BY DANI TIETZ
dani@sjodaily.com

There’s something about the process: a gym, a ball, a hoop and some friends.

This is what Payton Grimsley has enjoyed the most since he was five or six years old.

“Basketball was always something I enjoyed the process of working and practice and trying to get better,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed that process. I didn’t really see it as practice or work.”

His desire to continue on, working to get better individually was bigger than his self, though.

“I love playing with all of our guys,” he said. “We push each other in practice, we make each other better. We all get at it, and we all play hard, we share the ball, we know how each other plays.”

Grimsley said this may be the secret to the Spartans’ anticipated success this year.

Playing together since they were eight or nine years old, these Spartans have grown up working for and with each other.

“All of us off the court are also friends,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to play together and share the ball, and just kind of work together because we know each other off the court. If we know each other off the court, we know what we will do on the court.”

This was tested this summer as the Spartans faced challenging teams in close games that resulted in both wins and losses.

That competition helped the team work out some kinks that he believes will benefit them during the regular season.

Grimsley hit the court on Friday, contributing 7 points and 2 assists in the Spartans’ 60-37 win over Rantoul.

“I think we play really hard,” he said. “We play together and I think we will be able to find a way to win a lot of games this year.”

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The Spartans (7-1) continue to flourish in close games.

SJ-O followed up on a seven-point Thursday win at Danville (52-45) with a one-point triumph (41-40) on Saturday at Oakwood.

For the season, five of the team’s seven wins have been by margins of seven points, or less.

Against Danville, Payton Jacob and Payton Vallee each notched 10 points to lead SJ-O.

Ella Armstrong scored seven points.

The Spartans led at halftime, 29-13, but the Vikings closed within four points (36-32) entering the fourth quarter.

Against Oakwood, SJ-O needed a late free throw from Vallee to register the non-conference win. Her decisive point came with four seconds remaining.

Armstrong drained three three-point shots en route to a team-high 13 points. She hit five of her points in the fourth stanza.

Abby Behrens added seven points and Taylor Barnes contributed six.

Vallee scored both of her points from the free throw line.

The Spartans trailed Oakwood 13-6 after one quarter, but surged into a 24-23 advantage by halftime.

SJ-O will play its third road game in five days tonight when it travels to Mahomet-Seymour.

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St. Joseph-Ogden’s boys’ basketball team capped a perfect first week by winning all five games by double-digit margins and capturing the team title in the 31st Toyota of Danville Classic.

On Friday, the Spartans handed Cissna Park its lone loss of the week, 65-49 before winning twice on Saturday, 74-39 over Schlarman Academy and 59-49 against Watseka.

Tournament most valuable player Chance Izard led the way.

The SJ-O senior tallied 93 points for the week, 49 of those coming on Saturday.

He lit up the scoreboard with 25 points against Schlarman and notched 24 against Watseka in the evening game.

In the Friday win over Cissna Park, Izard tossed in 18 points. He hit at least one three-point shot in each of the team’s five games last week.

Ty Pence posted his first varsity double-double against the Timberwolves. The freshman had 14 points and cleared a team-high 12 rebounds.

SJ-O led CP 13-11 after one quarter, but pulled into a 31-26 cushion at halftime.

Drew Coursey downed 10 points and Lukas Hutcherson hit nine against CP. Payton Cain and Conner Hodge each cleared five rebounds.

Cain, who was SJ-O’s second all-tournament pick, contributed 12 points against Schlarman.

In less than a 2 ½-minute span, which stretched into the early stages of the third period, the Spartans used an 18-0 run to move into an insurmountable 45-22 lead against the Hilltoppers.

Coursey claimed a team-high five rebounds. Braydon Rupert was next with four rebounds.

Pence and Izard made sure to keep distance from Watseka in the final game. They combined for 17 of the team’s 19 fourth-period points, nine by Pence who ended with a career-high 17 points.

For the week, Pence was 9-for-9 from the free throw line.

The team’s balance was shown by the statistical distributions. In five games, five different players led the team in rebounding.

