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.


December 7, 2024 .::. 27 Photos

SJO girls close out tournament with a loss, Miller leads team's scoring effort

NORMAL - Atleigh Miller, a freshman, came off the bench to score eight points, leading St. Joseph-Ogden's offensive production in their 59-26 loss to Rockford Lutheran (11-4) at the State Farm Holiday Classic on Saturday. The Spartans (6-8) finished the tournament with a 1-2 record.

The Lady Crusaders held the Spartans to just 12 points in the first half while padding their half of the scoreboard with 37 of them. Rockford Lutheran kept their foot on the gas in the second half, scoring another 23 points to advance to the Small School division's consolation championship game five hours later against Sacred Heart-Griffin.

Trying to help dig the Spartans out of the hole early on, Addison Brooks, normally an outside shooting threat, was held to just six points from a pair of three-pointers. Timera Blackburn-Kelley contributed a pair of baskets also finishing with four points.

Lady Crusaders' Soraya Parker led all scorers with 23 points. Teammate Wrigley Meanovich added another eight points with Shauna Jones finishing the semifinal with seven points, rounding out the top three scorers.

St. Joseph-Ogden returns to action in the new year on January 4 in a home non-conference game against Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.


December 14, 2024 .::. 39 Photos

Outlasting a talented Tri-Valley squad, SJO basketball advances to State Farm tournament quarterfinals

BLOOMINGTON - The St. Joseph-Ogden boys basketball team trailed on the scoreboard for 19 minutes of their quarterfinal game against Tri-Valley (10-1) at the State Farm Holiday Classic. That was until Spartan Coy Taylor sank a field goal with 4:57 left in the game to give his team the one-point go-ahead, 41-40. Persistent and tenacious, SJO (5-3) held the late game lead to win by two 44-42 at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center on Friday.

Down by four, seven minutes away from being bumped into the consolation bracket, Ryker Lockhart drilled a three-pointer to close the gap by one before Taylor's bucket.

After a brief six-point advantage, SJO led by two at the end of the first quarter, 14-12. Vikings' Tommy Kinsella tied the game up a little over a minute into the second quarter, forcing SJO to battle through the next two and a quarter periods in catch-up mode.

Senior Tanner Siems led the team offensively, scoring 10 points. Will Haley added nine points of his own, and Parker Fitch finished with 8 points in SJO's scoring effort.

Tri-Valley Kinsella led all scorers with 15 points, and teammate Ayden Jensen, who went 6-for-6 from the free throw line, chipped in 12 more.


St. Joseph-Ogden's Coy Taylor tries to dribble around El Paso-Gridley's Chancesaye Maxon during last December's small school title game at the Shirk Center. Up by two and with less than two seconds on the game clock, St. Joseph-Ogden lost the back-and-forth game 49-48, thanks to a 20-footer launched by Maxon at the buzzer.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

One game away from making a third-consecutive appearance in the tournament's championship contest, St. Joseph-Ogden will face a familiar foe at 4:30 PM on Saturday at Normal West High School. The Spartans will be looking for revenge on El Paso-Gridley, last year's small school champs, after suffering a heart-breaking loss in a buzzer-beater at the Shirk Center last December.



St. Joe-Ogden Athletics

Kearney steps up to lead Spartans in State Farm win over U-High

BLOOMINGTON - Rebounding from their 41-29 loss to Bishop McNamara on Thursday, the St. Joseph-Ogden girls' basketball team advanced forward in the consolation bracket at the State Farm Holiday Classic after holding off a huge second-half surge from Normal University to win, 36-33 on Friday. The victory guaranted SJO at least a fourth-place finish in the consolation bracket.

In an outstanding defensive effort, the Spartans held the Pioneers to just two free throws in the second quarter, taking a 22-9 lead into the locker room at the half spearheaded by senior Sara Kearney's seven points. Kearney added another bucket in the third quarter to finish game two at the tournament with a team-high nine points.

SJO got off to an explosive start thanks to a three-pointer from Addison Brooks, Kayla Osterbur, and Hayden Dahl. Brooks went on to finish with eight points, tied with Timera Blackburn-Kelley as the team's second-leading scorer. Osterbur sank another trey in the final quarter to finish with six points, rounding out the top four scorers.

Kendyl Schroeder led U-High's offensive effort with 11 points. Scoreless in the second and third quarters, Schroeder bookended the drought with six points in the first frame and five in the fourth.

The Spartans, who improved their record to six wins against seven losses, return to Normal Community High School for a 1 PM semifinal game against Rockford Lutheran.


St. Joe-Ogden Athletics

3 Spartans deliver double-digits in 14-point win over Bago at State Farm basketball tournament

NORMAL - The St. Joseph-Ogden's boys basketball team snagged their first win at the annual State Farm Holiday Classic on Thursday, handing Winnebago a 56-42 loss. The Spartans (5-3) manufactured a 32-23 lead after the first two periods, stretching their advantage in the second half by 14 points in the remaining 20 seconds.

St. Joseph-Ogden's Coy Taylor
Coy Taylor goes up for a shot during the Spartans' Toyota of Danville Classic game against Charleston. Taylor was instrumental in SJO's win over Winnebago. The senior went 4-for-4 in the first quarter to give his team a three-point lead over the Indians.
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks
Coy Taylor led SJO's scoring effort with 19 points. Tanner Siems added another 14 points and Collin Thomey chipped in 10. The trio, frequent visitors to the free throw line, made 12 of their 17 attempts. Taylor went 6-for-7.

The Spartans advance to the Small School Boys bracket quarterfinals to face Tri-Valley at 4:30 PM on Friday. The Trojans advanced after knocking off Rock Falls, 58-40.



SJO girls fall in opener at State Farm Holiday Classic, Erickson leads scoring effort

NORMAL - Two minutes and 41 seconds into the first quarter of the St. Joseph-Ogden girls' first game at the State Farm Holiday Classic, the Spartans took a one-point lead over Bishop-McNamara (9-4). For the next 46 seconds, the Spartans enjoyed their only advantage in the 41-29 loss to the Lady Irish in their tournament opener at Normal Community High School.

Katie Erickson looks for an open teammate during SJO's Country Financial Shootout game. The senior led the Spartan scoring effort in their first game at the State Farm basketball tournament.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Katie Erickson led the hardwood effort with three treys for nine points. Kayla Osterbur finished with seven points, Timera Blackburn-Kelley contributed four points, and Addison Brooks was held to just three points for SJO.

Down 24-12 at the half, the Spartans pulled it together, matching McNamara point for point with 17 second-half points. Despite a much improved defensive effort, the first-half drought proved too much.

Moving to the consolation bracket, Erickson & Company have a day to regroup. The Spartans return to tournament action tomorrow at Bloomington High School to face the loser between Eureka and Normal U-High at 2 PM. The Lady Irish advance to face the winner from that game at 9 PM at BHS.

Bishop McNamara duo Jaide Burse and Trinity Davis combined for 16 points, scoring eight each. Leigha Brown rounded out the top three contributors with six points to advance to the quarterfinals.



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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