Sports Page | Last second shot swipes tournament title from Spartans


BLOOMINGTON - The St. Joseph-Ogden basketball team suffered their second loss of the season after a brilliant third-quarter at the State Farm Holiday Classic on December 30.

Like the team's earlier loss to Beecher, the sweet taste of victory was yanked from their grasp in the last seconds of the game. With 1.8 second left to play and down by two on the clock, El-Paso Gridley made an inbound pass and got the ball to an open Chanceaye Maxon, Jr, who tossed the ball from 20 feet or so to the basket for a three, giving the Titans a 49-48 advantage at the buzzer to take the Small School Division title.

The Small School Division champions in 2022, the team went 3-1 in the tournament and were this year's runner up. Tanner Jacob was named to the All-Tournment team.

Senior Luke Landrus led SJO's scoring effort with 19 points. Coy Taylor finished with 11 points, and Jacob sank nine for the top three scorers. Jacob and junior Tanner Siems were the team's leading rebounders, collecting four boards each. Landrus hauled in three, and Collin Thomey snagged two in the title game.

The Spartans (12-2) include Ryker Lockhart, Tanner Jacob, Kodey Mckinney, Coy Taylor, Logan Smith, Luke Landrus, Tanner Siems, Logan Lackey, Will Haley, Kendrick Johnson, Asher Pruemer, Parker Fitch, and Collin Thomey.


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"You got to be ready" - SJO bench steps up when called in SFHC opener

SJO's Tanner Siems takes control of the opening tipoff at the State Farm Holiday Classic on Wednesday.

NORMAL - From the opening tip through the first quarter, the St. Joseph-Ogden basketball team's efforts were dismal against East Dubuque in the second game of the Small School Division at the State Farm Holiday Classic. Up 27-25 at the start of the second half, the Spartans extended their fragile lead by as much as 11 in the third quarter over the tenacious Warriors on the way to a 56-47 win Wednesday afternoon at Normal Community West High School.

The East Dubuque punched SJO in the mouth early, going up 6-0 and led on the scoreboard the entire quarter. Spartans' Ryker Lockhart tied the game up with 3:37 left to play in the half, followed by two more SJO buckets to up 24-20.

"It didn't seem like we were ready to play," Spartan head coach Kiel Duval confessed. He gave credit to the way the Warriors came out to play. "They had a lot more energy from the start. They were more aggressive on both ends and that took us out of what we wanted to do."

The slow rev up to aggressive play was not ideal.

"In this tournament, you can't approach games like that," he explained. "One through 16 is really, really good. If you don't come ready to play, you saw what happened in the first quarter. You have to be ready to play when you walk off the bus."


Tanner Jacob takes a shot
Tanner Jacob goes up for a contested shot with East Dubuque's Carter Widmeier. Jacob scored 11 points for the Spartans in Wednesday's game.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

On the next possession, Warriors' Aaron Culbertson hit a jumper, closing the scoring gap. Tanner Jacob answered back with a trey of his own for SJO to make the score 27-23. East Dubuque would sink one more basket before the intermission and head in the locker room down by two.

It took just under a minute and a half at the start of the third quarter for Jacob to bag another trey and sink a field goal, giving SJO a 32-25 lead. Coupled with aggressive defensive play, the Spartans let the Warriors get close twice in the third quarter before taking full-control of the contest.

"It wasn't really a great start. We weren't ready to go," said Luke Landrus, who finished with eight points and four rebounds. "We picked it up after the second quarter. In the third quarter we really started playing defense and getting rebounds. That helped us offensively."

Landrus credited the bench for helping St. Joseph-Ogden get the win.

"Our bench helped us a a lot. We didn't start off fast, but we had good people come off the bench, played hard, and did their job."

Combined, Lockhart, Parker Fitch, Tim Blackburn-Kelley, Logan Lackey and Collin Thomey saw 32 minutes.

Ryker Lockhart, hopped of the bench, playing five minutes for SJO. He hit the second quarter, game-tying shot the Spartans needed against East Dubuque.

Photo: PhotoNews Media


"We got a lot of guys with the ability to play. We told them 'you got to be ready, whatever your roll is'," Duval said. "You got to play just like the other guys. There shouldn't be any drop-off. I thought the did today."

Three SJO players finished with double figures. Shooting 75% from the field, junior Tanner Siems finished with 15 points. Logan Smith accumulated 13 points during his 26 minutes on the floor. Both Siems and Smith had three rebounds and three assists. Jacob contributed 11 points and credited with two steals.

One-for-two from the free-throw line, Thomey led the Spartans' rebounding effort with five.

Tonight, the Spartans face Rock Falls in the tournament's nightcap at 8:30-ish at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center.


Photo Gallery | Lady Irish topple Spartans at State Farm Classic

NORMAL - Addison Seggebruch makes a pass to an open teammate while being guarded by McNamara's Trinitee Thompson and Lydia Nugent in the second quarter of their State Farm Holiday Classic game. The Spartans fell 50-18 to the Lady Irish in the first Small School girls' game at Normal Community High School this morning. Seggebruch finished with five points for SJO. Moving into the consolation bracket, the Spartans will face Rockford Lutheran at 9:30 am at Bloomington High School tomorrow. The Lady Crusaders lost to Brimfield 49-39 in the contest following SJO's.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



Photo Gallery


Photo Gallery | Eureka beats Mahomet-Seymour in OT at Country Financial Shootout

Mahomet-Seymour's Adaline Eisenmann dives after a loose ball during her team Country Financial Shootout game against Eureka. The Bulldogs fell to the Hornets 52-51 in the only overtime contest at the girls' shootout at St. Joseph-Ogden High School on December 16.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



Photo Gallery


Country Financial Shootout report: Pleasant Plains beats #1 Breese Central

Anna Weber from Pleasant Plains
ST. JOSEPH - Pleasant Plains' Anna Weber blocks a shot from Breese Central's Kylie Rakers in the second half of their Country Financial Shootout game on Saturday. Weber, who was awarded Player-of-the-Game, and the Cardinals upset the Class 2A number one team in the state after an electric 40-37 finish at St. Joseph-Ogden High School. Pleasant Plains improved their record to 9-5 behind Weber's game-high 19-points.

Photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Photo Gallery


Photos this week


Photos from St. Joseph-Ogden's November 2022 playoff football game against Olympia. Despite a solid team effort against a high-powered offense and much-improved football program, SJO's football season came to an unfortunate end after a 60-28 road loss to the Spartans.