Taylor Wells leads Spartans past Sabers

After trailing by three points at the half, the St. Joseph-Ogden girls basketball team rallied back to notch another conference win at home. In a noteworthy second half defensive effort, the Spartans held St. Thomas More to just six points in the final two quarters of their Illini Prairie Conference shindig to win, 42-25.

Taylor Wells, who went 2-for-2 from the free throw line, led the SJO charge with 12 points. The sophomore starter was the only player to reach double digits and the only player to score more than four points in the last half of the contest on January 6.

Ashlyn Lannert came off the bench to finish the night with eight points. Payton Jacob rounded out the top three scorers for the Spartans contributing six points.

Meanwhile, freshman Kennedy Ramshaw led visiting St. Thomas More with six points. Teammates Tatum DeVriese and Sarah Gibas scored five points apiece in the Sabers' loss.

Box Score

St. Joseph-Ogden	7	9	19	17	- 42
St. Thomas More	4	15	2	4	- 25

Scoring

St. Joseph-Ogden: Ashlyn Lannert 8, Payton Jacob 6, Taylor Wells 12, Atleigh Hamilton 2, Katie Cramer 3, Abby Behrens 2, Taylor Barnes 4 and Ella Armstrong 5.

St. Thomas More: Sarah Gibas 5, Maddie Swisher 2, Bridget Delorenzo 2, Ava Dickerson 4, Tatum DeVriese 5, Alaina Bowie 1 and Kennedy Ramshaw 6.

Izard scores 21 in Williamsville game

Chance Izard led St. Joseph-Ogden to victory with a 21-point performance in his team 50-22 win over Williamsville on January 7. Izard also snagged a game-high six steals for the Spartans in the non-conference matchup.

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Payton Grimsley slides across the floor after trying to scoop up a loose ball in SJO's home game against Williamsville. The senior was scoreless in the game but spearheaded a great defensive effort by the Spartans who held the Bullets to just ten points in the first half. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Ty Pence added another 15 points and five steals to the SJO effort. The Spartans' solo freshman player on the varsity squad this season was a threat both in the paint and from outside the arc.

When the game resumed after halftime, the two teams returned to the floor with SJO nursing a 12-point cushion on the scoreboard. Pence went on to tally an 11-point third quarter that helped pile on a huge 43-14 advantage over the Bullets.

Williamsville's Sam McCoy, also a freshman, led the Bullets in the scorebook with 10 points.

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St. Joseph-Ogden seniors Conner Hodge and Payton Cain fight to keep the ball away from Williamsville's Brendon Bishop during first half action. Cain and Hodge combined for just six points in the SJO victory on January 7. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Senior Jordan Kelly brings the ball down the floor in the second half of the second home basketball game of the new year for the Spartans. So far in 2020, SJO has outscored opponents, 118-73. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Head coach Kiel Duval keeps an analytical eye on his team late in the fourth quarter as his Spartans pick up their second win of the year and advance to a 10-4 record for the season. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Despite Williamsville's 6-2 freshman Sam McCoy's attempt to block, Conner Hodge puts the ball back up strong after snagging a rebound during first quarter action. McCoy led the Bullets' scoring effort against the Spartans with ten points. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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With the bench players on the floor and the game well in hand, SJO seniors (left to right) Jordan Kelly, Payton Cain, Chance Izard, Payton Grimsley and Braydon Rupert flash winning smiles. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Box Score

St. Joseph-Ogden	8	14	21	7	- 50
Williamsville	6	4	4	8	- 22

Scoring

St. Joseph-Ogden: Beyers 2, Cain 4, Coursey 1, Hodge 2, Hutcherson 3, Izard 21, Kelly 2 and Pence 15.

Williamsville: Hyson 4, McCoy 10, Riley 4, Smith 2 and Walbert 2.

Wells delivers buckets of points

Taylor Wells came off the bench Monday to lead all scorers in the St. Joseph-Ogden girls basketball team's second home game of the year. The sophomore led all scorers with 12 points to help SJO roll past St. Thomas More, 42-25.

After a dismal first quarter, the Sabers showed a brief spark of scoring brilliance, dropping 15 second quarter points building a modest lead three-point lead at the half, up 19-16.

The Spartans returned to the floor to match STM's first half scoring output under the leadership of Wells and her six points along with the combined efforts of four other SJO players in the third quarter.

Sabers' Maddie Swisher tapped a solo field goal in the same period making it all her team could muster against the 15-4 Spartans, who also picked up their second conference win of the season. Held to just six points in the second half, St. Thomas More dropped to 0-2 in the conference and 3-9 overall.

