Inaugural girls' eight-team SJO Country Financial Shootout next Saturday

Mahomet-Seymour's Reese Gallier and Hannah Creel move into position for a defensive rebound around Urbana's Janae Hall during their game last month. The Bulldogs are one of eight teams to play in the 1st Annual SJO Country Financial Shootout on December 16.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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ST. JOSEPH - St. Joseph-Ogden will host an eight-team girls' basketball shootout on Saturday, December 16. The first varsity contest tips off at 1 pm with Breese Central vs Pleasant Plains. Three hours later, the Spartans take the floor against Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond at the four-game event sponsored by Drew Arteaga Country Financial Insurance.

Addison Seggebruch and the Spartans play their Shootout game at 2 pm next Saturday against AL-AH. The upcoming shootout is the first hosted by SJO and Country Financial for girls. The event is a perfect tune-up for St. Joseph-Ogden, who will play at the State Farm Classic later this month.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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All the varsity games will be played in the Main Gym, while JV games will be in the school's practice gym. The junior varsity contests are slated to begin approximately two hours prior to the start of varsity matches.

"The matchups this year are exciting," says Justin Franzen, Activities Director at St. Joseph-Ogden and the event organizer. "We are not just hoping to get fans from all of these schools, but we hope to get overall basketball fans to this event."

Franzen said he hopes the place in hopping next Saturday.

"We hope basketball fans, parents, and students come out and support their teams," he said. "All of the JV games will be played in our practice gym, and all of the varsity games will be played in the main gym. As always, we hope the bleachers will be full and fans enjoy the experience."

All-day admission is $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for students with their student ID. Tickets are good for all eight contests at the shootout.

Breese Central, ranked #2 (MaxPreps) in Class 2A, is currently 8-0. The game between the Lady Cougars and #17-ranked Pleasant Plains (7-5) will be the game basketball fans won't want to miss.

After beating St. Joseph-Ogden last month, the Cardinals have played an early season schedule not for the faint of heart. They have chalked up victories over Moline, Edwardsville, Springfield Southeast, and Quincy Notre Dame.

~ Player Watch List ~

Breese Central:
Cece Toennies and Taylor Trame

Pleasant Plains:
Anna Weber

Richland County:
Kyrstin Weiler

Fieldcrest:
Kaitlin White

AL-AH:
Claire Seal, All-time leading scorer

SJO: Addi Seggebruch, Addison Frick, Addy Martinie

Eureka:
Sophia Musselman

Mahomet-Seymour:
Kylie Waldinger and Reese Gallier

Win or lose, participating players and coaches will leave with some nifty swag.

"From our Country Financial sponsorship, we are providing a free pullover to the head varsity coach and the head JV coach, and each JV and Varsity player will receive a free t-shirt as well," Franzen added. "This is our first 'Annual" girls basketball shootout we have hosted here at St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

"We are glad to get the chance to do this for the players, coaches, and fans. We hope everyone has a great experience."

SJO Country Financial
Shootout Schedule

Adi Fraase grabs a loose ball for Pleasant Plains in November. The Cardinals will be back on the Main Gym floor to face Breese Central next week. The senior finished 3-for-4 from the free-throw line during her last visit to SJO.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Varsity:
1:00 PM:
Breese Central vs. Pleasant Plains

2:30 PM:
Richland County vs. Fieldcrest

4:00 PM:
ALAH vs. St. Joseph-Ogden

5:30 PM:
Eureka vs. Mahomet-Seymour

Junior Varsity
11:00 AM:
Breese Central vs. Pleasant Plains

12:30 PM:
Richland County vs. Fieldcrest

2:00 PM: 
ALAH vs. St. Joseph-Ogden

3:30 PM: 
Eureka vs. Mahomet-Seymour

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Prep Sport Notebook | Catching up on area scores and performances

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Undefeated St. Joseph-0gden basketball top seed at State Farm tournament

BLOOMINGTON - The SJO boys basketball team is seeded #3 in this year's edition of the State Farm Holiday Classic basketball tournament. Last year's small school champs was one of six schools that received #1 seed votes. The Spartans (5-0) open tournament play on December 27 against East Dubuque at Normal West.

The top seed went to Aurora Christian with four first-place votes. Normal University High secured one vote and is the #2 seed. El Paso-Gridley, the #4 seed, received one vote. St. Joseph-Ogden received three first-place votes from a poll of head coaches, the media, and committee members.

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Spartan girls draw tough first round seed

BLOOMINGTON - The St. Joseph-Ogden girls basketball team is back in the field of competition at the State Farm Holiday Classic. Senior Addison Frick and the Spartans (2-3) play their first game 20 days from today against #4 seed Bishop McNamara (7-1) at Normal Community.

This year's top small-school girls seeds are Camp Point Central/Augusta Southeastern in the #1 position and Paris at #2. The Panthers beat the Tigers in last year's championship game, 36-32. Galena earned the #3 spot, and Bishop McNamara was voted #4 in the poll given to coaches, media around the state, and committee members.

SJO is scheduled to play at 10:30 am on the Wednesday after Christmas.

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Cornjerkers post second win of the season

Hoopeston Area 52 - Armstrong Potomac 45
GIBSON CITY - Owen Root scored 14 points in Bismarck-Henning's win over Armstrong-Potomac. Mason Rush and Kendrick Sigerill scored 11 points each. Root and Sigerill led the team on the boards with six rebounds apiece. Wyatt Eisenman chipped in eight points and tallied three of the team seven steals at the GCMS Thanksgiving Tournament.

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Spartan girls suffer home loss

Paris 44 - St. Joseph-Ogden 38
ST. JOSEPH - Three SJO players tallied double figures in the scorebook, but it was enough to surpass their extended meeting with the visiting Tigers on November 11.

Junior Katie Erickson led the Spartan effort with 12 points in the overtime effort. Addison Frick connected drained three treys and a jumper for ll points and Addisyn Martinie contributed ten points in the loss.

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Tigers' season starts with road loss

OLYMPIA FIELDS - The Urbana boys' varsity basketball team lost their road opener to Manley at Rich Central, 76-72.

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Seggebruch leads Spartans in first win of the season

St. Joseph-Ogden 61 - Tuscola 47
ST. JOSEPH - SJO's A-Team came together rolling over the visiting Warriors for their first win of the season. Addison Seggebruch scored a team-high 14 points on her home court on November 11. Addisyn Martinie finished with 12 points, and Addison Frick rounded out the top three scorers with 10 points. The Spartans made nearly half their total points from outside the arc, hitting nine three-pointers in the non-conference game.

Sicily Moss led Tuscola's effort with 16 points across all four frames. The loss broke a four-game win streak for the Warriors and remains their only loss as of today.

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