“I like the way our guys competed throughout the tournament,” SJ-O coach Kiel Duval said. “We played hard. We are starting to become more together each game.

“The biggest thing is they are carrying over good habits from practice that are necessary to be successful in varsity games. There are areas that need to be cleaned up, but that is what this week of practice is for.

“We will breakdown film and rep those deficiencies. The players know how good our schedule is and how every night is going to be a battle. The little things really matter in games like that.”

SJ-O (5-0) returns to action with back-to-back home games to end the week, Friday against Rantoul and Saturday against Tri-Valley.

2019 All-Tournament Team:
Emmanuel Garcia Camilo, Notre Dame de La Salette
Jamal Taylor, Schlarman Academy
Conner Curry, Watseka
Cale Steinbaugh, Georgetown, Ridge Farm
Ian Rogers, Cissna Park
Payton Cain, St. Joseph-Ogden

All-Tournament Team MVP:
Chance Izard, St. Joseph-Ogden

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St. Joseph-Ogden’s boys’ basketball team opened its season with a win on Tuesday, despite missing 9 of 17 free throws in the opening round of the 31st Spartan Classic.

SJ-O upended Georgetown-Ridge Farm, 65-37.

Chance Izard scored 19 points and Jordan Kelly added 12 points for the Spartans, who turned a 7-4 lead after one quarter into a 21-11 advantage at halftime.

Izard and Kelly were two of five SJ-O players who connected on a three-pointer.

Coach Keil Duval started four seniors – Payton Cain, Drew Coursey, Conner Hodge and Izard – along with freshman Ty Pence.

Cain scored eight points, Pence had seven and Luke Renfrew chipped in with six points.

SJ-O continued its winning ways on Wednesday, knocking off Notre Dame de La Salette, 48-37.

Cain registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 steals.

Pence ended with eight points, including 4-of-4 from the free throw line in a game where the Spartans were 6-of-12 overall from the line.

Izard and Andrew Beyers each scored seven points.

Cain collected a team-high seven rebounds. Pence and Hodge each gathered four rebounds.

The Spartans scored nine of the game’s first 10 points and held a 41-20 fourth-quarter lead.

The Spartans (2-0) return to action at 8 p.m. on Friday against Cissna Park.

All six teams will play twice in the round-robin event on Saturday. The final-day SJ-O games will be at 11:30 a.m. against Schlarman Academy and at 7 p.m. against Watseka.

St. Joseph-Ogden Girls’ basketball

The Spartans trailed after each of the first two quarters on Monday against Tuscola, but rallied to register a 50-46 overtime win.

Katie Cramer scored 14 points to lead SJ-O. Both Cramer and Payton Jacob nailed three-pointers in OT to help the Spartans pull away.

Taylor Barnes scored nine points and Abby Behrens added eight for SJ-O.

SJ-O (5-1) returns to action tonight at Danville. The Spartans received votes in the first Class 2A state poll, which was released on Wednesday.

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The Spartans (4-1) dropped their home-opener on Tuesday, 65-44, to Paris.

Taylor Barnes scored a team-high nine points. Finishing with six points apiece were Alyssa Hamilton, Payton Jacob and Ashlyn Lannert.

Paris jumped into a 14-6 lead after one quarter.

Lannert and Katie Cramer were picked for the all-tournament team the previous week at the Lady Bunny/Lady Falcon Classic.

SJ-O returns to action tonight at home against Tuscola.

St. Joseph-Ogden Wrestling

Three Spartan underclassmen were mentioned in the honorable mention category by The Illinois Best Weekly in its preseason Class 1A individual state rankings.

Junior A.J.  Wagner received notice at 113 pounds as did teammates Isaiah Moore, a sophomore, at 120 pounds and Isaiah Immke, a junior, at 138 pounds.

The Spartans open the season on Saturday at Danville with a series of dual meets that will also include Urbana, LeRoy and Olympia.

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The St. Joseph Middle School seventh-grade boys’ basketball team started the season off with five consecutive wins.

