shoviak, Grant Siegmund, Rylee Sjuts, Brianna Suits, Maclayne Taylor and Nathan Walden.

Juniors: Lindsey Aden, Jenna Albrecht, Mallory Ames, Taylor Barnes, Katelyn Berry, Emily Bigger, Kaylee Blackburn, Ginny Bytnar, Payton Cain, Trevon Carr, Kristen Costa, Drew Coursey, Kathryn Cramer, Andrea Cunningham, Faith Dahman, Hannah Dukeman, Asjah Fonner, Jaiden Freeman, Robert Gebbink, Payton Grimsley, Lucas Grindley, Erica Guelfi, Emily Hardimon, Chance Izard, Cody Johnston, Lacey Kaiser, Danielle Kelso, Eliza Lewis, Nathan Maier, Sara Milioli, Ava Mills, Carson Mills, Alivia Norem, Nolan Peacock, Taddy Pettit, Eric Poe, Dyllan Price, Hannah Rajlich, Lexi Ribbe, Jenna Schaefer, Joshua Sexton, Rylee Stahl, Kenly Taylor, Stephanie Trame, Anna Tranel, Isabelle Vliet, Madie Warfel, Brayden Weaver, Sam Wesley, Zoey Witruk and Jackson Wooten.

Sophomores: Isabelle Brooks, Crayton Burnett, David Bytnar, Taylor Campbell, Kylie Duckett, Hanna Eastin, Nadirah Edwards, Emily Fisher, Dakota Franzen, Atleigh Hamilton, Emmy Houston, Lukas Hutcherson, Logan Ingram, Cailer Kellenberger, Shelby Kofoot, Spencer Lahners, Ethan Lane, Aiden Livesay, Alyssa Maddock, Tyson Madsen, Sophia Martlage, Brandon Mattsey, Flannery McCorkle, Garren Meeker, Abigail Moberg, Samantha Naylor, Alec Painer, Erin Patton, Aidan Roberts, Indira Robinson, Mazie Ronk, Evan Schmitz, Max Shonkwiler, Tessa Smith, Payton Vallee, Nora Walden, Brayden Wendt, Rachel Wilson and Logan Wolfersberger.

Freshmen: Addison Allen, Tyler Altenbaumer, Kailyn Anderson, Ella Armstrong, Madison Atwood, Abigail Behrens, Ella Besson, Andrew Beyers, Brandie Bowlin, Mara Burkhalter, Angela Chahine, Anastasia Conerty, Deanna Cummins, Benjamin Cunningham, Sidney Davis, Zander Dressen, Ashley Eldridge, Jared Emmert, Hannah Fox, Zella Fuqua, Brennan Haake, Liam Hamer, Alyssa Hamilton, Lauren Harper, Anthony Hoang, Claire Huffman, Payton Jacob, Alison Kearney, Ava Knap, Jacey Lewis, Kelsey Martlage, Sophia McDade, Coby Miller, Conrad Miller, Elijah Mock, Keaton Nolan, Jessica Palmer, Emma Parkinson, Hope Rajlich, JoLeena Reynolds, Kendra Riddle, Taryn Sexton, Alyssa Shoviak, Luke Stegall, Rebecca Steinbach, Mackenzie Trame, Ethan Vanliew and Taylor Wells.

Honor Roll

Seniors: Sullivan Alwes, Nicholas Boggs, Joel Branson, Makayla Buskirk, Brooke Butorac, Ripley Campbell, Kayla Cañas, Daniel Carlson, Amanda Craddock, Ashtyn Cromwell, Peyton Crowe, Chloe Duckett, Michael Foreman, Cole Franzen, Bryce Froeschl, Mikayla Harshbarger, Kaitlyn Hess, Michelle Jervis, Dylan Johnson, Shelby McElroy, Ryan Miller, Joel Orcutt, Karsyn Peters, Raymond Plotner, Kathryn Poulter, Hanson Rieches, Libby Rowland, Niko Russell, Clare Smith, Savannah Smith, Dillon Uken, Rylee Walsh, Jack Ward, Seth Wedig and Alyssa Whitlock.

Juniors: Kendall Ayers, Kolton Batty, Erin Bridgewater, Payton Clements, Brendan Cooperider, Bailey Dowling, Tristan Fuqua, Ethan Hinrichs, Conner Hodge, Keegan McCarty, Mason McLain, Allison Monk, Luke Renfrew, Brodie Sullivan, Anna Wentzloff and Karsyn Wetzel.

Sophomores: Haven Atwood, Hunter Brooks, Joshua Buttjer, Raegan Crippen, Jacob Dwyer, Alex Frerichs, Emily Froman, Carter Huffman, Hayden Knott, Brock Loschen, Alyssa Lynch, Gunnar Olson, Brianna Reifsteck, Lizzie Reitmeier, Jackson Rydell, Lauren Trankina, Kaylee Ward and Mitchell Whitlock.

