Izard named tournament MVP, Spartans win Toyota of Danville Classic
By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
St. Joseph-Ogden’s boys’ basketball team capped a perfect first week by winning all five games by double-digit margins and capturing the team title in the 31st Toyota of Danville Classic.
On Friday, the Spartans handed Cissna Park its lone loss of the week, 65-49 before winning twice on Saturday, 74-39 over Schlarman Academy and 59-49 against Watseka.
Tournament most valuable player Chance Izard led the way.
The SJ-O senior tallied 93 points for the week, 49 of those coming on Saturday.
He lit up the scoreboard with 25 points against Schlarman and notched 24 against Watseka in the evening game.
In the Friday win over Cissna Park, Izard tossed in 18 points. He hit at least one three-point shot in each of the team’s five games last week.
Ty Pence posted his first varsity double-double against the Timberwolves. The freshman had 14 points and cleared a team-high 12 rebounds.
SJ-O led CP 13-11 after one quarter, but pulled into a 31-26 cushion at halftime.
Drew Coursey downed 10 points and Lukas Hutcherson hit nine against CP. Payton Cain and Conner Hodge each cleared five rebounds.
Cain, who was SJ-O’s second all-tournament pick, contributed 12 points against Schlarman.
In less than a 2 ½-minute span, which stretched into the early stages of the third period, the Spartans used an 18-0 run to move into an insurmountable 45-22 lead against the Hilltoppers.
Coursey claimed a team-high five rebounds. Braydon Rupert was next with four rebounds.
Pence and Izard made sure to keep distance from Watseka in the final game. They combined for 17 of the team’s 19 fourth-period points, nine by Pence who ended with a career-high 17 points.
For the week, Pence was 9-for-9 from the free throw line.
The team’s balance was shown by the statistical distributions. In five games, five different players led the team in rebounding.
“I like the way our guys competed throughout the tournament,” SJ-O coach Kiel Duval said. “We played hard. We are starting to become more together each game.
“The biggest thing is they are carrying over good habits from practice that are necessary to be successful in varsity games. There are areas that need to be cleaned up, but that is what this week of practice is for.
“We will breakdown film and rep those deficiencies. The players know how good our schedule is and how every night is going to be a battle. The little things really matter in games like that.”
SJ-O (5-0) returns to action with back-to-back home games to end the week, Friday against Rantoul and Saturday against Tri-Valley.
2019 All-Tournament Team:
Emmanuel Garcia Camilo, Notre Dame de La Salette
Jamal Taylor, Schlarman Academy
Conner Curry, Watseka
Cale Steinbaugh, Georgetown, Ridge Farm
Ian Rogers, Cissna Park
Payton Cain, St. Joseph-Ogden
All-Tournament Team MVP:
Chance Izard, St. Joseph-Ogden
