Spartans finish fourth in State Farm Classic
By Fred Kroner
After raising their winning streak to 11 games, the St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ basketball team took back-to-back losses and placed fourth in the small-school division of the State Farm Classic at various Bloomington and Normal sites.
On Thursday (Dec. 30), the second-seeded Spartans were bested by fifth-seeded Rockford Lutheran, 79-57, in the third-place game at Illinois Wesleyan University.
Ty Pence led the Spartans with 14 points. Logan Smith contributed 11 points, Andrew Beyers dropped nine points and Coy Taylor totaled eight points.
Beyers handled a team-high 10 rebounds. Pence hauled in seven rebounds. Smith ended with four assists and Evan Ingram had three assists.
Five SJ-O players made three-pointers and the team was 10-for-13 from the free-throw line, but allowed Lutheran at least 20 points during each of the first three quarters.
On Wednesday (Dec. 29), also at IWU, third-seeded El Paso/Gridley gave SJ-O its first loss of the season, 60-36.
Pence made a team-high 12 points to go with four rebounds. Taylor added six points and two assists.
SJ-O trailed, 27-20, at halftime, but was outscored 33-16 after the break.
In the quarterfinals on Tuesday (Dec. 28), the Spartans endured a close call before they were able to subdue seventh-seeded Quincy Notre Dame 43-40.
SJ-O trailed, 11-8, after one quarter and 18-16 at halftime, but had vaulted into a 36-30 lead after three periods.
Pence rippled the cords for a game-high 27 points, his seventh 20-point game of the season. Ingram netted four points and Luke Landrus settled for four points.
Beyers grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Pence cleared four rebounds.
SJ-O fell behind, 4-2, at the 6:25 mark of the first quarter and didn’t regain a lead (31-30) until the final 40 seconds of the third period.
The teams were tied, 38-38, with less than 3 minutes to play before the Spartans took the lead for good, 41-38, with 2:11 left.
SJ-O never trailed 15th-seeded Tri-Valley on Monday (Dec. 27) in a first-round game of the State Farm Classic at Normal West, but was unable to pull away from the Vikings.
Each team hit 19 field goals and six free throws. The difference was that SJ-O drained seven three-point shots (four by Pence), compared to one for Tri-Valley.
Pence tallied a team-high 19 points. Ingram made eight points and Smith ended with seven points.
McGwire Atwood and Taylor each snatched four rebounds. Tanner Jacob contributed three assists.
The Spartans had the score doubled at halftime (30-15) and held a 14-point lead (43-29) with 5 minutes and 47 seconds to play before Tri-Valley pulled within four points in the waning minutes.
SJ-O (11-2) returns to action on Tuesday (Jan. 4) at home against Williamsville.
