Barnes and Vallee help grab Illini Prairie Conference win for St. Joseph-Ogden
BY FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
Taylor Barnes scored a season-high 18 points on Monday and teammate Payton Vallee grabbed 13 rebounds to lead St. Joseph-Ogden past visiting Monticello 47-39 in a girls’ Illini Prairie Conference basketball game.
SJ-O held a slim 21-20 halftime lead, but built its advantage to 34-27 after three quarters. Five Spartans scored in the third quarter, but no player hit more than three points in the stanza.
Katie Cramer finished with eight points and Ella Armstrong contributed six.
SJ-O helped its cause by sinking 11 of 15 free throws.
The game was the 13th in 23 games played by the team this season that have been settled by nine points, or less. SJ-O is 10-3 in those contests.
The Spartans (17-6) return to action tonight at Pontiac. The team is 4-2 in conference games.