Freshmen: Nicolas Anzelmo, Jaden Barton, Alanna Bensyl, Kennedi Burnett, Braden Clampitt, Mackenzie Fulk, Hailey Gaines, Avian Gerdes, Kailyn Ingram, KayLeigh Kamphaus, Olivia Klotz, Ashlyn Lannert, Wyatt Loghry, Madelyn Mabry, Braden MeElroy, Ava Miller, Jett Morris, Nathaniel Nosler, Jonathan Poulter, Isabelle Scott and Karsten Wayland.

SJO picks up second victory in as many days

After squeaking by Unity the night before 58-51, the Spartans got up the next morning and hit the road to Robinson (3-4) for a non-conference game. Behind the one-two punch of Ty Pence and Evan Ingram, St. Joseph-Ogden closed the book on the contest, 53-43.

Head coach Kiel Duval credited his team's "limiting turnovers and (having) a couple guys stepping up and hitting big shots" as the key factors securing the W on Saturday, February 20. He add, "Ingram and (Andrew) Beyers gave us a huge lift with some big time shots."

A tough game the night before and a long bus ride less that 12 hours later for the Spartans did not lead to a very impressive start against the Maroons.

"I wasn't impressed in the first 3 minutes of the game with how we came out of the gates. We were not ready to play right away," Duval said. "(We) didn't lock into the scouting report or details that we talked about before the game."

After Robinson's Jeff Goble banked one in from inside the free throw lane to put the first digits on the scoreboard, Jackson Rydell found net for the first SJO bucket on a pass from Ingram to tie the score at 2-all in the first quarter.

The Spartans sloppy play contributed to a five point deficit, falling behind 10-5 at one point in the period. During a timeout Duval reminded each player of their role and strategy that was laid for the game. Their focus where it needed to be, the team got it into gear.

"We responded well after that," Duval said. "(They) got stops - made some big buckets when we needed them."

In the final 2 minutes and 14 seconds of the quarter SJO clawed their way back into the contest. Outscoring the Maroons 9-5 and still behind on the scoreboard, the Spartans trailed by one to start the next quarter, 15-14.

The second quarter looked much like first with Robinson pulling ahead by five again. And once again, St. Joseph-Ogden played catch-up basketball until the last 1:10 of the half when a Luke Hutcherson shot passed through the rim to give his team a 24-23 advantage.

The lead was short-lived. Fifty-some seconds later Goble, who finished the game with a team-high 12 points for the Maroons, hit a jumper from in front of the free throw line to give his team a 25-24 halftime lead. Gobel went on to lead his team's scoring effort with 12 points and secured nine of team's 25 total rebounds.

After the two teams returned to play the second half, St. Joseph-Ogden would go on to outscore the Robinson 29-18 to stretch their perfect record to 5-0.

Pence led all scorers with 16 points for the Spartans, eight of those from inside the free throw lane. The sophomore had 10 rebounds and was credited with one assist.

Ingram led the team in steals with two and qualified as the game's second leading scorer with 13 points. Beyer added another needed 12 points to the SJO cause.

Box Score

Robinson	15	10	5	13	- 43
St. Joseph-Ogden	14	10	14	15	- 53

Robinson
Gilmore 3 (0) 4-4 -- 10, Goblee 6 (0) 0-0 -- 12, Jackson 4 (0) 0-0 -- 8, Johnson 0 (1) 0-0 -- 3, King 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, N. Weber 0 (1) 0-0 -- 3, Shindler 2 (0) 3-5 -- 7.

St. Joseph-Ogden
Brazelton 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Costa 0 (1) 0-0 -- 3, Hutcherson 2 (1) 0-2 -- 7, Smith 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Burch 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Grindley 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Wetzel 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Rydell 1 (0) 0-0 -- 2, Beyers 4 (0) 4-4 -- 12, Atwood 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Pence 4 (1) 5-7 -- 16, Ingram 0 (4) 1-2 -- 13.

Photo Gallery | SJO falls to a good Teutopolis team

Ty Pence drives to the lane around Teutopolis' Matthew Deters during non-conference game earlier this month. The Spartans suffered their worse lost of the season dropping the non-conference contest 69-48 to Wooden Shoes. Pence led all scorers with 29 points.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Wooden Shoes Evan Wermert screens out Spartan Andrew Beyers during a first quarter rebound. Beyers, who was credited with a game-high seven rebounds, finished with six points against a solid Teutopolis basketball team.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Lukas Hutcherson tries to dribble past Teutopolis' senior Evan Addis during first quarter action. Hutcherson, also a senior, contributed one field goal and a rebound in the Spartans' effort.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

With St. Joseph-Ogden head coach Kiel Duval looking on, Ty Pence denies Wooden Shoes' Evan Wermert to the opportunity to dribble past him during first half play. Wermert was one of three Teutopolis players to finish in double figures against SJO.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

While Teutopolis' Kayden Althoff towers unknowingly behind him, Spartan guard Hayden Brazelton prepares to take a shot under the basket. Making one of the two shots he took during the game, Brazelton chipped in two points for SJO.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

SJO's Nolan Grindley dribbles the ball down the court late in the game. The junior took just one shot during the contest. Sinking the three-point attempt, he finished the game with the trey in his game stats.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks