Photos Today: Spartans pick up 20th win

SJO head coach Kevin Taylor was able to put every player on his varsity squad on the floor Monday night in his team's home conference game against Rantoul.

"It helps when someone get hot early like Peyton Crowe," he said. "Then we can spread the floor out."

The St. Joseph-Ogden girls basketball team picked up their 20th win of the season behind Crowe's 20-point game-high performance. Seven other SJO player also contributed offensively and everyone had a hand in smothering the Eagles shots in the 63-24 victory.

Here's seven photos from Monday's milestone win for the Spartans. Follow this link to see more photos from the game in the SJO vs Rantoul gallery.

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St. Joseph-Ogden's Ella Armstrong goes up for a shot in front of Rantoul's Myejoi Williams during in the second half. The Spartans defeated the visiting Eagles to pick up their 20th win of the season with a 63-24 win on Monday. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Maclayne Taylor dribbles the ball away from Rantoul's Emma Mihaly during first half action of their home game on Monday. Taylor finished the game with 7 points. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Spartan Ashlyn Lannert dribbles the ball down the court in their home game against Rantoul. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Keeping the ball away from Rantoul's Litzy Hernandez, St. Joseph-Ogden's Angela Palmer looks for an open teammate to pass the ball during second half action. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Maclayne Taylor guards Rantoul's Jada Mosley during their Illini Prairie Conference game. Taylor finished with 7 points on the night. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Spartan Payton Jacob wrestles the ball away from Rantoul's Myejoi Williams. Jacob came off the bench to finish the night with 8 points for SJO. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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St. Joseph-Ogden's Hannah Dukeman makes a pass in their home game against Rantoul. The junior contributed 9 points in the SJO victory. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Click here to search for more photos 24/7 that are in the PhotoNews Media online archives. Follow this link to discover more photos from this game or order any photo from this page: SJO Girls vs Rantoul.

Photos Today: SJO notches conference win over Unity

The St. Joseph-Ogden girls basketball team held Unity to just 10 second half points in their 59-27 win over visiting Unity on Monday.

Once again the Spartan ladies displayed their prowess from charity stripe.

Spartan Peyton Crowe was perfect from the free throw line making all six of her shots. The senior led all scorers from both benches with 20 points.

Bree Trimble made 7 of her 8 free throws and was the second leading scorer for SJO with 13 points. Hannah Dukeman came through with 12 points and was 2-for-3 from the line.

Here are six moments captured from Monday's game.

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St. Joseph-Ogden's Peyton Crowe fires a shot after driving down the baseline past a Unity player in their home game on Monday. Crowe was perfect from the free throw line making all 6 attempts and closed out the game scoring 20 points on the visiting Rockets. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Payton Jacob battles for an offensive rebound under the basket for the Spartans with Unity's Hannah Fridgen and Taylor Henry. (PhotoNews Media Archive Photo/Photo by Clark Brooks)

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SJO's Payton Vallee keeps her hands up to block a shot by Unity's Rysa Stacy in the first half.(PhotoNews Media Archive Photo/Photo by Clark Brooks)

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Freshman Ella Armstrong plays defense during second half action for the Spartans. She contributed to 2 points in SJO's 32-point Illini Prairie Conference victory. (PhotoNews Media Archive Photo/Photo by Clark Brooks)

Erin Miller looks for an open SJO teammate to pass the ball while guarded by Unity's Martina Miebach in the fourth quarter. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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St. Joseph-Ogden's Hannah Dukeman concentrates on making a second half free throw. Dukeman finished the night with 12 points. (PhotoNews Media Archive Photo/Photo by Clark Brooks)

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Click here to search for more photos 24/7 that are in the PhotoNews Media online archives. Follow this link to order any photo on this page: 01-07-19 SJO vs Unity.

#TBT: A stroll around the memory lane in 2007

The Sentinel, courtesy of PhotoNews Media, has more than 250,000 images from more than a decade and half of sport coverage at St. Joseph-Ogden High School at our fingertips. Each week, as space and time allows, we will publish great action photos, memorable moments and treasured images from the massive collection of images of Spartan athletes online and in your weekly paper.

This week's feature is from the 2007 Girls Spartan Classic featuring five of SJO's memorable athletes. The five runners never failed to impress with their competitive spirit and their dedication to their team's success in every sport they donned the Spartan uniform.

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Two-sport St. Joseph-Ogden athlete Catherine Foreman heads to the finish line ahead of the field in the 4x100 Relay. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Senior Amy Schleef clears the bar while competing in the in the pole vault division. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Sprinter Rachael Graham explodes out of the blocks at start of a relay race. The three-sport athlete ran in several events for the Spartans at the Classic. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Three-sport athlete Bria Olson sails through the air on a long jump attempt. The junior also competed as a high jumper. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Molly Cinker starts her run next to a runner from Villa Grove and the East Central Coop in one of the two distance events held at the 2007 Spartan Classic. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Can't wait until next week for more photos from the archives? Search for your favorite athlete by name, sport or date of the event in the PhotoNews Media online photo archives.

SJO sets State Farm Classic record

The St. Joseph-Ogden ladies made a stunning debut in their opening contest at this year's State Farm Classic basketball tournament. The #1 seed held Peoria Christian to just 10 points, not for just one quarter, but the entire game in a dominating 80-10 victory.

The win was the seventh best score, now tied with Rock Island from a game in 2016, recorded in the tournament's 40 year history.

"I think our team came out with energy and everyone was exited to start the tournament out in a positive way," said Spartan head coach Kevin Taylor. "I hope we care that energy over for our next game where we will see a very good team."

SJO took command early outscoring the Chargers 23-5 in the first quarter. They dialed up the pressure in the second to take a 41-point lead at the half.

Allowing Christian just 3 points total in the second half and buoyed by bench players, the Spartans added another 39 points to scoreboard. Ten of Taylor's 11 players contributed in the drubbing.

Bree Trimble led SJO with a game-high 21 points and was followed freshman Payton Jacob, who came off the bench to add 10 points. Parkland College recruit Peyton Crowe and junior Katie Cramer scored 8 points. Erin Miller, who was 2-2 from the free throw line, along with Taylor Barnes, Maclayne Taylor and Hannah Dukeman contributed 6 points each. Dukeman also shot 100% from the charity stripe.

The victory set a new tournament record making it the largest winning margin (70) in a girls game.

The Chargers, who fall to 0-13 on the season, were led in scoring by junior Tiffany Mallow with 5 points. Lydia Keehner finished with 4 points and Kaitlyn Johnson made one of two free throws to round out their team's scoring effort.

The Spartans advance to face Laney Lantz and Camp Point Central/Augusta SE on the championship side of the bracket. Lantz scored 21 point in their tournament opener against Oakwood. Tipoff is schedule for 4pm today at Bloomington High School

Spartans step it up in second half to topple Sabers in conference opener

Early on, it looked like it was going to be a runaway game and an easy victory for the St. Joseph-Ogden girls' basketball team in their conference opener at St. Thomas More on Monday.

The 11-1 Spartans made all the right moves building an 11 point lead, the largest of the game by either team, when the contest reached the midpoint in the first quarter.

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Senior Bree Trimble makes a pass during second half action in St. Joseph-Ogden's road game at St. Thomas More. Trimble finished the night with 17 points in the first Illini Prairie Conference contest of the season. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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SJO, moving the ball well around the perimeter forcing open looks, was fully in control on their way to their 58-43 victory over the Sabers.

Finishing the quarter with 11 points, the table soon turned and STM's giant awoke.

The Sabers stepped up their defensive game creating scoring opportunities for senior NaKaya Hughes to put the ball in the hoop. Hughes' effort, five second quarter field goals and a free throw, erased their early deficit in a palatable momentum shift. The STM starter finished the night with 27 points.

"We came out a little slow and didn't expect them to do what they did," said Peyton Crowe. The senior led the Spartans with 19 points and was perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. "In the second half, we kicked it into gear and played better defense."

Spartan head coach Kevin Taylor praised his opponent's effort in the second quarter when his team's focus seemingly wavered.

"I have to give St. Thomas More a lot of credit," Taylor said. "They came out with energy, which I think we lacked at the start of the game."

With 52 seconds left in the half and STM two points away from taking the lead at the half, senior Bree Trimble, a veteran starter and the team's scoring leader this season, wasn't worried.

"I knew it wasn't our half. I knew in the second half we would be okay," said Trimble, who went on to add 7 second half points to the 10 she delivered in the first to finish with 17 total. "I knew someone would be able to pick us all up and get something going."

Back in the locker room during halftime, Taylor made tactical adjustments and told his team they needed to concentrate on playing more aggressively.

"Just get out there, focus and play harder," he told the team before the second half.

Fortunately in the fourth quarter, after St. Thomas took the lead battling tooth and nail to keep it throughout the third, Taylor's words became action.

Offensively, the Spartans scored seven unanswered points pulling ahead 44-37 at the start of the period before the Sabers' next bucket. They then went on a 10-point run to put the game out of reach late in the final quarter.

Nearly half Crowe's scoring production came in the second half. She thanked her teammates for helping her attack the paint.

"They were setting screens making it a lot easier to cut," she said. "Whenever I saw the open lane I went in."

The SJO defensive effort allowed just three STM field goals in the final quarter.

"In the second half we had some fire," Trimble beamed. "We stepped it up and played a lot better."

Next up, before playing in the annual State Farm Classic Basketball Tournament after Christmas, the 12-1 Spartans will travel to Morton on Saturday to face a 3A program that has won three state titles and suffered just 10 losses in the past four years coming into current season.