Turkey Tournament All-Tourney Team

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Members of the first-ever Toyota of Danville Turkey Tournament all-tournament team (left to right) Peyton Jones (St. Joseph-Ogden), Kennedi Ramshaw (Centennial), Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta (Urbana), Taylor Wells (SJO), Caroline Smith (Tri-County), Josie Armstrong (Tri-County), Ella Armstrong (SJO) and Bella Dudley (Tri-County) pose for a photo during the tournament awards ceremony on Thursday. Dudley was named the tournament MVP. St. Joseph-Ogden won the inaugural tournament title going 3-0 against the Tri-County Lady Titans, Urbana Tigers and the Chargers from Centennial High School.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Turkey tournament starts Monday at SJO

St. Joseph-Ogden's Peyton Jones takes a shot during last November's first installment of SJO's first girls holiday basketball tournament. The Spartans will host the tournament once again with a new team this season. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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ST. JOSEPH -- The girls' basketball season officially starts on Monday with SJO hosting the Second Annual Toyota of Danville Turkey Tournament. Mahomet-Seymour joins the four-team, round-robin style tournament replacing Urbana High School.

Spartans fans can catch the varsity program on the hardwood this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings at approximately 7:30p as the team will battle to defend their 2021 title against Tri-County, Centennial and the Bulldogs from Mahomet-Seymour. The SJO JV team will play in the school's practice gym at 6 pm on all three nights.

This year's St. Joseph-Ogden varsity squad includes Sammy Uden, Addi Seggebruch, Olivia Baltzell, Katie Ericksen, Addison Frick, Taylor Hug, Kaytlyn Baker, Addie Brooks, Sara Kearney, Addy Martinie, Kayla Osterbur, and Ellie Ward.

2nd Annual
TOYOTA OF DANVILLE
TURKEY TOURNAMENT

Monday, November 14th
JV: SJO JV vs. Tri-County JV 6:00 PM (Practice Gym)
JV: Centennial JV vs. Mahomet-Seymour JV 7:30 PM (Practice Gym)
VARSITY: Centennial vs. Mahomet-Seymour 6:00 PM (Main Gym)
VARSITY: SJO vs. Tri-County 7:30 PM (Main Gym)

Tuesday, November 15th
JV: SJO JV vs. Centennial JV 6:00 PM (Practice Gym)
JV: Tri-County JV vs. Mahomet-Seymour JV 7:30 PM (Practice Gym)
VARSITY: Tri-County vs. Mahomet-Seymour 6:00 PM (Main Gym)
VARSITY: SJO vs. Centennial 7:30 PM (Main Gym)

Thursday, November 17th
JV: SJO JV vs. Mahomet-Seymour JV 6:00 PM (Practice Gym)
JV: Tri-County JV vs. Centennial JV 7:30 PM (Practice Gym)
VARSITY: Tri-County vs. Centennial 6:00 PM (Main Gym)
VARSITY: SJO vs. Mahomet-Seymour 7:30 PM (Main Gym)

Slideshow

Photo gallery from the Spartans' 2021 Turkey Tournament game against the Urbana Tigers.

SJO Cheer qualifies for ICCA state championships

FARMINGTON - On Saturday, the St. Joseph-Ogden competitive cheer team qualified for the Illinois Cheerleading Coaches State Cheer Competition on January 6- 7 at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield. The Spartan cheer squad finished seventh out of 16 teams at the Farmington Invitational on Saturday.

Madelyn George and Spartan cheerleaders lead fans in a cheer during a timeout at the Toyota of Danville Classic basketball tournament earlier this month. On Saturday, the cheer team qualified for the ICCA state championships in January.

Photo: PhotoNews Media

"I’m very excited for this team to experience ICCA Championships," said St. Joseph-Ogden head coach Emily Wise. "Many of the cheerleaders have never competed before. The team has put in a lot of work in and out of practice."