Three different squad members have led the team in scoring during the early-season contests.

Tanner Siems scored eight points in a 35-22 win over Oakwood.

Against Tuscola, in a 31-26 victory, Collin Thomey scored 12 points.

Thomey and Kendrick Johnson shared the team-lead in scoring in a narrow 24-23 triumph over Monticello, collecting 11 points apiece.

Johnson hit 11 points again in a 26-14 verdict over Tolono Unity.

In a 48-8 win over Salt Fork, Johnson tallied 13 points.

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Dade Allinger 6’2″ 2020
Andrew Beyers 5’11” 2022
Payton Cain 6’0″ 2020
Drew Coursey 6’0″ 2020
Payton Grimsley 5’9″ 2020
Conner Hodge 6’3″ 2020
Lukas Hutcherson 5’9″ 2021
Evan Ingram 5’10” 2022
Chance Izard 5’10” 2020
Jordan Kelly 5’9″ 2020
Ty Pence 6’4″ 2023
Luke Renfrew 6’0″ 2020
Braydon Rupert 6’8″ 2020
Jackson Rydell 6’3″ 2021
Brayden Weaver 5’8″ 2020

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What are your goals and where can they take you?

Although they may not realize it yet, runners on the St. Joseph Middle School cross-country team are realizing the answer to this question as they prepare to compete at the IESA State level on Saturday.

For the first time in school history, St. Joseph Middle School captured the IESA Class 2A Sectional title.

Eighth-grader Helene Jones said, “after all seven of our runners finished, Coach P (Corey Plotner) pulled us to the side saying we just made St. Joe history! There has never been a St. Joe 2A cross-country team win a sectional before.”

After the St. Joseph Middle School boys’ cross-country team finished with five runners in the top 10 spots at the sectional, the Panthers were on their way to sending both teams to the 2A IESA state meet at Maxwell Park in Normal.

The catalyst for the teams’ accomplishments has been goal-setting.

Many of the participants began running in fifth grade, looking to beat an older sibling, to have something in common with a parent or to hang out with friends, but it didn’t take long for each runner to find some intrinsic value to their time spent on the course.

“I’ve kept with it because I enjoyed the coaches, people, and I realized I did enjoy running,” Jones said. “After the first season, I knew I had to do next year.”

Coming into her third year on the Panther team, Jones decided that if she puts her mind to it, she might be able to finish the 2-mile course in under 13 minutes. With that time, Jones believed that she would be included on the Sectional roster, and it would be another step to her whole team making it to the State finals.

“All of the goals I had set were crushed,” she said.

With the same mindset, Jones wanted to finish a race to get onto the Panthers’ “board.”

“The board contains the top 20 boy and girl runners of St. Joe Middle School history,” she said.

Currently, Jones sits at No. 12.

But that wasn’t enough for the athlete who knows that time in junior high is short.

Coming into the IESA Sectional on Oct. 12, Jones wanted to finish in the top five of the 86 competitors.

Coming in at 13 minutes, 13.74 seconds, she finished in second place.

Finishing right in front of her at 13:06.69 was teammate Savanna Franzen.

In her seventh-grade year, Franzen had her teammates on her mind as she crossed the finish line.

“I felt a rush of joy because I knew my teammates were not far behind,” Franzen said.

The Panther runners are encouraged to give 100-percent throughout the season.

“My coaches have supported me by telling me when I need to push it, giving me advice for my legs, and being with me every step of the way,” she said.

Keeping her individual goals in sight, Franzen has also encouraged her teammates throughout the year to do the same as the Panthers had their eyes set on a team state-bid from the very beginning.

Jones and Franzen will work to place in the Top 25 runners at State while the entire team looks to place among the top 10.

The St. Joseph Middle School boys’ team also believes it has what it takes to finish in the top 10 on Saturday.

In fact, they’ve set the goal of finishing in the top four teams at State.

Leading the seven-member Panther pack consistently throughout the season has been Carson Maroon.

Maroon finished the two-mile IESA Sectional course in 11:38.23.

