St. Joseph and Prairieview-Ogden prepare for IESA State Championship

By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com

The future is bright for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School boys’ basketball program.

There is no other possibility when 100 percent of the junior high schools that feed into SJ-O have qualified for IESA seventh-grade boys’ basketball state championship games, scheduled for Thursday night.

Royal Prairieview Ogden (22-4) is a finalist in Class 1A and will face Lincoln West Broadwell (28-1) in the 7:30 p.m. title game at East Peoria Junior High.

In Class 3A, St. Joseph (21-5) will take on Taylor Ridge Rock Ridge (21-1) at Wenona Fieldcrest, also at 7:30 p.m.

For both SJ-O feeder schools, it is the first time for reaching the seventh-grade state championship game in boys’ basketball. For both schools, it is the second year in a row for advancing to at least the Elite Eight.

St. Joseph has an enrollment of 183 students. Royal Prairieview Ogden’s enrollment is listed at 48 on the IESA web site.

St. Joseph

The Panthers are under the guidance of 10th-year head coach Wes Miller. A change in defensive philosophy helped the current squad achieve its unparalleled success.

“We’ve been strictly man-to-man,” Miller said. “We’ve had to adjust. This is the first time in my career we’ve run any zone.”

Besides utilizing a 1-2-2 zone at times, St. Joseph has used defensive variations, trying both a box-and-one and a triangle-and-two.

James Barron was employed as the chaser in box-and-one at the state quarterfinal and semifinal games.

“Defense is the key,” Miller said. “He held his guy scoreless in the first game and to no points the first half of the second game.”

In the quarterfinals, St. Joseph topped Piasa Southwestern 30-26. Barron also scored a team-high eight points.

St. Joseph trailed 21-20 after three quarters.

In the semifinals, Tanner Siems’ 16-point outburst included three three-point baskets and sparked a 34-32 win over Williamsville.

The Panthers’ starting lineup includes Jude Coursey, Kendrick Johnson and Collin Thomey along with Barron and Siems. Logan Mills and Kyler Swanson are some of the first bench players who are called upon, but Miller said there have been significant contributions from others on the 15-member squad.

Thomey scored 12 points in the semis.

“The kids who aren’t starting do so much that goes unnoticed and helps us prepare for the next opponent,” Miller said. “Without their work and effort (in practice), we wouldn’t be where we are.

“They are truly what got us where we are.”

Miller had a good feeling about this year’s squad from the time practice started in October.

“From the get-go, I was pretty excited about the coachability of the kids,” Miller said. “They are good listeners and a good group to work with.

“We have good size, good shooters and athletic kids.”

The Panthers lost three of their last four regular-season games, but found their mojo for the tournament.

“We scrimmaged our eighth-graders the day before the sectional championship game,” Miller said. “Our seventh-graders were having some success (in the scrimmage), which gave them a confidence boost they were lacking.”

St. Joseph has won all five of its postseason games to eclipse the 20-win mark for the season.

“They are a group that is positive,” Miller said. “If things aren’t going well, they don’t chirp at each other.

“They keep playing. They are a class act. I attribute that to the way they have been raised.”

Other squad members on the seventh-grade tournament roster are Jared Altenbaumer, Hayden Coffey, Jackson Ennis, Owen Knapp, Jefferey Kuchenbrod, Gabe Mata, Carson Sarnecki and Carter Turner.

Not to be overlooked is the presence of volunteer assistant coach Tyler McCune.

“He has been my assistant the last two years and we’ve gone to state two years in a row,” Miller said. “That is not a coincidence.

“I would never have been able to get here without Coach McCune.”

St. Joseph eighth-grade coach Blake Weaver – whose team is playing for a sectional championship – also helps Miller and McCune.

In its history, St. Joseph Junior High has captured four IESA state titles: 2018 in baseball, 2016 in girls’ volleyball and in both 1999 and 1998 in girls’ cross-country.

 Royal Prairieview Ogden

There was no postseason panic from the 10-member squad, which is split evenly between seventh-graders and sixth-graders.

If ever there was a time for a team to lose its collective cool, then it was in a state semifinal game where it trailed by 10 points at halftime and by nine points entering the fourth quarter.

Coach Chase Gilliland said his team kept its composure, even while still trailing in the game’s final minute.

“I told them to stick to what we were doing,” Gilliland said, “and they stuck to it.”

The Mustangs kept chipping away and salvaged a 36-35 triumph over Normal Epiphany.

“They remained calm under pressure. Logan (Lackey) hit a three-pointer with 50 seconds left when we were down by two.”

It was the fourth three-pointer in the game for Lackey, who scored a team-high 15 points.

“To be able to win both games (at state) is surreal,” Gilliland said. “We played well. This is what you hope and dream about, getting to the state championship.

“We’re a small school, but the competition we play in the regular season helps us.”

Among the schools that have beaten Royal Prairieview Ogden are neighboring St. Joseph as well as another Class 3A opponent, Georgetown.

“We have really good kids,” Gilliland said. “That’s where it all starts.

“If you don’t play well together, you’re not going anywhere. We’ve had no issues at all with attitudes or grades.”

Gilliland had a good returning nucleus to start the season. Last year’s state-qualifying team featured sixth-graders Lackey, Coy Taylor and James Huisinga.

They are starters this year as seventh-graders along with Brodie Harms and Kodey McKinney, a sixth-grader.

The team’s calling card is the work they do when the other team has the ball.

“We are a good defensive team that prides itself on being able to stop other teams,” Gilliland said. “We also have some good shooters.”

In the 40-31 state quarterfinal win over Kewanee Visitation, Taylor hit 15 points, Lackey had 11, McKinney had eight and Parker Fitch – a sixth-grader who shares the center position with Harms – scored six.

In the semis, following Lackey’s 15 points were Taylor with 14, Fitch with four and McKinney with three.

Other squad members are Tayton Gerdes, Coy Hayes, Vance McComas and Graham Ray.

“They are all in with the game plan,” Gilliland said. “We have kids who step up when we need them.”

Fourth-year head coach Gilliland is assisted by his brother, James, and high school junior Cade Hausman, who is a former player at the school.

This is the fourth time in the past 11 years that the school’s seventh-grade boys’ basketball team has advanced at least to the state’s Elite Eight.

“This year’s team is different than the others I’ve had in that they are best friends,” Chase Gilliland said.

It’s also different in the opportunity that exists to capture the school’s first state title in any sport.

To date, two teams from Royal Prairieview Ogden have placed second in the IESA state finals: the eighth-grade boys’ basketball team in 2009 and the seventh-grade girls’ volleyball team in 2015.