Unbeaten Spartan win two at State Farm Classic
By Fred Kroner
Senior Ty Pence climbed higher on the all-time St. Joseph-Ogden scoring charts on Wednesday (Dec. 28) with a 30-point outburst as the Spartans handed eighth-seeded El Paso/Gridley a 56-36 loss in the small-school division of the State Farm Classic.
Pence’s seventh point of the game enabled him to pass 1971 graduate Rick Schmidt for second place on the SJ-O career scoring list. Schmidt amassed 1,739 points. At game’s end, Pence had 1,763 points and needs 353 more to supplant 2017 graduate Brandon Trimble on the No. 1 spot as the top career point-maker at the school.
Unbeaten and top-ranked SJ-O trailed El Paso/Gridley, 12-10, after one quarter and 26-22 at halftime but had taken control, 41-32, after the third period in a game played at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Shirk Center. The Spartans permitted just 10 second-half points.
Coy Taylor tossed in nine points, Logan Smith fired in seven points and Tanner Jacob added six points.
Smith also landed five rebounds to go with four assists. McGwire Atwood and Pence each cleared four rebounds. Jacob handed out two assists.
On Tuesday (Dec. 27), Pence generated 36 points as the top-seeded St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ basketball thumped 16th-seeded Annawan, 78-28, in first-round action at Normal West High School.
Pence drilled five three-point shots and also pulled down six rebounds and added three assists.
Tanner Siems added 12 points to go with a team-high seven rebounds. Jacob chipped in with nine points. Taylor ended with eight points, four rebounds and three assists. Caleb Ochs grabbed three rebounds. Smith dished out two assists,
SJ-O jumped into a 24-5 lead after one quarter and improved its lead to 42-12 at halftime.
SJ-O (9-0) takes on fourth-seeded Rockford Lutheran on Thursday (Dec. 29) in the semifinals at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Shirk Center. The Spartans will play on Friday (Dec. 30) in either the championship or third-place contest.