Wise is happy with her team's accomplishment, especially considering their youth and lack of experience. Their over-all work ethic and practice culture have paid its first of many dividends. Five freshmen and five juniors make up the 10-girl squad.

"They have spent countless hours at practice and pushed themselves to a new level these past couple of weeks. I’m so proud their hard work paid off this past weekend," Wise said.

The team will be working even harder for a successful performance in Springfield next month. There are a few things they will be working on to be competitive with the veteran programs they will cheer against.

"The team will be perfecting their current skills as well as growing new skills. Such as stronger motions, louder voices, and added difficulty," Wise said."

Members of the squad include juniors Addison Funk, Madelyn George, Samantha Uden, Charley Wright, and Ava Worley. The remainder of the squad are all freshmen, which includes Iris Davis, Leah Gaines, Faith Jackson, Peighton Reim, and Ava Smoot.

"SJO Cheer has come such a long way since the beginning of the year," Wise added. "This is such a talented team and I can’t wait to see what all they accomplish this season."

Farmington Invitational Results
Small School Varsity Division

 1st Knoxville
 2nd New Berlin
 3rd Oakwood
 4th Salt Fork
 5th Farmington
 6th Illini Bluff
 7th St. Joseph-Ogden
 8th Brimfield
 9th Monmouth-Roseville
10th Eureka
11th ROWVA Williamsfield
12th Sherrard
13th Williamsville
14th Abingdon-Avon
15th St. Thomas More
16th Prairie Central

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SJO Senior Spotlights with Dade Allinger, Karsyn Wetzel and Mallory Ames

Dade Allinger Clubs & Activities Boys’ Basketball (4 years) Youth Wrestling Spanish Club Chess Club

Dade Allinger moved to St. Joseph at the beginning of the school year with his family. He has four siblings, three brothers and one sister.

While he has only been a student at St. Joseph-Ogden High School for just one year, Allinger said he has made many great memories.

Trading his orange and blue Bulldog gear for Spartan maroon and Columbia blue, he wore #21 as a member of the boys' varsity basketball team this past winter.

He really enjoyed the electric environment of the Class 2A IHSA regional championship game hosted at St. Joseph-Ogden back in late February.

At the beginning of the season, he came off the bench to contribute five points in the Spartans' 74-39 win over Schlarman at the Toyota of Danville Classic in early December.

Allinger is thankful for the new friendships he cemented during the past nine months at SJO. Moving to the district from Mahomet, he appreciates how welcoming the community has been with him and meeting new people.

After graduation this spring, Allinger will start his college education at attend Parkland College in pursuit of degree in physical therapy. After finish up at Parkland, he plans to transfer to the University of Illinois to continue his studies.

His favorite classes in high school are Economics with Mr. Marshall Schacht and Business Management with Mr. Shawn Skinner.

And, when it comes to favorite teachers, he named Mr. Schacht and Mr. Eric Andracke, who was his woods teacher at Mahomet-Seymour High School, as his favorite instructors during his high school career.

His advice for future SJO students is to stay ahead on homework and to not be afraid to ask questions.

Allinger said his hobbies include spending time with friends and family.

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Karsyn Wetzel

Clubs & Activities Student Council (4 years) Drama Club (4 years) Chorus

After high school, Karsyn Wetzel plans to attend Eastern Illinois University and will major in middle school education with an English emphasis. One of her greatest memories at St. Joseph-Ogden High School was being a part of last year’s musical production, which she says is her absolute favorite experience. Wetzel said she has also enjoyed her role as a member of the executive board for the Student Council and will always remember Senior Night for the last home football game of the season. Her advice for future SJO students is to get involved, and to cherish time with friends because high school goes by way too fast. Wetzel's four favorite classes are U.S. History, Sociology, Advanced Civics, and English 101/102. Her favorite teachers throughout the years have been Mrs. Jeffers in 6th grade at St. Joseph Middle School and Mr. Marshall Schacht, Mr. Jeff Kieffer, and Mrs. Heather Lindenmeyer in high school. Wetzel lives in St. Joseph with her mom and dad and two younger brothers. Her hobbies include hanging out with family and friends and working.