After Wells' contribution, St. Joseph-Ogden's top three scorers were sophomores Ashlyn Lannert with eight points, Payton Jacob with six and Ella Armstrong added another five to the mix. The Spartans received 33 of their scoring total from five of the six sophomores on this season's varsity roster.

Box Score

St. Joseph-Ogden	7	9	19	7	- 42
St. Thomas More	4	15	2	4	- 25

Scoring

St. Joseph-Ogden: Ashlyn Lannert 8, Payton Jacob 6, Taylor Wells 12, Atleigh Hamilton 2, Katie Cramer 3, Abby Behrens 2, Taylor Barnes 4 and Ella Armstrong 5.

St. Thomas More: Kennedy Ramshaw 6, Alaina Bowie 1, Tatum De Vries 5, Ava Dickerson 4, Bridget Delorenzo 2, Maddie Swisher 2 and Sarah Gibas 5.

65 freshman make SJO 2nd quarter Honor Roll

Sixty-five members of the freshman class at St. Joseph-Ogden High School earn honor roll recognition during the second quarter. Forty-one of them earned High Honor Roll status.

In all, a total of 252 students made this quarter's academic list which was led by the Class of 2020 with 71 students who earned a grade point average of 3.25 or higher on the school's 4.0 scale. Students whose GPA soared above 3.74 are recognized as High Honor Roll students.

Freshman

High Honor Roll

Alyssa Acton, McGwire Atwood, Kaytlyn Baker, Olivia Baltzell, Maddux Carter, Yamilka Casanova, Ariana Chambers, Cale Coursey, Aiden Cromwell, Zachary Dahman, Emily Elsbernd, Leah Finley, Joselyn Frerichs, Kennedy Greer, Andrew Guelfi, Mikyla Haley, Maya Hewkin, Taylor Hug, Shayne Immke, Emily Jeffries, Cameran Kelley, Jacob Kern, Aaron Lane, Collin Livesay, Haleigh Maddock, Aidan McCorkle, Kyle Meccoli, Teagan Miller, Blake Morgan, Allegra Pearman, Ty Pence, Ellen Place, Jack Robertson, Kirsten Schaefer, Johanna Schmitz, Jack Setterdahl, Paige Siegmund, Trinity Tapia, Taylor Voorhees, Alayna Wagle and Maggie Ward.

Honor Roll

Morgan Cramer, Madison Adams, Canyon Alwes, Ethan Blackburn, Tyler Burch, Bryce Collins, Aleah Dial, Abigail Dow, Alex Funk, Hallie Harms, Jonas Hutcherson, Peyton Jones, Hunter Ketchum, Eleni Krall, Carter Mabry, Courtney Myren, Jacob Newman, Ava Northen, William Page, Emma Rydell, Isabel Sexton, Katharine Short, Mallory Wagner and Emma Ward.

Sophomores

High Honor Roll

Addison Allen, Tyler Altenbaumer, Kailyn Anderson, Ella Armstrong, Madison Atwood, Abigail Behrens, Ella Besson, Andrew Beyers, Brandie Bowlin, Mara Burkhalter, Kennedi Burnett, Angela Chahine, Braden Clampitt, Anastasia Conerty, Deanna Cummins, Benjamin Cunningham, Sidney Davis, Zander Dressen, Ashley Eldridge, Jared Emmert, Hannah Fox, Zella Fuqua, Brennan Haake, Liam Hamer, Lauren Harper, Payton Jacob, Alison Kearney, Olivia Klotz, Ava Knap, Ashlyn Lannert, Wyatt Loghry, Sophia McDade, Coby Miller, Conrad Miller, Elijah Mock, Jett Morris, Jessica Palmer, Emma Parkinson, Hope Rajlich, JoLeena Reynolds, Kendra Riddle, Taryn Sexton, Alyssa Shoviak, Luke Stegall, Rebecca Steinbach, Mackenzie Trame, Cole Weinmann and Taylor Wells.

Honor Roll

Nicolas Anzelmo, Alanna Bensyl, Mackenzie Fulk, Avian Gerdes, Alyssa Hamilton, Claire Huffman, Kailyn Ingram, Jacey Lewis, Kelsey Martlage, Ava Meyer, Ava Miller, Jackson Place, Griffin Roesch and Regan Uden.