“I felt great!” he said. “I knew then that I couldn’t have accomplished anything more.”

Finishing in first place, at sectional ticked of a goal box for Maroon — now he hopes to accomplish his other two goals, finishing in the top 25 at State and finishing a race under 11 minutes.

Being part of a fun team that challenges each other day-after-day is not only what keeps Maroon coming back year-after-year, but he also believes it’s the recipe to finding success.

“The better we do individually the better we are as a team,” eighth-grader Spencer Wilson said.

Wilson finished third at the IESA Sectional meet with a time of 11:57.10.

Finding out he is “pretty decent at running” came on the back of working with great coaches.

“Coach P and Coach G (Michele Guido) are great coaches! I’m glad I got to run with them the last four years “

For Wilson, though, the reason he started cross-country in fifth grade is the same reason he still loves to come to cross-country every day.

“The best part about being on the team are game days and being with my friends,” he said.

The girls’ Class 2A state race is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday, followed by the boys’ race at 11:45 a.m.

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St. Joseph-Ogden completed a unique three-match homestand in three nights on Wednesday with its third two-game sweep in as many days.

The Spartans (13-3) turned back Danville 25-13, 25-13 on Wednesday.

Katelyn Berry had 10 digs, Kennedi Burnett had eight digs and Rylee Stahl had six digs.

Burnett and Lacey Kaiser each swatted six kills. Bigger handed out 16 assists to go with two service aces.

On Tuesday, the Spartans secured a 2-0 sweep over visiting Paxton-Buckley-Loda.

Bigger handed out 26 assists and SJ-O displayed a potent and balanced offensive attack.

Kaiser landed nine kills while Berry and Burnett each delivered seven kills.

Burnett sparked a defense that produced 42 digs. She had nine.

Other team leaders were Berry (seven digs), Lindsey Aden (six digs), Kaiser (six digs), Berry (five digs) and Stahl (five digs).

Bigger had 16 assists and eight digs on Monday as the Spartans blitzed visiting Hoopeston Area, 25-5, 25-5.

Kaiser (six kills), Jenna Albrecht (five kills) and Burnett (five kills) were the offensive sparks.

Berry contributed a team-high 11 digs.

SJ-O (12-3) returns to action on Monday at Urbana.

SJ-O Boys’ cross-country

SJ-O runners were dominant on Tuesday in a non-scored dual meet against Monticello at Kickapoo State Park.

The Spartans swept the second through 10th positions.

SJ-O’s Brandon Mattsey was the meet’s runner-up, running the 3-mile course in 18 minutes, 7 seconds.

The next six Spartan runners finished consecutively and were within 29 seconds of one another.

Eric Poe was third in 19:01, followed by Lukas Hutcherson (fourth in 19:04), Luke Stegall (fifth in 19:07), Logan Wolfersberger (sixth in 19:09), Braden Clampitt (seventh in 19:11) and Elijah Mock (eighth in 19:30).

Completing the top 10 were SJ-O’s Ethan Blackburn (ninth in 20:37) and Charlie Mabry (10th in 20:51).

SJ-O returns to action on Saturday at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational.

SJ-O Girls’ cross-country

In a non-scored dual meet on Tuesday against Monticello at Kickapoo State Park, SJ-O runners swept all of the first five positions.

Jillian Plotner was the individual winner in 21 minutes, 15 seconds for the 3-mile course.

She was followed by Hannah Rajlich (second in 21:20), Ava Knap (third in 21:27), Ashlyn Lannert (fourth in 21:53) and Ally Monk (fifth in 22:07).

SJ-O returns to action on Saturday at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational.

SJ-O Soccer

It was a different day, but the outcome was the same for the St. Joseph-Ogden soccer program.

Three days after losing to Monticello 5-0 in a tournament match at Hoopeston, the Spartans lost a 5-0 decision to Monticello on Tuesday at home.

Monticello is 10-0-1 for the season, SJ-O is 2-8-1 entering a match today at St. Thomas More (9-1-3).

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