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Mallory Ames

Mallory Ames' advice to future St. Joseph-Ogden students is don't sweat the small stuff and to live every day like it is your last. In addition to her interest in photography and cleaning, she likes hanging out with family and friends. How she finds the time for all three is mystery for a student who was actively involved in two sports and five clubs, including Spanish Club, We The People and FFA, during her high school career. As a member of the SJO FFA chapter, Ames placed 9th in a major career development event at State. At a land use career development event this past September, she earned a fourth-place individual ribbon and helped SJO to a second place team finish. She and other students competing in the land use competition evaluate soil characteristics including texture, slope and drainage. They then make recommendations for land treatments based on the use, whether it be agricultural, residential or urban. Clubs & Activities FFA (4 years), NHS, Bible Club Spanish Club, We The People AMP Program, Volleyball (2 years) Girls’ Basketball (1 year) She is also the Section 17 reporter, which covers 14 east central Illinois chapters including Arcola, ALAH, Fisher, GCMS, Heritage, Mahomet-Seymour, Monticello, PBL, Rantoul, Joesph-Ogden, Tuscola, Villa Grove, Urbana, and Unity in addition to St. Joseph-Ogden. She will also never forget the FFA Convention during her junior year in Indianapolis. The experience with friends was a lot of fun she said. Fellow students will remember Ames for her routine practice of screaming hello to social science teacher Don Beckett on a daily basis. After graduation, Mallory will move nine miles to the west to continue her education in Agri-Business and Ag Communications at the University of Illinois. She also plans to minor in Spanish. As her senior year comes to a close, Ames' favorite classes have been AP English IV with Mr. Ryan Searby and American History with Mr. Beckett. Ames' favorite teachers over the years have been Mr. Steele and Mrs. Cler at St. Joseph Middle School and Mrs. Duitsman at SJO. She lives in St. Joseph with her mom, dad, and a younger brother.

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Photos and text provided by St. Joseph-Ogden High School

Prep Sports Notebook | Area basketball scores & leaders

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After impressive first half Tigers fall to Trojans

Urbana - Kaya Hill turned a season-best performance on Thursday in Urbana's home basketball game against Charleston. The sophomore opened the non-conference contest with a pair of treys and shot 50% from the free throw line in the Tigers' 57-38 loss. Freshmen Lai'yonna Harper and Zion Reid added seven points each in the loss.

The Lady Trojans were led by Ally Langston's game-high 24 points. After scoring just one field goal in the first half, Langston exploded in the third quarter with 16 of Charleston's 24 points in the frame.

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Addy-ing it up

DANVILLE - St. Joseph-Ogden forward Addisyn Martinie scored ten points in the first quarter on her way to a game-high 18 points on Thursday in the Spartans' road game in Danville. Addison Frick nearly matched her performance with 17 points in SJO's 57-32 victory over the Vikings. Sophomore Addison Brooks, who drained three treys, rounded out the top scores for the team with nine points.

The Spartans improve to 2-2 on the season, enjoying a two-game win streak. St. Joseph-Ogden are back in action on the road Monday evening against Maroa-Forsyth.

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Unity knocks off ALAH by 14

ARTHUR - After a quiet first quarter, senior Raegen Stringer lit up the scoreboard with 24 points in Unity's 49-35 road win against Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond. In addition to leading all scorers, Stringer grabbed five steals for the 5-3 Rockets.

Addison Ray and Claire Meharry collected four rebounds apiece, and Reagen Little, who finished eight points, snatched three. Ray connected three times from beyond the arc to finish the night with 11 points, and Meharry chipped in a field goal.

