The Sentinel: Search results for Parker Fitch

SJO dominates Watseka in pool game, Parker Fitch leads Spartan scoring effort

ST. JOSEPH - St. Joseph-Ogden’s basketball team continued its strong start in the Toyota of Danville Tournament, cruising to a commanding 60-27 victory over Watseka on Tuesday night. The Spartans showcased their depth and efficiency, with nearly every player contributing to the team’s second win in as many days.

The Spartans set the tone early, building a 20-point lead midway through the second quarter behind junior Parker Fitch, who poured in 12 of his game-high 14 points in the first half. Senior Tanner Siems followed up Monday’s strong performance with another double-digit outing, adding 10 points, while Collin Thomey chipped in nine.

By halftime, St. Joseph-Ogden (2-0) had all but secured the outcome, taking advantage of Watseka’s cold shooting and stifling defense. The Warriors struggled to find offensive rhythm, with most of their shots rimming out despite numerous opportunities.

Watseka managed only five points in the third quarter, as SJO reserves entered the game and extended the lead. The Spartans went on a 15-point unanswered run, cementing their dominance. Aaron Greene provided a rare highlight for Watseka with a late three-pointer in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors’ offensive struggles defined the evening.

Payton Schaumburg led Watseka with three three-pointers, and Quinn Starkey contributed eight points, but the Warriors had no answer for SJO’s relentless defense and relentless quick tempo.

The Spartans look ready for showdown on Friday against Charleston (1-1), who defeated Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond earlier in the day. The winner will likely represent the B Pool in Saturday's championship game. Meanwhile, Watseka will attempt to rebound against Charleston in their matchup today at 5 p.m.

Hot Shots: The Sentinel's best from the Christie Clinic Shootout

Monticello vs Seneca

2025 Player of the Game :
Tyler Blythe, Senior - Monticello

LEFT: Monticello's Nolan Buehnerkemper drives to the paint despite the defensive efforts of Seneca's Brady Sheedy. Buehnerkemper finished with seven points for the Sages while Sheedy delivered a 15-point effort in the 62-56 loss for the Fighting Irish.

BELOW: Seneca's Grant Siegel battles Monticello's Tyler Blythe for a second-half rebound. Blythe led the Sages' scoring effort with 17 points. More photos from this game ...

Photos: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Moline vs Mt. Zion

2025 Player of the Game :
Trey Taylor, Senior - Moline

Mt. Zion's JC Anderson takes the ball up in the first quarter for two of his 20 points against Moline on Saturday afternoon in St. Joseph-Ogden High School's Main Gym. The Braves, who trailed all four quarters, threatened all eight minutes of the final quarter behind Lyncoln Koester's (not pictured) 14 fourth-quarter points.

Braden Freeman takes the ball hard into the paint during the Moline's Christie Clinic Shootout game against Mt. Zion. Freeman, a senior, finished in double digits with 14 points. Thanks to three other players scoring double digits, the Maroons defeated the Braves, 65-60. More photos from this game ...

Mahomet-Seymour vs Richwoods

2025 Player of the Game :
Amarion Smith-Holley, Freshman - Richwoods

ABOVE: Richwoods' Truman Raher attacks the baseline, trying to get around Mahomet-Seymour's Malachi Nichols. Nichols finished the game with 13 points for the Bulldogs. See more game photos ...

RIGHT: Mahomet-Seymour's Landyn Hannah goes up for a shot around Richwoods' Terrill Rickmon, Jr. in the opening quarter of the Bulldogs' Christie Clinic Shootout game against Richwoods. The Knights prevailed after an exciting four quarters of prep basketball action, 52-49.

Unity vs Fieldcrest

2025 Player of the Game :
Tre Hoggard, Junior - Unity

Knights' Drew Overocker tries to slap the ball away from Rockets' Brady Parr. Parr, who finished a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line, contributed four points in the Unity's victory. Overocker was scoreless after seeing action in the fourth quarter. See more photos ...

Photos: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Fieldcrest's Eddie Lorton drives to rim on Unity's Tre Hoggard during second half action at the Christie Clinic Shootout. Lorton and Hoggard were their respective team's leading scorer with 25 points each. Up by only two at half at 34-23, the Rockets outscored the Knights 17-12 in a decisive third quarter on the way to a 77-68 win.

SJO vs Warrensburg-Latham

2025 Player of the Game :
Kodey McKinney, Junior - St. Joseph-Ogden

Parker Fitch looks for an open St. Joseph-Ogden teammate to pass the ball during first quarter action against Warrensburg-Latham. One of four SJO players in double figures, the senior forward finished with 13 points in the Spartans' 59-49 victory. See more photos here ...

SJO senior Collin Thomey pulls down a defensive rebound out of the reach of Warrensburg-Latham's Drew Czaijkowski. Shooting 3-for-4 from the free-throw line, Czaijkokwski, a junior finished with seven points. Thomey missed just one of his six free throws to finish with 10 points.

Photos: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

University High vs BHRA

2025 Player of the Game :
Keison Peoples, Junior - Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin

Above: BHRA's Anderson Thomas pulls down a rebound under U-High's A.J. Holden. Thomas was one four Blue Devil players to finish in double figures with 10 points. More photos ...

Photos: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin's Micah Stanford looks for an open teammate

Above: With Normal U-High's Dallas Smith and Bodey Klemmensen guarding him, Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin's Micah Stanford looks for an open teammate to pass the ball. Smith led the Pioneer's scoring effort with 20 points and made four of five shots from the free-throw line. Stanford delivered three treys and field goal, good for ll points. The Blue Devils defeated U-High, 68-62. BHRA's Keison Peoples (not pictured) was named Player of the Game after scoring a game-high 24 points.

2025 Christie Clinic Shootout Photo Galleries

January 11, 2025 .::. 30 Photos

January 11, 2025 .::. 37 Photos

Richwood Knights vs Mahomet-Seymour Bulldogs

January 11, 2025 .::. 31 Photos

January 11, 2025 .::. 19 Photos

January 11, 2025 .::. 44 Photos

SJO vs Warrensburg-Latham at Christie Clinc Shootout

January 11, 2025 .::. 41 Photos

Parker Fitch’s 27 points lead St. Joseph-Ogden past Eagles

RANTOUL - Parker Fitch had a career night, scoring 27 points in his 29-minute appearance for St. Joseph-Ogden in the team's road game against the Eagles (13-14). The junior went 7-for-7 from the free-throw line and finished 6-for-11 from three-point range in SJO's 77-55 Illini Prairie victory on Tuesday.

Senior Tanner Siems recorded a double-double, scoring 19 points and dominating the paint with 14 of the Spartans' 32 rebounds. Starting guard Coy Taylor rounded out the top three scorers with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists, helping secure SJO's 18th win of the season and ending a two-game skid.

The win improved St. Joseph-Ogden to 6-1 in the Illini Prairie Conference, setting up a dramatic matchup Friday night at home against Unity with conference title implications. The Rockets are the only undefeated team in the conference at 7-0. The forecasted freezing rain could be a factor, but if conditions hold, it promises to be an exciting night of high school basketball on Valentine's Day.

"You got to be ready" - SJO bench steps up when called in SFHC opener

SJO's Tanner Siems takes control of the opening tipoff at the State Farm Holiday Classic on Wednesday.

NORMAL - From the opening tip through the first quarter, the St. Joseph-Ogden basketball team's efforts were dismal against East Dubuque in the second game of the Small School Division at the State Farm Holiday Classic. Up 27-25 at the start of the second half, the Spartans extended their fragile lead by as much as 11 in the third quarter over the tenacious Warriors on the way to a 56-47 win Wednesday afternoon at Normal Community West High School.

The East Dubuque punched SJO in the mouth early, going up 6-0 and led on the scoreboard the entire quarter. Spartans' Ryker Lockhart tied the game up with 3:37 left to play in the half, followed by two more SJO buckets to up 24-20.

"It didn't seem like we were ready to play," Spartan head coach Kiel Duval confessed. He gave credit to the way the Warriors came out to play. "They had a lot more energy from the start. They were more aggressive on both ends and that took us out of what we wanted to do."

The slow rev up to aggressive play was not ideal.

"In this tournament, you can't approach games like that," he explained. "One through 16 is really, really good. If you don't come ready to play, you saw what happened in the first quarter. You have to be ready to play when you walk off the bus."

Tanner Jacob goes up for a contested shot with East Dubuque's Carter Widmeier. Jacob scored 11 points for the Spartans in Wednesday's game.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

On the next possession, Warriors' Aaron Culbertson hit a jumper, closing the scoring gap. Tanner Jacob answered back with a trey of his own for SJO to make the score 27-23. East Dubuque would sink one more basket before the intermission and head in the locker room down by two.

It took just under a minute and a half at the start of the third quarter for Jacob to bag another trey and sink a field goal, giving SJO a 32-25 lead. Coupled with aggressive defensive play, the Spartans let the Warriors get close twice in the third quarter before taking full-control of the contest.

"It wasn't really a great start. We weren't ready to go," said Luke Landrus, who finished with eight points and four rebounds. "We picked it up after the second quarter. In the third quarter we really started playing defense and getting rebounds. That helped us offensively."

Landrus credited the bench for helping St. Joseph-Ogden get the win.

"Our bench helped us a a lot. We didn't start off fast, but we had good people come off the bench, played hard, and did their job."

Combined, Lockhart, Parker Fitch, Tim Blackburn-Kelley, Logan Lackey and Collin Thomey saw 32 minutes.

Ryker Lockhart, hopped of the bench, playing five minutes for SJO. He hit the second quarter, game-tying shot the Spartans needed against East Dubuque.

Photo: PhotoNews Media

"We got a lot of guys with the ability to play. We told them 'you got to be ready, whatever your roll is'," Duval said. "You got to play just like the other guys. There shouldn't be any drop-off. I thought the did today."

Three SJO players finished with double figures. Shooting 75% from the field, junior Tanner Siems finished with 15 points. Logan Smith accumulated 13 points during his 26 minutes on the floor. Both Siems and Smith had three rebounds and three assists. Jacob contributed 11 points and credited with two steals.

One-for-two from the free-throw line, Thomey led the Spartans' rebounding effort with five.

Tonight, the Spartans face Rock Falls in the tournament's nightcap at 8:30-ish at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center.

SJO advances to basketball tournament title game, Spartans to face the Fightin' Irish of Bishop Mac

ST. JOSEPH - Spartans Coy Taylor and Parker Fitch dive for a loose ball to keep away from Charleston's Mason Redfern during the last game of pool play at the Toyota of Danville Classic Basketball Tournament. St. Joseph-Ogden advanced to today's championship game against Bishop McNamara at 5:30 PM after battling to a 54-40 victory Friday night. Charleston will face Paxton-Buckley-Loda at 4 PM in the third place game.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks