Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks
Krutsinger MVP in Bishop Mac's tournament win over host Spartans
Photo Gallery |St. Joseph-Ogden overpowers Oakwood at basketball tourney
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks
St. Joseph-Ogden's Parker Fitch releases a shot between Carsen Dudley and Alex Wallace in the first quarter of their Toyota of Danville Classic game on Friday. Picking up their third win of the season, the Spartans defeated the Comets 79-46 and advanced to Saturday's championship game against Bishop McNamara. Here are more photos from Friday's pool game.
St. Joseph-Ogden's Kaden Wedig goes up to force the ball away from Oakwood's Ben Darling during second half action of their pool game on Friday.
St. Joseph-Ogden, Bishop McNamara rematch set for Toyota of Danville Classic title showdown
St. Joseph-Ogden and Bishop McNamara each swept their pool play games to reach the Toyota of Danville Classic championship. The full day of basketball begins with the seventh-place game between Cissna Park and Watseka. The night concludes with awards, including tournament MVP recognition.
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks
Oakwood's Xander Wilson tries to dribble around the defensive efforts of St. Joseph-Ogden's Tyler Hess in the final pool play game at the Toyota of Danville Classic basketball tournament at St. Joseph-Ogden High School on Friday. The Spartans defeated the Comets 79-46, improving to 3-0 on the season and securing their spot in today's championship game, a rematch against Kankakee's Bishop McNamara. Wilson and the Comets will play the third-place game agaisnt Paxton-Buckley-Loda. Hess led the Spartan offensive effort with 17 points.
ST. JOSEPH - Host St. Joseph-Ogden (3-0) and Bishop McNamara won all three of their pool play games, earning the right to meet in this year's Toyota of Danville Classic championship. The Fightin’ Irish, last year’s champions, are 6-0 heading into the title match between the tournament heavyweights. Seven hours of non-stop basketball action begins at 1 p.m. at St. Joseph-Ogden High School with the seventh-place game between Cissna Park and Watseka. Cissna Park struggled this week, dropping all three pool play games. The Timberwolves look to get back on track against conference foe Watseka, which finished with one win in Pool B behind Payton Schaumburg’s 30-point performance in a one-point victory. At approximately 2:30 p.m., the only two teams in the annual tournament located south of Illinois Route 150 square off in the fifth-place game. Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond faces Charleston. The Trojans and Knights, both of whom defeated one of the teams playing for seventh place, lost two games in their respective pools. The third-place game features an Illini Prairie vs. Vermilion Valley matchup between Oakwood and Paxton-Buckley-Loda in a contest that may be decided in the final quarter. PBL earned wins over Charleston and Cissna Park in pool play. Oakwood dropped a one-point heartbreaker to Watseka and fell to the red-hot Spartans by 33 points on Friday night. The main event between the Spartans and the defending champion Fightin’ Irish will be an early season battle between two teams expected to make deep postseason runs. There is a sense of revenge for SJO, which, after winning three consecutive tournament titles since the pandemic, lost last year's championship to B-Mac in a physical 57-48 showdown. After the championship game, the tournament director will present runner-up and championship awards and announce the Toyota of Danville Classic All-Tournament Team. A tournament MVP and the free throw percentage champion will also be recognized. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students, covering all four games scheduled today.
Schaumburg scores 30 in Watseka comeback, Toyota of Danville Classic recap and more
St. Joseph-Ogden built a 31-point halftime lead and defeated ALAH 66-30 in its season opener.