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SJO basketball team improves 2-0

ST. JOSEPH - Tanner Jacob paced St. Joseph-Ogden (2-0) with a dazzling 20-point display on his home court against Watseka at the Toyota of Danville Classic. He was one of three that help put away the Warriors early on Thursday night in SJO's 74-38 win.

Tanner Siems notched his first double-double of the season with 13 points and ten rebounds. Sporting a new aerodynamic haircut, Coy Taylor finished the game with ten points to round out the top three scorers. Luke Landrus was credit eight boards. Meanwhile, senior Logan Smith collected 1/3 of the team's 15 steals.

Tonight, the Spartans face Charleston in the final pool play game of the tournament. Tipoff this evening is scheduled for 8pm.

Spartans win season opener at tournament of champions, Pence drains 36

Washington -- The St. Joseph-Ogden boys basketball team claimed their first win of the season with a 63-52 win over the Denmark Vikings at the Kevin Brown Memorial Tournament of Champions Tournament.

Ty Pence, who went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line, scored 36 points. The D1 recruit has offers from Illinois, Eastern Illinois University, Bradley and Illinois State also had eight rebounds.

Logan Smith, who was the leading scorer after the first quarter, contributed 10 points to the team effort. Meanwhile, Evan Ingram hit a pair of treys in the first quarter to finish with six points.

The Spartans led at 37-28 at the half and outscored the Vikings 26-24 after the break.

SJO returns to action next week at the Toyota of Danville Classic with tournament games against Cissna Park Park on Tuesday and then tipping off with Oakwood on Wednesday evening. After a day of rest, St. Joseph-Ogden will play Schlarman for its last pool-play contest. All eight teams will play on Saturday for their various places in the final standings.

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Cobb leads Urbana scoring effort in loss

Washington -- Kevin Cobb led the Tigers with a team-high 15 points at the Kevin Brown Memorial Tournament of Champions game against St. Rita. His effort wasn't enough to lift Urbana over St. Rita in the team's 76-47 loss on Tuesday.

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St. Joseph-Ogden girls suffer first loss of the season

St Joseph -- The SJO girls' basketball team dropped their first game of the season 50-41 to visiting Paris.

The Spartans (3-1) trailed 17-4 at the end of the opening quarter in their first non-tournament home game on Tuesday. Behind Paris' Madyson Rigdon's 13 points in the first half, the Tigers widened the scoring gap by 22 points in the second quarter.

St. Joseph-Ogden started digging their way out of the huge deficit on the scoreboard much too late. Peyton Jones (5 points) got the team within striking distance in the third quarter closing the gap to seven points. A plethora of missed shots combined with the Tigers' effort to stall and run down the clock didn't limit the Spartans' scoring opportunities.

Starter Ella Armstrong finished the game with 16 points. Payton Jacob delivered eight points in the fourth quarter to collect 13 total in the loss. Peyton Jones rounded out the top three SJO scorers with five points.

Rigdon finished with 18 points and the Lady Tigers got another huge 15-point push from Katelyn Littleton.

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Uni-High suffers tough loss

The Illineks fall on the road to Decatur Lutheran, 73-46.

Spartans win first annual Toyota of Danville Turkey Tournament

St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls basketball players celebrate with their tournament championship title Thursday night in the high school Main Gym. The Spartans ran the table defeating Urbana High School, Tri-County and Champaign Centennial at the three-day holiday tournament, sponsored by Toyota of Danville, to win the very first girls' holiday basketball tournament held at SJO. More photos and game recaps coming soon.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Spartans slip in shootout stumble

Starting the year with a three-game win streak under their belt after their first-round loss at the State Farm Classic on December 16, it looked like the St. Joseph-Ogden varsity boys squad was now ready to play Sweet Sixteen or better level basketball.

Instead, the team was the recipients a painful wake up call in the form of a gut-wrenching 63-38 loss to Pleasant Plains at the Christie Clinic Shoot on Saturday.

