Spartans play strong heading into postseason
By FRED KRONER
The St. Joseph seventh-grade boys’ basketball team has won five of its first six games since the calendar turned to 2024.
The Panthers topped Prairieview Ogden, 50-18, on Monday (Jan. 8), then followed up with wins over Mount Zion at home on Wednesday (Jan. 10), 39-31, and at Champaign St. Matthew, 45-17, on Thursday (Jan. 11) before losing at Charleston, 44-32, on Tuesday (Jan. 16), 44-32. In its regular-season finale at home, St. Joseph topped Paxton-Buckley-Loda, 51-15, on Thursday (Jan. 18).
St. Joseph will begin postseason play with an IESA Class 3A regional semifinal matchup on Wednesday (Jan. 24) at Hoopeston against Clifton Nash.
Brock Franzen hit team-high totals of 13 points against PVO, 18 against Mount Zion, 22 against St. Matthew, 15 against Charleston and 16 against PBL.
Kiptyn Rosenthal seconded Franzen in the scoring department, with outings of 12 points, nine points, six point, six points, seven points and xx points in the Panthers’ first six games of 2024.
Teammate Kyler Smith tallied six points against St. Matthew.
St. Joseph owns a 20-5 season record.