Oakley leads Trojans in five point win over Cissna Park
ST. JOSEPH - Tyler Oakley scored 18 points in Charleston’s 56-51 win over Cissna Park in Day 2 action at the Toyota of Danville Classic at St. Joseph-Ogden High School on Wednesday. Teammates Braxton Hanner and Quinn Taylor added nine points each. Russell Applegate contributed six more to give the Trojans their first win of the season and a 1-1 tournament record. After pouring in a game-high 28 points against Paxton-Buckley-Loda on Tuesday, Cissna Park’s Dierks Neukomm led all scorers again with 25 points. Teammate Seth Walder finished with 21 in a strong display of high school shot-making. Despite another standout effort, the Timberwolves fell to 0-2 in the tournament and 0-3 overall. Cissna Park returns to action Friday at 5 p.m. against Bishop McNamara (5-0). Charleston moves on to face Paxton-Buckley-Loda in its next pool game tonight at 8 p.m.Bishop McNamara stays undefeated declawing Panthers
B-Mac’s Richie Darr scored 12 points in the first half and finished with 14 to help keep the Fightin’ Irish unbeaten at 5-0. Holding Paxton-Buckley-Loda to just 12 first-half points — the same number the Panthers scored in the first quarter — Bishop McNamara cruised to a 51-38 win. Ethan Williams led PBL with 16 points, including 14 in an outstanding second-half effort. Tyler Cole, who had 18 points in the tournament opener against Cissna Park, added eight points and went 2-for-3 from the free-throw line. Darr’s performance was supported by nine points from Karter Krutsinger and eight from Callaghan O’Connor, tallied over the first three quarters. Bishop McNamara is off Thursday before a long bus ride from Kankakee on Friday to face Cissna Park at 5 p.m. PBL (1-2) faces Charleston (0-3) tonight at 8 p.m.
Schaumburg goes supernova in fourth quarter
Payton Schaumburg scored 14 points in the fourth quarter of Watseka’s pool game against Oakwood in an unbelievable comeback performance. Down by 11 at the end of the third quarter, Schaumburg single-handedly erased the deficit — and then some — to give the Warriors their first win of the season. Tyler Waugh carried the game the first three quarter with 17 points, while Jack Hutchinson added six points on two first-half 3-pointers, and Austin Morris completed Watseka’s scoring with a third-quarter field goal. Schaumburg finished with a game-high 30 points, the top performance of the tournament so far. Oakwood, an impressive 18-for-21 from the free-throw line, trailed by six after the first quarter and fought back to lead by five at halftime. The Comets held the advantage until the fourth quarter, when Schaumburg took over. Alex Wallace and Carsen Dudley scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, for Oakwood. Collin Furry added nine, and Jaethan Perez contributed eight, five of which came at the line. Wallace made seven of his eight free throws, while Dudley posted a perfect 5-for-5 night for the Comets. Oakwood returns to the floor at St. Joseph-Ogden to face Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond at 5 p.m. Watseka plays host St. Joseph-Ogden at 6:30.
Prep Sports Notebook |Langendorf leads Unity to win, Peoples drop 39 points in loss
Unity, St. Joseph-Ogden and Uni-High pick up early season victories in our area basketball recap. Bismark-Henning-Rossville-Alvin's Keison Peoples scores 39.
Boys Basketball
ST. JOSEPH - Nolan Franzen led the Spartans to a 66-30 win over Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond at the Toyota of Danville Classic on Tuesday. Senior Parker Fitch and sophomore Lane McKinney led six other SJO players in the season-opening victory with 11 and 10 points, respectively. ALAH was led by senior Easton Frederick with eight points and got five more from Will Hilligoss. Marcus Otto chipped in two field goals. Read the SJO vs ALAH recap here
Unity starts season with a win despite Peoples' 39 points
TOLONO - Coleton Langendorf made a quick transition from all-conference football defensive lineman to hardcourt force, leading Unity to a 53-46 win over Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin on Tuesday at the Rocket Center. The senior finished with 17 points and converted five of his seven trips to the free-throw line. Nine other Rockets contributed to the win. Mason O'Neill finished with nine points, and Brayden Henry added six to round out the top three scorers. It was a one-on-five situation for the Blue Devils, who relied on 6-foot-4 Keison Peoples to keep the game competitive. The senior scored 39 points against the Rockets and drew 24 fouls from their defense. Eighteen of his points came from the free-throw line. BHRA's Darin Farr led the team's rebounding effort, snagging seven. Duplicating last year's tough early-season schedule, the Rockets host Rochester on Friday for a nonconference matchup.