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St. Joseph-Ogden's Jack Cook goes up for a shot in the Christie Clinic Shootout game against Pleasant Plains. The senior finished with just 8 points and made all four of his free throw attempts. The Spartans, who shot just 30% from the field, fell 63-38 to the Cardinals on Saturday. See more photos from the game here: SJO vs Pleasant Plains photo gallery. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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It was the second 20-plus-point loss the team has suffered this season. Both losses, including the title game defeat dealt by Class 1A state-ranked Cissna Park at the SJO-Toyota of Danville Classic, were on the Spartans' home court.

Pleasant Plains was the first to draw blood, putting the ball in the basket for the first field goal just a minute after the opening tip. SJO (10-7) then tied the game up at 2-all a minute and half into the first quarter. That would be the closest the Spartans would come to tasting a lead for the remaining duration of the contest.

The Cardinals drained their next bucket 20 seconds later to go up 4-2 and never needed to look over their shoulder from that point on.

The Spartans could not get the ball through the rim. Slashing to the paint didn't work. Perimeter shooting wasn't much better. Nothing seemed to click.

It wasn't from a lack of effort. It was one of those night were shots just don't fall.

In the 43 shots SJO put up in the direction of the basket during their 32 minutes on the floor, they converted just 13 of them to points. Seniors Joel Orcutt, Keanen Swanson and Jack Cook, the team's leading inside guys, struggled shooting. Together, they combined for a mere 6-for-16 effort.

Meanwhile, Pleasant Plains made just two more attempts than SJO on shots from the field. Led by Justin Guernsey's game-high 20 points, their accuracy was a tad bit better. Joel Niermann (12 pts) and Nick Savage (10 pts). Savage and teammate Chase Schmitt hauled down 7 boards a piece.

The Cardinals scored on 58% of their 45 shots.

The Cardinals' size and confidence led to the Spartans being out-rebounded 27-11.

Junior Chance Izard led SJO with a team-high 11 points.

Cook finished 8 points and Orcutt scratched out 6 in the non-conference loss. Swanson, who led the team with 3 rebounds, was held to just 2 points. Orcutt and and Payton Cain rounded out the top three rebounders with 2 each.

Izard and the Spartans hope to right the ship this week when they face Heritage-Villa Grove Tuesday night and the Wooden Shoes of Teutopolis on Friday. Both games are at the high school. The team closes out the week with a road game at Paxton-Buckley-Loda. Varsity tipoff is slated for 4:30p.

Spartans cruise past Chargers at Turkey Tournament

St. Joseph-Ogden's Ella Armstrong dribbles between Centennial's Aleah Emers and Kennedy Ramshaw on her way to the basket. Armstrong scored a game-high 18 points in the Spartans' third game of the season. See more photos from this game here.

St. Joseph -- St. Joseph-Ogden had 17 points on the scoreboard before the Centennial Chargers lit up digits on their side in the last 18 seconds of the first quarter with a couple of free throws during the third game of the Toyota of Danville Turkey Tournament last Thursday. Building up a comfortable 25-6 first-half lead, the Spartans went on to a convincing 54-26 victory.

Senior Ella Armstrong scored eight points in the first half and ten in the second, finishing with a game-high 18 points.

Ashlyn Lannert had 11 points, Payton Jacob finished with eight, and Peyton Jones added another seven to round out the top three scorers for the Spartans (3-0).

"It's amazing. I'm so proud of our girls," said first-year SJO girls coach Drew Arteaga, who now coaches on the very same hardwood he played on himself as a Spartan. He was proud that his team won their inaugural girls' holiday tournament. "It happened because of all of their hard work."

The Chargers scoring effort was led by Mia Dejesus and Avery Loschen, both with nine points apiece. Centennial finished the tournament with a 1-2 record.

