Toyota of Danville Classic basketball tournament tips off at SJO tomorrow

ST. JOSEPH - Formerly known as The Leader Classic, the annual Toyota of Danville Classic boys basketball tournament will tip off at 5pm tomorrow with the opening game between the Timberwolves of Cissna Park and the Panthers of Paxton-Buckley-Loda.

Now playing at Illinois State University, St. Joseph-Ogden's Ty Pence goes up for a dunk over Oakwood's Dalton Hobick during last year's Toyota of Danville Classic championship game. Pence, who finished with 33 points and was named All-Tournament MVP, won't be back this season. What will be new this year is the use a 35-second shot clock for all 16 tournament contests.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks
This year's eight teams include 2022 runner-up Oakwood, Cissna Park, PBL, and St. Teresa in Pool A.

Pool B teams include Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond, Charleston, Watseka, and the hosts and 2022 champions, St. Joseph-Ogden.

St. Joseph-Ogden will play their first pool game on tomorrow evening against Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond at 6:30pm. After a day of rest, SJO are on the hardwood three consecutive days starting on Thursday with the day's matinee against Watseka at 5pm. The Spartans will play their final pool game against Charleston, who make their first appearance in the holiday tournament on Friday.

Spectators and basketball fans can expect lots of fast-paced action. The tournament will be using an IHSA approved shot clock for all 16 contests this year.

Admission fees for this year's tournament are $5 for adults and $3 for students. Tickets will be available at the ticket booth at the main entrance before each game.

2023 Toyota of Danville Classic Schedule

(All games at St. Joseph-Ogden High School)

Tuesday, 11/28/23:
5:00 PM: Cissna Park vs. PBL
6:30 PM: ALAH vs. St. Joseph-Ogden
8:00 PM: St. Teresa vs. Oakwood

Wednesday, 11/29/23:
5:00 PM: Watseka vs. Charleston
6:30 PM: PBL vs. St. Teresa
8:00 PM: Oakwood vs. Cissna Park

Thursday, 11/30/23:
5:00 PM: Watseka vs. St. Joseph-Ogden
6:30 PM: Charleston vs. ALAH
8:00 PM: Oakwood vs. PBL

Friday, 12/1/23: 5:00 PM: Cissna Park vs. St. Teresa
6:30 PM: ALAH vs. Watseka
8:00 PM: Charleston vs. St. Joseph-Ogden

Saturday, 12/2/23:
2:00 PM: 7th Place Game
3:30 PM: 5th Place Game
5:00 PM: 3rd Place Game
6:30 PM: 1st Place Game



Photo of the Day | Dishin' the licks, McDonald can hit

Urbana's Tyreece McDonald flattens Central's Tyriss Hines while returning a kickoff during their regular season game on Friday, September 22. The Tigers (0-9) lost their Homecoming game, 58-6.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Basketball: Urbana girls fall to 0-2 after loss to MacArthur

URBANA - After falling 36-14 to Lanphier in their return to the hardwood, the Tigers' girls basketball squad suffered their second straight loss, this time at the hands of the MacArthur Generals. With the 51-10 loss, Urbana moves to an 0-2 record.

Senior Janae Hall, who hauled in nine rebounds, and freshman Zion Reid led the team with four points each. Freshman Lai'yonna Harper rounded the entire scoring effort with one basket. Harper also collected three rebounds and a steal in the home game.

After the Thanksgiving weekend, Urbana will have two opportunities to get their first W of the season. On Monday, the Tigers travel to Arthur "Buz" Sievers Center for a non-conference game against Monticello. A week from today, Charleston (1-4), who beat Monticello last week 41-29, will be at Oscar Adams Gym looking for their second win of the season.



Box Score

MacArthur 51 - Urbana 10

  1 2 3 4 F
Urbana  2  2  3  3 10
MacArthur 15 18 11  7 51

Urbana --
Harper 0(0)-12-2--2, Reid 2(0)-5-2--4, Culpepper 0(0)-0-0--0, Smith 0(0)-0-0--0, Hall 4(0)-0-0--4, Shade 0(0)-0-0--0, Blanden 0(0)-0-0--0, Recio 0(0)-0-0--0.

MacArthur --
Not available


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SJO girls fall short in first game of the season

ST. JOSEPH - At the end of the first quarter, the St. Joseph-Ogden girls' basketball team trailed on the scoreboard by four in the season opener at home last Saturday. Despite six different players putting points in the scorebook, the Spartans fell after a gritty effort, 48-41.

Addison Frick led SJO's scoring effort with a team-high 15 points. The senior drained three treys and went 2-for-2 from the free throw line.


Katie Ericksen looks for an open teammate
St. Joseph-Ogden's Katie Ericksen looks for an open teammate to pass the ball around the defensive efforts of Pleasant Plains Bailey Leach during second-quarter action of the Spartans' home opener last Saturday. Ericksen finished the game with four points in the first half.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Addisyn Martinie, also a senior, finished the game with ten points, eight collected in the final quarter. Addison Seggebruch, also a senior, closed-out the game two points shy of reach double-digits with eight points.

The Spartans struggled defensively to contain the Cardinals' young forward Anna Weber. The sophomore, who sank five of her eight free throws, led all scorers with 18 points. Dropping ten points in the first quarter Weber set the tone for the remaining three. With SJO's focused on stopping Weber, it allowed Plains' Bailey Leach and Madison Burke to enjoy a number of open looks. Burke, also a sophomore, scored 13 points, while Leach added another ten.

Three other St. Joseph-Ogden players contributed in the team's scoring effort. Katie Ericksen delivered four points in the first quarter, Addison Brooks came off the bench to hit a three in the third quarter, and Timera Blackburn-Kelley chipped in a free-throw.

Next week, the Spartans host Tuscola on Monday and play their first road game of the 2023-24 season at Danville.



Box Score

Pleasant Plains 48 - St. Joseph-Ogden 41

  1 2 3 4 F
St. Joseph-Ogden 14 9 7 11 41
Pleasant Plains 18 10 10 10 48

St. Joseph-Ogden --
Ericksen 2(0)-0-0--4, Seggebruch 2(1)-2-1--8, Kearney 0(0)-0-0--0, Blackburn-Kelley 0(0)-2-1--1, Frick 2(3)-2-2--15, Brooks 0(1)-0-0--3, Loschen 0(2)-0-0--6, Miller 0(0)-0-0--0, Atwood 0(0)-0-0--0, Martinie 3(1)-1-1--10, Osterbur 0(0)-0-0--0.

Pleasant Plains --
Frasse 0(0)-4-3--3, Leach 0(0)-0-0--0, Crawford 0(0)-0-0--0, Cameron 0(0)-0-0--0, Thenaisie 0(0)-0-0--0, Leach 3(0)-6-4--10, Noble 0(0)-0-0--0, Nestler 0(0)-0-0--0, Dugan 0(0)-0-0--0, Burke 3(1)-6-4--13, Romager 0(0)-0-0--0, Weber 6(0)-8-6--18, Sabatka 2(0)-0-0--4,


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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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