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

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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.

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More SJO sports news ~

• SJO girls fall in opener at State Farm Holiday Classic, Erickson leads scoring effort
• Kearney steps up to lead Spartans in State Farm win over U-High
• 3 Spartans deliver double-digits in 14-point win over Bago at State Farm basketball tournament

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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.

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More SJO sports news ~

• SJO girls fall in opener at State Farm Holiday Classic, Erickson leads scoring effort
• Franzen leads Spartan girls at regional cross country meet, next stop sectionals for SJO
• 3 Spartans deliver double-digits in 14-point win over Bago at State Farm basketball tournament

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Think a toy is unsafe? There are options available to report the potential danger to children

by Terri Dee
Illinois News Connection

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Don Fountain, with the law firm Clark Fountain, believes consumers' assumptions about toy reliability are not always accurate.

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CHICAGO - The National Retail Federation expects people will spend nearly $989 billion by year's end on holiday shopping but the costs cannot compare to an injury or death due to unknowingly buying a faulty product.

Many children's toys are manufactured in countries like China and India. In their haste to avoid possible Trump administration tariffs, a few safety steps may have been skipped before sending them to the States, said one product liability attorney.

Don Fountain, with the law firm Clark Fountain, believes consumers' assumptions about toy reliability are not always accurate.

"The general public has this notion that the government checks and tests all the products that we buy: 'Surely somebody has tested all these things and they're safe for my children or my family,' But in reality, that's not how it works," Fountain explained. "The government doesn't have the resources or the ability, or I don't think even the interest in doing that."

The Consumer Product Safety Commission website lists thousands of unsafe or problematic items. Fountain notes complaints listed on the site are due to public grievances, not government detection. He recommends the commission's website to report or search for information about unsafe products.

The Commission's November 2024 report said last year, hospital emergency rooms treated children ages 7 months to 14 years for nearly 232,000 toy-related incidents linked to choking, chemical burns or poisoning. Fountain also identified sharp or pointed objects, small pieces and moving parts on toys as hazards that could be fatal.

"Pinch points are a real problem," Fountain noted. "Things where two pieces come together that can cut or pinch or trap somebody, or choke somebody. Anything that gets hot, anything that involves fire or spark or fireworks, those types of things."

Research on toy safety by the Illinois Public Interest Research Group Education Fund said balloons, toys with magnets, or those constructed with chemicals like lead or chromium can cause lifelong health issues.

Fountain recommended taking photographs and keeping the defective product and its packaging, as well as a purchase receipt to support your case should legal action occur.

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