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SJO Honor Roll Student-Athletes

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Juniors

High Honor Roll

Isabelle Brooks, Crayton Burnett, David Bytnar, Taylor Campbell, Kylie Duckett, Hanna Eastin, Nadirah Edwards, Emily Fisher, Dakota Franzen, Emily Froman, Bella Getty, Atleigh Hamilton, Emmy Houston, Lukas Hutcherson, Logan Ingram, Vania Kaenzig, Cailer Kellenberger, Shelby Kofoot, Ethan Lane, Madigan Loman, Tyson Madsen, Sophia Martlage, Garren Meeker, Abigail Moberg, Samantha Naylor, Alec Painter, Erin Patton, Aidan Roberts, Indira Robinson, Mazie Ronk, Evan Schmitz, Max Shonkwiler, Tessa Smith, Payton Vallee, Nora Walden, Brayden Wendt and Logan Wolfersberger.

Honor Roll

Hunter Brooks, Rylee Clements, Raegan Crippen, Makayla Duckwitz, Jacob Dwyer, Britney Evans, Alex Frerichs, Mariska Harshbarger, Camden Hesterberg, Spencer Lahners, Aiden Livesay, Alyssa Maddock, Brandon Mattsey, Flannery McCorkle, Jackson Rydell, AJ Wagner and Mitchell Whitlock.

Seniors

High Honor Roll

Lindsey Aden, Jenna Albrecht, Mallory Ames, Taylor Barnes, Katelyn Berry, Emily Bigger, Kaylee Blackburn, Ginny Bytnar, Payton Cain, Trevon Carr, Brendan Cooperider, Kristen Costa, Drew Coursey, Kathryn Cramer, Andrea Cunningham, Faith Dahman, Hannah Dukeman, Bode Gebbink, Payton Grimsley, Lucas Grindley, Erica Guelfi, Emily Hardimon, Chance Izard, Cody Johnston, Lacey Kaiser, Danielle Kelso, Nathan Maier, Ava Mills, Carson Mills, Allison Monk, Nolan Peacock, Taddy Pettit, Eric Poe, Hannah Rajlich, Jenna Schaefer, Joshua Sexton, Rylee Stahl, Kenly Taylor, Stephanie Trame, Anna Tranel, Isabelle Vliet, Brayden Weaver, Samuel Wesley, Zoey Witruk and Jackson Wooten.

Honor Roll

Joseph Acton, Michara Allen, Kendall Ayers, Kolton Batty, Ross Booker, Erin Bridgewater, Payton Clements, Bailey Dowling, Asjah Fonner, Clayton Frederick, Jaiden Freeman, Sam Gonzales, Brayden Grimsey, Ethan Hinrichs, Conner Hodge, Tyler Jones, Aubrey Kern, Eliza Lewis, Mason McLain, Alivia Norem, Dyllan Price, Luke Renfrew, Lexi Ribbe, Joshua Vice, Anna Wentzloff and Karsyn Wetzel.

SJO alumni earn over 30 spots on fall Dean's List

Over 600 students at Parkland College were recognized on the institution's fall 2019 Dean's List this week. Thirty-one of them, students who listed their hometown as Ogden, Royal or St. Joseph, were included on last semester list.

Mickaela Fleming runs the course at the 2011 Kickapoo Kickoff Klassic cross country meet on August 30. Fleming was named to the Parkland College Dean's List for her academic performance this past fall. Fleming, also a pitcher on the Spartan regional champion softball team last spring, finished 48th in the girls' race at 26:47.0 to help St. Joseph-Ogden win the meet's team title. PhotoNews file photo.

Students from Ogden who earned honor roll status in the fall semester include John Acklin, Zach David, Adam Frerichs, Caleb Johnson, Devon Miezio and Katelyn Smith.

Mickaela Fleming, who was standout high school pitcher for the SJO softball team, was the solo Royal student named to the fall semester list.

In addition to the seven alumni from Ogden and Royal, 24 St. Joseph residents also were recognized on the Dean's List. The former Spartans include: Melanie Broch, Abigail Burnett, Julie Burnett, Rebecca Campbell, Erin Christians, Elena Cotter, Avery Edwards, Tenneal Frerichs, Justyn Fruhling, Dylan Heck, Gabriell Jones, Kaitlyn Landis, Caroline Moore, Allison Morenz, Brendan Olauson, Kristen Polizzi, Megan Schumacher, Nora Slater, Kaitlyn Taylor, Keisha Taylor, Mitchell Thompsen, Hannah Watson, Sarah Wiseman and Nicole Woller.

Students must earn a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 grade scale to earn Dean's List recognition at Parkland College. Those who take fewer than 12 credit hours during the semester can make the Dean's List by achieving a 3.5 cumulative GPA for 12 or more hours in the academic year.