Hawks drop home game to Illineks
BROADLANDS - An explosive fourth quarter was not enough for the Hawks to get over the hump in their nonconference game against visiting Urbana University High on Tuesday. Trailing by 16 at the half, the Hawks rallied but fell short in a 48-40 loss. Brayden Jones, who went 4-for-4 from the line, led Heritage with 13 points, five assists and nine rebounds. Sophomore Cameron Johnson added 10 points, and Clark Roland chipped in nine. James Dillon rounded out the scoring with six points and six rebounds. The Hawks return to action Saturday for a 2:15 p.m. game at Chrisman.
Area Scoreboard
Toyota of Danville Classic
Paxton-Buckley-Loda 58, Cissna Park 47Bishop McNamara 60, Charleston 37
Other area game results
Centennial 80, Rantoul 40Day 1 in the books, here's a look at the Toyota of Danville Classic winners
St. Joseph-Ogden built a 31-point halftime lead and defeated ALAH 66-30 in its season opener.
Bishop McNamara 60, Charleston 37
ST. JOSEPH - Bishop McNamara made a strong opening statement at St. Joseph-Ogden's annual Toyota of Danville Classic on Tuesday, defeating the Charleston Trojans 60-37. Bishop McNamara jumped out to an early lead behind 11 first-half points from senior Karter Krutsinger, who finished with a game-high 15. Krutsinger was supported by teammates Coen Demack (11 points) and Callaghan O’Connor (10 points). The team was efficient from the free-throw line, making seven of eight attempts. The win improved the Fightin’ Irish’s record to 4-0. Meanwhile, Charleston (0-3) struggled to keep pace, heading into halftime facing a 30-12 deficit. The Trojans hit seven three-pointers in the game but could not generate consistent offense. Tyler Oakley led Charleston with nine points, while Rohen Walters added seven. Eight other Trojans scored in the contest. The Fightin’ Irish are scheduled to face Paxton-Buckley-Loda in the next round of the post-holiday tournament. Charleston will next face Cissna Park as it searches for its first win of the season.Paxton-Buckley-Loda 58, Cissna Park 47
A quiet third quarter for Ethan Williams set the stage for a roaring fourth. From that silence erupted a 12-point performance that propelled Paxton-Buckley-Loda to a 58-47 comeback victory over Cissna Park on Tuesday. The Panthers found themselves staring at a 27-18 halftime deficit. But the game shifted, possession by possession, until the teams stood knotted at 34-all heading into the final quarter. That's when Williams, who finished with a team-high 20 points, took over. His late surge, combined with 18 points from teammate Tyler Cole, secured the win and kept PBL (1-1) in title contention. Yet, for all of Williams' and Cole's combined effort, neither could outduel the singular performance of Cissna Park's Dierks Neukomm. Neukomm poured in a game-high 28 points, including 11 in the frantic fourth quarter. Other than two free throws from Seth Walder, it was all Neukomm. But in the end, even that remarkable individual effort wasn't enough to hold off the Panthers' collective rally.St. Joseph-Ogden 66,
Atwood-Hammond-Arthur-Lovington 30
For the ALAH Knights, the trouble began in the first quarter. By halftime, it was a distant memory of a contest.
Nolan Franzen made his varsity debut one to remember, scoring all 21 of his points in the first half to power the St. Joseph-Ogden Spartans to a commanding 66-30 victory over ALAH in the season opener for both teams at the Toyota of Danville Classic on Tuesday. The Spartans built a 31-point lead by intermission, a cushion so substantial that a five-point fourth quarter was merely a footnote in the cruise-control win.
Franzen’s explosive opening act was the catalyst. He was joined by teammates Parker Fitch and Lane McKinney, who notched their first double-digit scoring games of the season with 11 and 10 points, respectively, as the Spartans’ offense fired on all cylinders early.
For the Knights, Easton Frederick paced the effort with eight points, but the team fell to 0-2 with the loss.
Both teams return to action Thursday in the tournament. ALAH will look to rebound against Oakwood in a 5 p.m. tip-off, while the Spartans aim to carry their momentum forward against the Watseka Warriors at 6:30 p.m.
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