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Box Score

St. Joseph-Ogden 54 - Centennial 26

St. Joseph-Ogden -
Lannert 11-0-11, Frick 2-0-2, Jacob 8-0-8, Wells 2-1-3, Jones 5-2-7, Martinie 0-1-1, Kearney 2-0-2, Armstrong 17-1-18.
Totals: 49-5-54

Centennial -
Ramshaw 4-0-4, Loschen 7-2-9, Dejesus 6-3-9, Yahnke 0-2-2, Emers 2-0-2
Totals: 19-7-26

Spartans continue early season steamroll with win #6

Toyota of Danville MVP Tanner Jacob goes up for a shot during the Spartans' title game against Oakwood. The senior scored 16 points in SJO's first conference win over Central Catholic Saturday afternoon on the road.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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BLOOMINGTON - Coming off a huge overtime win over Normal West on Tuesday, the St. Joseph-Ogden basketball team was back in Blo-No to face Illini Prairie rival Central Catholic on Saturday. Like their earlier visit to the other downstate twin city, the Spartans returned home victorious after defeating the Saints 63-54.

Despite a 41% shooting effort against Central Catholic's 95%, SJO proved the adage 'less is better' doesn't necessarily win basketball games.

Tanner Jacob led the Spartans with 16 points. Junior Tanner Siems also finished in double figures with 13 points. Guards Coy Taylor and Logan Smith rounded out the top four scorers with eight points each.

The foursome fired 43 of St. Joseph-Ogden's 54 shots at the rim, draining 18 of the 22 that resulted in points.

Senior Luke Landrus dominated the boards with nine rebounds and led the Spartans with three steals. Smith, also a senior, was credited with five rebounds and seven assists.

SJO heads back to Bloomington-Normal as the #3-seed in the Small School Division State Farm Classic. Jacob and the Spartans appear to be firing on all cylinders and looking like a good bet for a repeat of last year's championship run. With four contests to play before their tournament opener against Ead Dubuque two days after Christmas, the currently undefeated Spartans have a brutal four-game schedule ahead of them.

On Tuesday, the team goes head-to-head with Danville over in the 'Ville, who hopes to avenge last year's 66-53 loss behind Ty Pence's 35-point show-stopper. The Vikings have taken losses this season to Centennial, Peoria, Lincoln, and Belleville West. Their three wins have been over smaller size schools, including Mahomet-Seymour, Rantoul, and Ogden International.

The Main Gym should be packed to the rafters on Friday when St. Joseph-Ogden hosts Normal University. Like the Spartans, the Pioneers have already beat Central Catholic and Normal West and will have vengeance on their minds as well after last year's loss to SJO at the State Farm Classic.

With four days to recover, Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin be in the house. Then, Friday, the St. Joseph-Ogden basketball team is back on a bus and heading to the den of the Beecher Bobcats, who are 8-0, 4-0 in the River Valley Conference.

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Want to see more sports stories like this?

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You can help us by sharing our stories and photos on social media for your family and friends to enjoy. Having more readers helps us convince businesses to advertise with us. The more advertisers we have, the greater our local coverage.

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Opening games set for SJO at annual State Farm Classic

The 8-1 St. Joseph-Ogden girls basketball team earned a #4 seed out 16 small school programs set to square off at this year's State Farm Holiday Classic.

The Spartans open their bid for another tournament title this season at Normal Community High School, one of four tournament sites in Bloomington-Normal, against #13 Bishop McNamara at 8pm on December 26. Depend on how they fair against Fightin' Irish, they will face either Normal University High or Rockford Lutheran in either the championship or consolation semifinals on Friday.

Other teams in the upper portion of the bracket with SJO is Rock Falls, El Paso-Gridley, Oakwood and Annawan.

The boys squad, led by Chance Izard and frosh Ty Pence, were awarded the #6 seed.

They will tipoff at 5pm across town at Normal West at 5p against the Annawan Braves leaving plenty of time for Spartan fans to make both games the day after Christmas.

The Spartans, who opened their season on a 5-0 win streak and won the Toyota of Danville Classic title this past week, will be put to the test at the Classic.

