SJO returns to state finals after dominant supersectional win over Williamsville

St. Joseph-Ogden earned a return trip to the IHSA Class 2A state finals weekend with a 9-0 victory over Williamsville and now stands two wins from the program's first state championship.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Ten years ago, St. Joseph-Ogden baseball coach Josh Haley (right) led the Spartans to their first state finals appearance. Now, with his son Will a senior on the roster, the Haleys are looking to help deliver the program’s first state championship this weekend.

by Sentinel News Service
OurSentinel.com

SPRINGFIELD - For the third time under coach Josh Haley, the St. Joseph-Ogden baseball team is headed to the state's final weekend.

This trip comes with a unique advantage.

Instead of spending the night in a hotel, the Spartans will sleep in their own beds before taking the field Friday evening less than 12 miles from campus.

St. Joseph-Ogden punched its ticket to the IHSA Class 2A state semifinals Monday with a commanding 9-0 victory over Williamsville in the Springfield Supersectional. The Spartans improved to 37-2 and will face defending Class 1A state champion Ottawa Marquette at 7 p.m. Friday at Illinois Field in Champaign.

For St. Joseph-Ogden, however, the opportunity is clear.

After two runner-up finishes and years of postseason success under Haley, the Spartans are two wins away from bringing home the first state baseball championship in school history.

The appearance marks the third state-final trip for SJO under Haley. The Spartans previously reached the final four in 2016 and 2017, finishing as Class 2A runners-up both seasons.

Against Williamsville, St. Joseph-Ogden wasted little time establishing control.

Senior Logan Rosenthal sparked the offense with three hits and three runs scored in four plate appearances. Rosenthal scored the game's first run when Bryson Houchens lined a single to left field in the opening inning.

That run proved more than enough support for Spartan starter Parker Fitch.

Fitch was dominant throughout his seven-inning outing, scattering three hits while recording the shutout. The senior kept Williamsville off balance all afternoon and never allowed the Bullets to generate sustained offensive pressure.

Meanwhile, the Spartans continued to add insurance.

Will Haley drove in four runs despite collecting just one hit in three official at-bats. Houchens added two RBIs, while Finn Miller and Trevor Ames each contributed two hits as part of an 11-hit offensive attack.

St. Joseph-Ogden scored in five of the seven innings it batted.

The Spartans built an 8-0 lead before Houchens delivered a sacrifice fly to left field that brought home Asher Pruemer. In the seventh inning, Haley added another RBI with a sacrifice fly to left, allowing Logan Rosenthal to score the game's final run.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Cam Schluter takes a couple of lead-off steps in SJO's home game against Rantoul. Like his older brother Aaron from the 2016, he will be a member of a St. Joseph-Ogden state finalist baseball team.

Williamsville pitcher Gage Ratliff suffered the loss. The Bullets finished their season 18-15 after allowing 11 hits.

Tuesday's outcome continued a recent trend between the programs. Since 2023, Williamsville has faced St. Joseph-Ogden four times and has been outscored 23-2 in those meetings.

The challenge awaiting the Spartans will be considerably tougher.

Ottawa Marquette enters the semifinal round as the defending Class 1A state champion. The Crusaders have established one of the state's most successful postseason traditions, capturing three state championships since 1999 while also earning one third-place and two fourth-place state finishes.

TAGS: St. Joseph-Ogden baseball, IHSA Class 2A state semifinals, Josh Haley, Parker Fitch, Logan Rosenthal, Springfield Supersectional, Ottawa Marquette, Illinois high school baseball

Photo of the Day |
No offense, Haley and Spartans crush Pioneers

St. Joseph-Ogden catcher Will Haley runs down a baserunner in SJO's home baseball game

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

ST. JOSEPH - St. Joseph-Ogden catcher Will Haley runs down a Normal U-High baserunner in the Spartans' home baseball game on April 18, 2025. The Spartans won the non-conference game 16-4 with Haley delivering two hits, two runs, and two RBI. The Spartans finished the season 32-4 after falling in the regional title game against Unity later in May. Haley, now a senior, returns to the SJO lineup the 2025-26 season.

See more photos from this game

TAGS: St. Joseph-Ogden baseball team wins, SJO catcher Will Haley makes a play, Sentinel photo of the day, 2025 SJO baseball, Spartan baseball team beats Pioneers 16-4 in 2025

Guest Commentary |
What Nikki Haley and Joe Manchin Should Do

by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator

Nikki Haley is overall respected for her political service. She did a good job as Governor of South Carolina for two terms and as an Ambassador for our country. Personally, I can see her as doing a fine job as President of the United States, but it won’t be this time around.

Haley has already lost Iowa, New Hampshire and even her home state of South Carolina. She wasn’t even in the contest when it came to the voting. Outcomes don’t look any more promising for her in the state of Michigan and the following Super Tuesday states.

There are reports that Haley might be a possible contender to run in the Presidential election as an Independent candidate in November.

Senator Joe Manchin is overall appreciated by many Democrats. and even by some Republicans. There is rumored speculation that Manchin might also run as an Independent.

Manchin has done a respectable job in the Senate and most likely would be fine as President. The only problem with Manchin is the same problem with Haley. Neither one has a snow ball’s chance in July of winning the election for President of the United States. Some Republicans would be accepting of Haley and many would be accepting of Manchin but the majority of Republicans aren’t going to vote for either one. Some Democrats would be okay with Manchin but again, he doesn’t have a chance of winning.

The greatest disaster for the Republican party would be for Haley to run in November and siphon off ten percent of the Republican voters for her. This would be enough votes to insure a loss for Trump. Or, if she doesn’t run and Manchin runs, he would surely glean about ten percent of Biden’s votes and insure Biden’s loss.

Manchin and Haley running in November as Independents or or representing some other party is not a good long-term plan for either of them. Both parties will view their runs as selfish acts and probably never elect either one of them to anything again.

Haley has every right to keep slugging in Michigan and even on Super Tuesday if she wishes. However, there comes a time to fold and support her party’s chosen candidate, who will be former President Donald Trump.

Manchin needs to run now and go for his party’s support. There’s nothing heroic about bring a spoiler of Biden’s reelection. The same is true for Haley.

Trump would be smart to make Haley his running mate. A solidified ticket would serve the Republicans better.

Regardless if Biden or Trump is elected President, chances are we could be swearing in the Vice President as President before the next four years are over. Americans surely will be looking closely at the Vice-Presidential contender this November.

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He is the author of 13 books including Uncommon Sense, the Spiritual Chocolate series, Grandpa's Store, Minister's Guidebook insights from a fellow minister. His column is published weekly in over 600 publications in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.

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Fired Up! Haley scores twice in St. Joseph-Ogden's semifinal baseball win at state

St. Joseph-Ogden repeats 2016 performance, advancing to Class 2A baseball state championship game.

Will Haley celebrates a triple at state baseball semifinals

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

CHAMPAIGN - Spartan catcher Will Haley celebrates while on third base after hitting a triple in St. Joseph-Ogden's state semifinal baseball game against Ottawa Marquette. The top-ranked Spartans advance to Saturday's Class 2A championship game against Harvest Christian Academy-Westminster Christian after a 6-1 victory over the two-time Class 1A state champions. Haley scored twice after making four appearances at the plate in Friday's game at Illinois Field.

Photo Gallery |
SJO baseball lands spot in 2A championship game

Scoring two quick runs in the bottom of the first inning, St. Joseph-Ogden never had to look over their shoulder on the way to their first state title game since 2017. Here are a few photos from Friday night game. Click on the photos to see a larger view.

SJO's Finn Miller and Trevor Ames head to the dugout to celebrate their team's vistory

Logan Rosenthal slides in at home plate for first run of the game

Asher Pruemer tosses a pitch for St. Joseph-Ogden

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Spartans' big bats blank Mt. Zion in 11-0 rout, Pruemer polishes another gem

Houchens and Earley combine for 10 RBIs as St. Joseph-Ogden shuts out Mt. Zion 11-0 in five innings.

ST. JOSEPH - Bryson Houchens and Nolan Earley each drove in five runs as St. Joseph-Ogden overwhelmed Mt. Zion 11-0 in five innings on Wednesday in a dominant all-around home performance.

The Spartans struck early and never let up, scoring in every inning and ending the game via the mercy rule after a two-run blast from Houchens in the fifth. Houchens finished 3-for-3 with two singles and a home run to left, while Earley’s three-run shot in the fourth broke the game open at 9-0.

Pruemer, a right-hander, silenced Mt. Zion’s bats over five efficient innings, allowing just one hit, striking out eight and walking one. He faced only two batters over the minimum and got plenty of run support as SJO piled up 11 hits and stole four bases.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Nolan Earley hits an in-field fly during SJO's home game against Westfield. The senior collected 5 RBIs at Meier Field against visiting Mt. Zion.

The tone was set in the first inning when Houchens drove in two runs with a single and Earley followed with a run-scoring double. A bases-loaded walk to Will Haley in the second extended the lead, and Earley’s sac fly in the third made it 5-0.

SJO tacked on four more in the fourth behind a string of hits, including an RBI single by Houchens and Earley’s towering three-run homer. Houchens capped his big day with a no-doubt shot over the left field fence in the fifth.

Haley, Jared Altenbaumer and Earley each recorded two hits for the Spartans. On the bases, Haley, Kody McKinney, Logan Rosenthal and Coy Taylor all swiped extra bags. Defensively, the Spartans played a clean game, committing no errors. Haley led the way in the field with eight chances at his position.

Mt. Zion’s lone hit came from Jackson Beiler, who went 1-for-2. Starting pitcher Andrew Tay took the loss, yielding eight runs on seven hits over 3-1/3 innings with four walks and three strikeouts.

St. Joseph-Ogden improves to 30-2 and will travel to Mattoon on Thursday as they continue their push through the regular season.

Area baseball scores and results for April 3

Chargers fall Dundee-Crown in heartbreaker. Will Haley delivered three of St. Joseph-Ogden's six RBI and Cam Schluter added two more in the team's 7-2 victory Friday afternoon.

St. Joseph-Ogden 7, Rockridge 2

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
St. Joseph-Ogden	0	1	0	3	0	3	-	7	5	0
Rockridge	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	2	1

GAME NOTES: Finn Miller had two hits and scored one run in SJO's non-conference game against Rockridge at the Rantoul Family Sports Complex in Rantoul on Friday. Will Haley delivered three of the team's six RBI and Cam Schluter added two more for the Spartans who improved to 7-1. Seniors Kodey McKinney and Logan Rosenthal stole one base each. Parker Fitch earned the win striking out five Rockets across six innings.

Ryan Oelke took the loss for the Rockets, giving up three runs and one hit after relieving Cullen Schwigen and relinquishing the mound in the fourth inning to Mitch Boney. Tanner Dye and Payten Downing produced one hit and RBI run each for Rockridge. Schwigen and Kainin Mumma scored the team's two runs.

Dundee-Crown 2, Centennial 1

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Dundee-Crown	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	4	1
Centennial	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	4

GAME NOTES: Madden Ritter pitched four innings, giving up three hits and a pair of runs to the visiting Chargers. Throwing 70 pitches, the junior struck out three Dundee-Crown batters in the loss. Senior Isaiah Allen chalked up two stolen bases and score the team's solo run. Paysen Dacanay, Chris Miller, Karl Olson, Tate Sauer and Allen had one hit each for Centennial.

Dundee-Crown's Kaden Klancnik earned the pitching win. Max Backaus had two hits with Cole Pearson and Ikey Grzynkowicz scoring the team's two runs.

Rantoul 10, Arthur-Okawa Christian 0

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Rantoul	2	0	6	0	2	-	-	10	8	1
Arthur-Okawa Christian	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0	3

GAME NOTES: Eagles' sophomore Aiden Cheek threw 77 pitches, securing the non-conference victory striking out 12 of the 18 batters he faced in a little over four innings. Owen Johnson had two hits, two RBI, and scored two runs to help the Rantoul improve to a 4-3 early-season record.

Ian Herschberger suffered the loss after seeing 14 batters at the plate, striking out one and walking to others. The senior gave up six hits and seven run to the Eagles.

Attention baseball coaches

Keep your fans and community informed. Send The Sentinel your game scores and player stats to sports@oursentinel.com to be included in our daily scoreboard and recaps.

TAGS: SJO baseball team post seven runs on Rockridge, St. Joseph-Ogden improves record to 7-1,

SJO advances to baseball state championship

Scoring two quick runs in the bottom of the first inning, St. Joseph-Ogden never had to look over their shoulder on the way to their first state title game since 2017.

Head coach Josh Haley talks to St. Joseph-Ogden baseball players

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

CHAMPAIGN - SJO head coach Josh Haley give Trevor Ames, Will Haley, and Finn Miller a pep talk during a timeout by the Crusaders. The Spartans went on to defeat Ottawa Marquette to advance to Saturday's Class 2A championship game against Harvest Christian Academy-Westminster Christian with a 6-1 decision. The title game is slated to start at 7 p.m. at Illinois Field. Ames, who booked a stolen base, delivered one run and RBI, Miller had two hits and a RBI, and Haley scored twice, finishing the game with one hit.

Area volleyball teams start postseason competition next week

Urbana -- With regular season play ending today, four Sentinel area volleyball teams will compete for a regional volleyball title starting next week. St. Joseph-Ogden, Unity, Urbana and University High each have the opportunity to bring home a championship plaque.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Mikyla Haley pass the ball to the setter in St. Joseph-Ogden's home volleyball match against Teutopolis earlier this season. The Spartans are the #1 seed in their regional when the IHSA state series starts next Monday.

Earning a #9 seed, Urbana (3-21, 2-8) will open their postseason play against fellow Big 12 Conference foe Danville. The two teams will square off on Monday at Rantoul Township High School in the regional's solo quarterfinal match scheduled to start at 6pm.

The winner advances to face Normal University in the Class 3A regional semifinals. Earlier in the season, Tigers fell in straight sets on the road, 25-20, 25-21, to the Vikings (6-25, 3-7) in conference action on September 29.

U-High (5-19, 1-4) will take on Armstrong on Tuesday, October 25, at 7:00 pm to start their postseason run in the St. Thomas More regional. Should the #11 Illineks defeat the #5 seed Trojans, they will face the winner between LeRoy and Schlarman in the Class 1A bracket on Wednesday.

Unity (12-15-2), who finished 4-4 in the Illini Praire Conference, will also take the court in Arthur to face #7 seed St. Teresa. Earlier in the season, despite five kills from JJ LeFaivre, and six apiece from teammates Kaitlyn Schweighart and Emmalee Atkins, the Rockets dropped the regular season meeting between the two teams 2-1.

The winner advances to Tuesday's 6pm semifinal against the host Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond. The Lady Knights boast an impressive 23-4 record and won the Lincoln Prairie Conference title with a perfect 9-0 record.

Earning a bye into the semifinals in the Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin regional #1 seed St. Joseph-Ogden plays their first postseason match against the winner of Monday's contest between Hoopeston Area and Oakwood. The SJO program outscored both teams by a combined 100-65 points during the season.

A win on Tuesday, will then pit the Spartans against either Paris or BHRA in the regional title match.

Dance has a date at state

This week, the SJO Dance Team will undoubtedly be working harder than they have all season - happily, without a doubt - in preparation for their 10:33 performance at the IHSA Competitive Dance State Finals on Friday. The squad will compete against 29 other teams that advanced to the state semifinals from their respective sectionals on Saturday.

However, the squad was just a snowball's throw away from not having the opportunity to even compete against the other top small school dance teams from around the state.

SJO Dance Team performs during a home game

Members of the SJO Dance Team perform during a home game earlier this month. The Spartans head to state after finishing 5th at last weekend's IHSA sectional in Mascoutah. See more SJO dancers in action. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

With a major winter event predicted to roll through central Illinois that would make highway travel precarious and possibly dangerous, the Dance Team was notified on Friday that they would not be traveling to the Illinois High School Association's Mascoutah sectional on the following day. SJO, like many other area schools using the same weather forecast as a guide, canceled all of their planned activities anticipating nasty conditions.

"The predicted weather forecast was not looking favorable for our area, on top of the fact that we had a 3 hour drive to our sectional," head coach Emily Williams explained. A SJO dance alumna herself, she has been the team's head coach for the past nine years. "Our administration made a decision that it would not be a safe trip for our dancers and their families. They also called off all other SJO activities for the weekend."

Williams said she and school administrators met with the disappointed athletes and parents on Friday afternoon explaining the decision. She pointed out that administrators from five other area schools also canceled their travel plans to the sectional competition.

However, on Saturday morning the expected 6-to-8 inch of snowfall failed to materialize. Williams and several parents contacted St. Joseph-Ogden superintendent Brian Brooks to see if they could make the trip.

"(Mr. Brooks) checked every radar possible and went out and drove several roads around Saint Joe," Williams said. "The decision was made by our administration that we could go as long as we could get a hold of IHSA and make sure it was okay with them."

Athletic director Justin Franzen was then able to square things away with the IHSA to make sure the squad could still compete. Soon after the dance team and loyal fans were on the road headed toward southern Illinois.

The team competed against 12 schools for one of the top six spots to punch their ticket to state finals at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. The Spartans' performance was fifth best of the day.

With a final score of 85.13, SJO finished by behind the sectional champions Villa Grove (88.67), Civic Memorial (87.60), Unity (86.57) and St. Anthony (85.67). Clinton filled the last state-finalist slot with a score of 85.10.

This will be the third to trip to state for the program since the IHSA began hosting them in 2013. The Spartans made it to state in both 2014 and 2016.

Williams hopes to see plenty of St. Joseph-Ogden family and friends filling seats in the arena and cheering for her girls. A fan bus is being organized by the school. She expects details to be available on the school website by Wednesday.

A SJO dance team member performs during the Spartans' home game against Villa Grove-Heritage earlier this month. The group hopes to see lots of fans at Grossinger Motors Arena cheering them on. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

"Our dancers would love to see as many people in maroon, white, and Columbia Blue on Friday as possible," Williams said. "We have a great group of girls who are much more like a family than a team. They have worked very hard and are elated to have earned the chance to compete in the IHSA State prelims on Friday."

For now until Friday, the SJO Dance Team will be working to perfect their routine and fixed deficiencies noted by last weekend's panel of judges.

We will be practicing everyday and will break down our hip hop routine, piece by piece," Williams said. "We will go over our scoresheets from Saturday’s sectional and see what the judges said we can improve on."

Members expected to compete at Friday's state semifinal include Erin Beyers, Kalli Ingram, Haley Griebat, Rachel Gherna, Kaitlyn Hess, Ava Mills, Sara Milioli, Samantha Naylor, Isabelle Brooks, Kylie Duckett, Tessa Smith, Bella Getty, Ella Besson and Alessa Anzelmo.

Prep Sports Notebook for last week of August 2022

SJO golf team improves to 7-0

Photo provided by Lori Kern

The St. Joseph-Ogden golf team preserved their unbeaten dual match record unblemished after cruising by the Danville Vikings by 33 strokes to a 170-203 finish on Wednesday.

Spartan Jacob Kern led the field, turning in a 38 on the front nine at Turtle Run in Danville. Teammate Ashten Cafarelli turned in the next best score on the course with a 43. McGwire Atwood finished one stroke behind Caferelli with 44.

The Vikings were led by Colin Lomex's 46 strokes and Cale Osborn's 48-stroke finish.

The Spartans are back on the links later today at Willow Pond in Rantoul to face the Monticello Sages.

Match results:
St. Joseph-Ogden: Jacob Kern – 38, Ashten Cafarelli – 43, McGwire Atwood – 44, Maddux Carter – 45, Jack Robertson – 52, Connor Hale – 52. Team total: 170

Danville: Colin Lomex – 46, Cale Osborn – 48, Ryan Jaruseki - 52, Jordy Martinez - 57, Zach Spencer – 59

Rockets fall in second match of the season

The Unity soccer team suffered their first shutout of the season last Saturday with 7-0 loss to Argenta-Oreana. The Rockets looked to improve their 1-1 record in their next contest at Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond on the following Monday.

The 2022 squad will be back on their home pitch on Monday, September 5, against Warrensburg-Latham and again September 8 against Judah Christian.

Spartan volleyball falls at Mahomet

Despite Shayne Immke nine match-kills, the St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball fell 2-0 to Mahomet-Seymour. SJO dropped both sets 25-22 in the non-conference road match.

Addie Roesch served-up three aces and contributed another four kills to the Spartan cause. Taylor Hug logged 14 assists and six digs. Mikayla Haley led the defensive effort with seven digs.

Immke also leveled five digs and three blocks during the evening. She and the SJO squad host Teutopolis this evening in the main gym at St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

Williams rains kills on St. Teresa

Payton Williams tallied ten kills in Monday's home volleyball match against St. Teresa.

Senior Taylor Hug led the team's serving attack with a pair aces. She scattered 18 assists as well as played a key roll in SJO's defensive effort with six digs.

Fellow senior Shayne Immke pummeled the Bulldogs with seven kills. Mikyla Haley contributed on ace and had eight digs across two sets.

Mabry sees action in the box

Carter Mabry recorded three saves at goalie in St. Joseph-Ogden's road soccer match at Schlarman Academy on Monday.

Jackson Greer scored two first-half goals after an earlier shot by Ryker Lockhart to put the Spartans up 3-0 before the mid-game break.

SJO kept the foot on the peddle, finding the net two more times with scores from Collin Thomey and then one from Logan Mills.

Starting keeper Hunter Ketchum recored four saves in the non-conference match as the Spartans improve to 2-1-1 on the season.

Five players, including Alex Acosta, Logan Mills, Spencer Wilson, Aiden Cromwell,and Will Childers, were credited with assists.

Thurman/Earley duo get tennis win at doubles

Teaming up at #3 doubles, Emma Thurman and Katie Earley earned St. Joseph-Ogden's only win at Monday's home match against Gibson-City-Melvin-Sibley.

After dropping her first set 6-2, McKennah Hamilton forced a third-set tiebreak after rallying back to win her second set, 6-4. She nearly pulled out a victory at #5 singles, falling in a 10-8 decision to her Lady Falcon's Kadence Crowley.

Meanwhile, one court over, SJO's Izzy Sexton battled tenaciously against GCMS' McKenna Crowley. Unable to get the breaks she needed fell in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.

Before starting their last home match of the season, the St. Joseph-Ogden girls tennis team will celebrate Senior Night at Atkins Tennis Center before taking on the visiting Warriors of Watseka High School.

Unity volleyball loses tough 3-setter on the road

After dropping the first set 25-14, the Unity volleyball team rallied back to take the second 26-24 on the road against Champaign Central. The Rockets fell in a hard-fought third set, 25-22.

Unity will try and rebound from the non-conference loss hosting Tuscola tonight starting with the freshman match at 5pm and the varsity main event after the JV match-up at 6p.

Attention area high school coaches

Haven't seen the latest news or result about your program on OurSentinel.com? If you are a coach at Unity, Urbana Uni-High, Urbana High School or St. Joseph-Ogden, send us your box scores, statistical leaders for each game, and other info via email to sports@oursentinel.com or editor@oursentinel.com.

Editor's Note .::.
9/2/22 - The brief "Spartan volleyball team slide by Bulldogs" - now Spartan volleyball falls at Mahomet - has been corrected. The Sentinel originally reported the Spartans prevailed in the road match 2-0, when in fact they lost in two sets.

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

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.

More SJO sports news ~

Nice try, but not this time

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

ST. JOSEPH - St. Joseph-Ogden's Will Haley tries to slide under a tag at third on a steal in the team's home game on Monday against Warrensburg-Latham. In a similar play in the first inning on a wild pitch, he was safe and later scored the Spartans' second run in the inning. This time, Cardinals' catcher Eastyn Mckenzie made the throw on the money to Brody Brown for the out. Haley finished the game with one hit, one run and one RBI in SJO's 8-1 home victory over the Cardinals. The Spartans (8-1) travel to Pleasant Plains today for another non-league game and face St. Thomas More on the road tomorrow for their first Illini Prairie game of the season.

SJO returns to state finals after dominant supersectional win over Williamsville

Photo of the Day |
No offense, Haley and Spartans crush Pioneers

Guest Commentary |
What Nikki Haley and Joe Manchin Should Do

Fired Up! Haley scores twice in St. Joseph-Ogden's semifinal baseball win at state

Photo Gallery |
SJO baseball lands spot in 2A championship game

Spartans' big bats blank Mt. Zion in 11-0 rout, Pruemer polishes another gem