By FRED KRONER
fred@sjodaily.com.com
PONTIAC — Eighteen seconds.
St. Joseph-Ogden’s girls’ basketball team established its revised game plan Monday on the first possession of the second half.
Bree Trimble aggressively drove to the basket and drew a foul.
When she stepped to the free throw line with 7 minutes, 42 seconds left in the third quarter of the Spartans’ Class 2A super-sectional game against Chicago Christian, it represented a shot SJ-O never attempted during the first two quarters.
“We were going off too much on three-pointers,” senior Maclayne Taylor said, “and made a change.
“We focused on driving to the hole more.”
An Elite Eight matchup that was tied, 18-18, in the final 90 seconds of the first half turned into a runaway for the Spartans, who built leads as large as 26 points en route to a 58-35 triumph over the Knights.
The win not only secured SJ-O a berth in Friday’s state semifinals at Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena, but also guaranteed the school its first state trophy in girls’ basketball.
“Overwhelming and really exciting,” senior Peyton Crowe said.
“It’s absolutely insane,” Trimble added.
As Trimble sat in the lockerroom at halftime, she had no doubts.
“I knew if we did what Coach (Kevin Taylor) said, we would succeed,” Trimble said. “We started a little slow, but we got it together.”
In contrast to last week’s two sectional games, where the Spartans fell behind in the first quarter — once by double digits — SJ-O scored the first 10 points against Chicago Christian.
Trimble hit the Spartans’ first shot of the game — from three-point range — and Crowe added a five-point flurry that included a three-pointer before Trimble nailed a 10-footer at the 4:32 mark as SJ-O built a 10-0 advantage.
“We knew when we were up 10 it wasn’t over yet,” junior Hannah Dukeman said. “This was a good team win.”
Chicago Christian (24-10) mounted a comeback and SJ-O continued doing what it did from the outset. Eleven of its 27 first-half shots were from three-point range.
Only three of them went in as the Knights captured a 14-12 lead with 5:50 remaining before halftime.
“We got ’three’ happy at the beginning and weren’t attacking like we should have been,” Kevin Taylor said. “We wanted to run the floor more.
“We thought we had an advantage if we made it a full-court game.”
SJ-O (28-4) scored the final seven points of the first half, taking a 25-18 lead at the break and building a lead it would not lose.
The girls’ basketball program is now in the same club at the school as baseball, boys’ basketball, cross-country (boys and girls), football, softball, track and field (boys and girls), volleyball and wrestling with team state trophies.
“It feels great to know that we were able to be the team to do it,” Dukeman said. “To see all the girls smile makes us feel great.”
The Spartans did it by going to the basket.
Fourteen of the team’s 16 second-half baskets were on penetration moves to the hoop or rebound putbacks.
“Our outside shots weren’t falling,” Trimble said. “We had to change something.”
In the final quarter, SJ-O hit 8-of-10 shots from the field. The longest shot was a 12-footer by freshman Payton Jacob.
“Since our freshman year, this has been our big goal,” Maclayne Taylor said. “We’ve had our eyes set on a higher standard and we’ve been taking it hard in practice.”
Trimble led the Spartans with a double-double. In addition to scoring a game-high 26 points, she pulled down 13 rebounds.
Crowe hit 12 points and grabbed four rebounds. Dukeman also collected four boards.
Kevin Taylor long ago recognized the potential in this year’s group, but he knew not to take anything for granted.
“It’s so hard to get here,” he said. “Anything can happen in the postseason.
“This is pretty special. These girls worked hard.”
The Spartans’ defense limited Chicago Christian — which had a roster of eight players — to 32.5 percent accuracy from the field (13 for 40) and also forced 15 turnovers.
SJ-O, which has won 15 consecutive games, will play Teutopolis (31-4) in Friday’s 7:15 p.m.
IHSA state semifinal game at ISU’s Redbird Arena. Teutopolis ended the Spartans’ season-opening nine-game winning streak with a 72-39 win in early December.
“We’re ready for whatever else is thrown our way,” Crowe said.
Teutopolis has earned 14 state trophies in girls’ basketball, including one for third place last February.
Regardless of Friday’s outcome, SJ-O will play on Saturday. The third-place game in Class 2A will be at 5:30 p.m. and the championship game will be played at 7:15 p.m.
Now that the Spartans are in the Class 2A Final Four, Maclayne Taylor said, “the pressure is a little off,” but she believes the team won’t be content to simply be qualifiers.
“We want to take it as far as we can,” she said.