The other six teams in the bottom half of the bracket with them include Rockford Lutheran, Tri-Valley, Rock Falls, Fieldcrest, Bishop McNamara and fellow conference team the #2 seeded Bloomington Central Catholic Saints. The complete boys bracket is here.

Single session passes are $8.00 for adults and $6.00 for students (K-12), senior citizens, active military and veterans. Admission for children under 5 years of age is free. All-Day and All-Tournament passes are also available. Find more ticket information here.

Prep Sports Notebook: Urbana boys and girls drop games, SJO picks up win

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Edwards leads Tigers in non-conference loss

Zineria Edwards scored seven second-half points to lead Urbana's scoring effort in the road game at the Arthur "Buz" Sievers Center at Monticello on Monday. Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta added another five points in the last half of the game in the 57-17 loss.

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SJO's Jones scores 14

Junior guard Peyton Jones hit a pair of treys in the second on her way to a game-high 14 points in St. Joseph-Ogden's 55-42 win over visiting Tuscola.

Alyssa Hamilton came off the bench for an 11-point finish in the non-conference contest. The senior shot 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Ella Armstrong and Payton Jacob each chipped in seven points apiece.

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Unity suffers first loss of the season

A second-quarter drought dug a hole too deep for the Rockets to climb back in their 38-20 loss in the Rocket Center to Clinton (4-1).

The Unity (4-1) offensive effort was limited to three players. Taylor Henry led the team with 12 points and sophomore Reagen Stringer finished with six points. Katey Moore's first-quarter field goal rounded out the Rockets' effort.

Clinton was led by Mallory Cyrulik's 23 point performance. The senior was sent to the free-throw line 22 times and converted on 17 attempts.

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SJO basketball tournament starts tonight

Boys hoops action starts tonight at the annual The Toyota of Danville Classic at St. Joseph-Ogden High School. Six of the eight teams in the tournament begin pool play for the 2021 title starting this evening.

This evening's lineup includes:

5:00 PM: Danville Schlarman vs. Oakwood
6:30 PM: LaSalette vs. Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond
8:00 PM: Cissna Park vs. SJO

The tournament ends on Saturday with the championship game starting at 8pm.

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Other area sports scores:

Arcola 64 - Uni-High 54

Southeast 75 - Urbana 70

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Urbana falls at Prairie Central

Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta dribbles the ball during Urbana's road game at the Toyota of Danville Classic against Tri-County. The junior socred at team-high seven points at Prairie Central on Thursday.

Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta led the Tigers against Prairie Central with seven points on December 2. Five other players contributed another 14 points in Urbana's scoring effort in the non-conference 48-21 loss.

Zineria Edwards, one of the five, drained one of two of UHS' three-pointers to finish with five points.

The Hawks led at the half 23-9 and added another 18 points in the third quarter to hold off the Tigers, who mustered six.

Still looking for their first win of the season, Urbana dropped to 0-5 on the season.

Box Score

Final: Prairie Central 48 - Urbana 21

Urbana --
Mboyo-Meta 7-0-7, Sprague 2-0-2, McCullough 2-0-2, Edwards 5-0-5, Davis 2-1-3, Howard 2-0-2.

Prairie Central --
C. Sisco 9-0-9, Davies 8-1-9, Whitfill 2-0-2, M. Sisco 11-0-11, Strong 2-1-3, Elderman 4-0-4, Ashmon 0-2-2, Curl 7-1-8.

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Photo of the Day - November 18, 2021

Taking her best shot

Spartans Ashlyn Lannert takes a shot over Tigers' Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta during the first half of their Toyota of Danville Turkey Tournament game on Monday. St. Joseph-Ogden defeated Urbana, 55-8. Both teams are in action again tonight at St. Joseph-Ogden High School. The Tigers (0-2) open the last evening of tournament play against 1-1 Tri-County at 6pm. SJO (2-0) squares off against the Chargers of Centennial High School 1-1 at 7:30pm. Follow this link to see more photos from Monday night's game in the PhotoNews Media photo vault.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Prep Sports Notebook: Armstrong leads SJO scoring at Turkey Tournament

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Spartans get win #2

St. Joseph-Ogden's Ella Armstrong made all five of her free throws and drained a couple of threes to finish her second game of the season with a team-high 15 points in SJO's 43-34 win over Tri-County.

Peyton Jones also tallied double-figure scoring finishing the night with 10 points in game #2 at the Toyota of Danville Turkey Tournament on Tuesday.

The Titans were paced by Josie Armstrong's 15 points and Bella Dudley's 11 points.

Both teams are back in action at Turkey Tournament with Tri-County taking on the Urbana Tigers and SJO finishing round-robin play against Champaign Centennial's Chargers.

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Photo of the Day - November 11, 2020

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Cook receives all-tournament nod

St. Joseph-Ogden senior Jack Cook steps forward to receive Toyota of Danville All-Tournament player award in 2018 from Justin Franzen. Moments earlier the Spartans fell 66-37 to the Timberwolves of Cissna Park in the holiday tournament's title game. The starting forward scored 10 of the SJO program's total scoring output.

(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Photo of the Day - December 6, 2020

Spartans win Leader Classic Title

St. Joseph-Ogden seniors Matt Foreman, Mitch Blair and Ryan Barnes hold the 2005 Leader Classic Holiday Basketball Tournament team award in 2005. The Spartans posted its third consecutive title after defeating Monticello at the annual basketball tournament sponsored by the weekly print newspaper published and owned by St. Joseph resident Scott Hunter. The name of the tournament changed after The News-Gazette, who purchased The Leader from Hunter, shuttered at the end of August in 2018. Not wanting to see the tournament's run end, Toyota of Danville stepped up to become the title sponsor. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Spartans and Rockets dance squads advance to state finals

MASCOUTAH - The SJO Dance Team and Unity Rockettes placed in top six at the Mascoutah Sectional, advancing to the Illinois High School Association's Competitive Dance State Finals this Friday and Saturday at Grossinger Motor Arena in Bloomington.

A member of the SJO Dance Team performs during the halftime show at the Toyota of Danville Basketball Tournament last month. The 11 talented dancers advance to Friday's IHSA state finals in Bloomington on Friday.

The Spartans finished third in Saturday's subsectional competition against 14 other schools, earning a score of 81.87. Unity, in the same subsectional finished ahead of Mattoon with a 78.83 in fifth place.

The sectional championship title went to Jacksonville (90.07), with Clinton (87.57) finishing in the runnerup spot.

The state final competition will at 101 South Madison Street. Tickets can be purchased online at here or by calling the box office at the area at 309-434-2777.

The IHSA will annouce the performance order later this week.

Mascoutah Dance Sectional Standings

1  Jacksonville 90.07
2  Clinton 87.57
3  St. Joseph-Ogden 81.87
4  Quincy Notre Dame 79.90
5  Unity 78.83
6  Mattoon 77.23

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Photo of the Day | December 17, 2022

Big step forward

St. Joseph - SJO's Kaytlyn Baker makes a huge effort to dribble past Mahomet-Seymour's Savannah Orgeron down the baseline during their 2nd Annual Toyota of Danville Turkey Tournament game on November 17. The three-sport senior for the Spartans was held scoreless as St. Joseph-Ogden fell to the 34-29 to the Bulldogs on the final day of the tournament.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Photo of the Day - November 16, 2021

Urbana returns to the hardcourt

Under the watchful eyes referee Mark Brooks behind her, Tigers' junior Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta dribbles the ball down the court looking for a way around St. Joseph-Ogden's Kaytlyn Baker during the team's first game of the season. After four quarters, Urbana fell to the host Spartans at the Toyota of Danville Turkey Tournament, 55-8.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks