Spartans end season in sectional semifinal

By Fred Kroner

El Paso/Gridley dealt St. Joseph-Ogden its first loss of the boys’ basketball season in December.

On Wednesday (March 2), the Titans handed the Spartans their final loss of the season. The rematch came in a semifinal game of the Clifton Central Class 2A sectional tournament, 45-32.

The Spartans were limited to seven made field goals.

Logan Smith led SJ-O with 11 points. Evan Ingram netted seven points, Ty Pence scored six points (all from the free-throw line) and Andrew Beyers added five points to go with a team-high four assists.

Ingram hauled down a team-high seven rebounds.

El Paso/Gridley (28-2) led, 11-8, after one quarter and 16-15 at halftime. The margin was 31-25 entering the fourth stanza.

For the season, Pence led SJ-O in scoring in 29 games. Smith led in three games, Ingram in two and Beyers in one.

Pence led the team in most statistical categories, averaging 22.9 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game and sinking a team-best 71 three-pointers.

Other top scorers were Ingram (9.2 average), Smith (8.5 average), Beyers (6.6 average) and Coy Taylor (6.1 average).

Ingram hit 24 three-pointers, Beyers made 23 shots from beyond the arc and Brock Trimble sunk 17 shots from distance.

Beyers averaged 4.2 rebounds per game, Smith finished with a 3.1 average, Ingram’s average was 2.9 and Taylor ended with a 2.5 rebounding average.

Ingram was the Spartans’ most accurate free throw shooter (85 percent). Pence nailed 74 percent of his tries and was sent to the line 215 times as a junior.

SJ-O ends the year with a 23-10 overall record. The team’s seniors were Beyers, Hayden Brazelton, Nolan Grindley, and Ingram.