Spartans rebound with win over Paxton-Buckley-Loda
By FRED KRONER
The St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ basketball team followed up on its first loss of the season on Friday (Feb. 26) with its most dominating win of the season on Saturday (Feb. 27).
Both the loss to Prairie Central, 56-54, and the win over Paxton-Buckley-Loda, 59-28, were played on their opponents’ home court.
Ty Pence scored 19 points and Evan Ingram added 18 points for SJ-O in the two-point loss to the Hawks (7-2). Lukas Hutcherson contributed seven points.
The Spartans led, 8-5, after one quarter, but fell behind by three points at halftime and trailed by six points with 2 minutes, 35 seconds remaining. SJ-O pulled within a point in the final period, but couldn’t regain the lead.
Pence cleared five rebounds. Hutcherson and Andrew Beyers had four rebounds apiece. Ingram had a team-high three assists.
Against PBL (3-4), Pence produced his fifth 20-point game of the season, hitting 23 points. Jackson Rydell notched 11 points and Beyers ended with eight points.
Beyers hauled down a team-high eight rebounds. Rydell grabbed seven rebounds. Beyers and Hutcherson had three assists apiece.
SJ-O (6-1) will start a three-game homestand in five days on Tuesday (March 2) against Illinois Valley Central.
