How sweet it is! Spartans extract revenge over Titans in semifinal game
NORMAL - For a third year in a row, the St. Joseph-Ogden boys' basketball program is in the State Farm Holiday Classic small school championship game. The Spartans prevailed in an exciting seesaw battle against El Paso-Gridley, 52-49.
After leading the entire first quarter and nearly half of the second, EPG took the lead behind three treys from Braden Hayes combined with a three from Jayvion Maxon and buckets to start and end the period, 32-29.
Ryker Lockhart (7 points) put the Spartans back on top with back-to-back three-pointers, going up 35-32 early in the third quarter. Hayes, who finished with 22 points, drained two more from the outside to help the Titans to a 45-40 advantage.
EPG stretched their lead to seven after a bucket from Micah Meiss (12 points) to start the fourth quarter. SJO quickly responded, scoring three unanswered buckets after a free throw from Coy Taylor to retake the lead with 2:24 remaining, 49-47. Meiss immediately knotted the score at 49-all and missed a critical free throw.
With less than a minute on the clock, Tanner Siems, who led the Spartans with 19 points, broke the deadlock with his fourth bucket in the frame. Up 51-49 and one second away from revenge for last year's loss, Coy Taylor (12 points) missed his first of two free throws and converted on the second to secure the Spartan victory by three.
The win extended the Spartans win streak to four games while improving to 7-3 overall.
Heading into Monday's title game, Tanner Siems has scored 43 of the 153 produced by SJO during the tournament. Coy Taylor, the second-leading scorer and free-throw shooter (13-19), has 37 points. Meanwhile, Parker Fitch and Collin Thomey have contributed 21 and 19, respectively.
On Saturday, after beating Quincy Notre Dame 80-57 a day earlier, Pecatonica slipped Normal University 56-54 to punch their ticket into the finale. The Indians opened the State Farm tournament with an impressive 83-53 win over Olympia.
This will the the toughest test for the Spartans so far this season. The Indians have four players who need to be contained defensively. Cooper Hoffman has drained 67 of his team's 220 points. Zion Briamah with 32 points, Brody Black with 41, and Jaxon Diedrich with 27 are threats. Hoffman scored 33 against Quincy Notre Dame.
The Small School Division championship game is scheduled to start at 5:15 PM on Monday at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center. Admission is $15 for adults at the door. Ticket prices for Students with ID (K-12), Senior Citizens, Active Military, and Veterans are $10. Admission is good for all four title and third-place contests.
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