Behind four treys from Ty Pence, the St. Joseph-Ogden basketball team cruised past Rantoul Township for their first conference win last night, 60-37. SJO remains undefeated improving to 6-0.
Pence commanded the floor with a season-high 22 points and was 4-for-5 from the free throw line. He, along with senior Conner Hodge with eight points, led the team on the boards with eight apiece.
In fact, the Spartans ruled the paint out-rebounding the visiting Eagles, 39-14.
In addition to the 16 from Pence and Hodge, Payton Cain (6 points, 7 rebounds) and Drew Coursey (2 points, 6 rebounds) posted season-high totals from their participation in the paint.
The Eagles were paced by 5-11 guard Kamrynnn Rome with 11 points and junior Jaxson Freeman with nine.
The Spartans hosts Tri-Valley this afternoon at 3:30p to finish a back-to-back game series this weekend. On Tuesday, SJO travel to Champaign to face the Maroons of Central in another non-conference contest before their State Farm Holiday Classic opener on December 26.
The JV boys’ basketball team also won their season opener crushing Rantoul in similar fashion, 75-38.
Box Score
Scoring
St. Joseph-Ogden: Conner Hodge 8, Payton Cain 6, Jordan Kelly 4, Drew Coursey 2, Payton Grimsley 7, Chance Izard 7, Ty Pence 22 and Luke Renfrew 4.
Rantoul: Buford 2, Freeman 9, Lee 3, Rome 11, Shaw 4, Space 3, Wilkerson 3 and Winston 2.
