SJO girls basketball team soar over Monticello for IPC win

ST. JOSEPH -- A huge third-quarter rally led by senior shooting guard Ella Armstrong secured St. Joseph-Ogden's fifth conference win after a 50-29 finish on Thursday. The Spartans (15-6, 5-0 IPC) retain sole possession of first place in the league standings ahead of Unity (5-1) in second place, and BCC and Prairie Central, both with 4-1 records, tied for third.

Armstrong, who finished with 11 points, and Ashlyn Lannert scored eight and six points respectively of the 21 points tacked onto the Spartans' side of the scoreboard in the third quarter. Lannert led all scorers with 16 points in the rout.

After a steal and layup less than 30 seconds after the opening tip, Lannert put the first points on the board.

Almost four and half minutes later, Peyton Jacob's put-back after a rebound at 3:03, extended SJO's advantage.

Sages' 5'10" senior Renni Fultz got her team's first basket with a minute and a half left in the first quarter to trail, 4-2. SJO quickly responded with a bucket on another layup from Lannert to go up 6-2 at the end of the quarter.

After two lead exchanges in the second quarter, Monticello's Hannah Swanson tied the game at 11-all after hitting two free throws with 1:16 left in the first half. The Sages took the lead at the end of the half after Lizzie Stiverson was fouled on a layup and sank her free throw to make the score 14-11 with just 16.7 seconds remaining before the break.

Lannert started the second half with a bucket to tie up the score. From there, SJO methodically pulled away to book their 15th win of the season.

Monticello (13-9) was paced by Fultz' 10 points. Megan Allen and Stiverson chipped seven points apiece and Swanson rounded out the Sages' scoring effort with five points.

SJO's Peyton Jones also finished in double-digits with 10 points. She was also a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.

Box Score

Final: St. Joseph-Ogden 50 - Monticello 29

  1 2 3 4 F
St. Joseph-Ogden 6 6 21 17 50
Monticello 2 12 9 6 29

St. Joseph-Ogden --
Lannert 5 (2) 0-0 -- 16, Hug 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Williams 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Frick 0 (1) 0-0 -- 3, Jacob 2 (0) 1-2 -- 5, Wells 2 (0) 1-1 -- 5, Baker 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Baltzell 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Behrens 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Jones 3 (0) 4-4 -- 10, Martinie 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Hamilton 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Kearney 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Armstrong 1 (3) 0-0 -- 11, Harms 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Ward 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0,

Monticello --
Leatherwood 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Swanson 0 (1) 2-2 -- 5, Fultz 5 (0) 0-2 -- 10, Allen 3 (0) 1-3 -- 7, Stiverson 3 (0) 1-1 -- 7, Young 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Patton 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Smith 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0,