Unbeaten and top-ranked Paris ended the girls’ basketball season for St. Joseph-Ogden on Monday with a 62-35 win in a Class 2A sectional semifinal game at Paris.

The Tigers scored all 62 of their points in the first three quarters. Paris led 18-13 after one quarter and 39-21 at halftime and had doubled the score (62-31) after three quarters.

Katie Cramer drained three three-point shots and made a team-high 11 points for SJ-O. Payton Jacob contributed 10 points.

Cramer netted a team-high 46 three-pointers for the season.

SJ-O ended the season with a 21-11 overall record.

Ten different squad members led the Spartans in scoring in at least one game this season.

Cramer was the leader in 11 games. She was followed by Ashlyn Lannert (six games), Payton Jacob (five games), Ella Armstrong (four games), Taylor Barnes (three games), Payton Vallee (three games), Atleigh Hamilton (two games), Taylor Wells (two games), Abby Behrens (one game) and Alyssa Hamilton (one game).

The team’s top individual scoring performances were by Jacob (19 points), Barnes (18 points) and Armstrong (17 points).

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One set of statistics helps to paint the most accurate picture of the St. Joseph-Ogden girls’ basketball team this season.

Ten squad members have led the team in scoring at least once. All 10 have also had games where they didn’t score a point.

“All season we’ve had girls step up,” SJ-O coach Kevin Taylor said. “It’s a credit to the girls for hanging tough.”

Thursday night was no exception.

The school captured its third successive girls’ basketball regional title on Thursday on its home court, topping Villa Grove/Heritage 50-34.

“Our defense was good all night and we had a stretch late in the third quarter where we had a good run,” Taylor said.

The Spartans led at halftime 24-18, but fell behind 27-26 before recovering.

The comeback began, Taylor said, “when we played hard and controlled the boards.”

SJ-O reaped the benefits from lessons learned during a late-season four-game losing streak.

“We were in most of those games, but lost focus and it cost us,” Taylor said. “In the postseason, we’ve done a great job of staying mentally tough.”

The Spartans’ score sheet looked different in the regional finals than it did in the semifinals.

On Thursday, Katie Cramer scored a team-high 12 points and Abby Behrens added nine points, including four fourth-quarter free throws. Payton Vallee also hit nine points.

In the semifinals, none of those three players scored. The top two SJ-O scorers in the semis, Ella Armstrong and Hannah Dukeman, were scoreless on Thursday.

The SJ-O defense held VG/H scoring leader Aliya Holloman to nine points, just the fourth game this season she didn’t hit double figures.

Payton Jacob was the primary defender on Holloman, with help from Dukeman.

“We wanted to keep her off the three-point line,” Taylor said, “and when she came off screens, we jumped out and helped.

“I’m happy for the girls. There were stretches they had to grind it out, but they have hung in there all year.”

SJ-O (21-10) returns to action on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the sectional semifinals at Paris against either the host school (which is undefeated and top-ranked in Class 2A) or Sullivan. Their regional championship game will be played tonight in Sullivan.

“It will definitely be tough, but we will prepare the best we can and go give it our best shot,” Taylor said.

VG/Heritage ends with a 25-6 season record.

Taylor enjoyed the enthusiastic crowd which helped fill the stands on Thursday for the Spartans’ final home game of the year.

“There were a lot of fans and we appreciated the support,” Taylor said. “It’s nice to be at home where you are more familiar with everything.”

SJ-O’s regional crown was its fifth in girls’ basketball in the last eight years.

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The Spartans’ four-game winning streak came to an end on Wednesday as visiting Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin posted a 47-31 non-conference victory.

In a game where SJ-O made 7-of-7 free throws, senior Hannah Dukeman made her first appearance of the season and scored two points. In her return from an injury, Dukeman made 2-of-2 free throws.

Katie Cramer led the Spartans with 11 points. Ella  Armstrong ended with eight points. Payton Jacob contributed four points.

B-H/R-A (23-5) jumped into an 18-7 lead after one quarter and led at halftime, 22-14.

Armstrong scored a team-high 17 points on Monday as the Spartans won at Rantoul, 52-25.

Armstrong and Cramer netted five points apiece in the first stanza as SJ-O opened up a 13-6 cushion.

Cramer finished with 12 points and Taylor Barnes contributed nine points.

The Spartans led 24-11 at halftime.

SJ-O (19-7) returns to action on Saturday in the Sangamon/Illini Prairie Conference Challenge. The Spartans will play Auburn at 6 p.m. in a game held at Maroa-Forsyth High School.

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St. Joseph-Ogden’s girls’ basketball team dropped its first Illini Prairie Conference game on Thursday, losing a 42-33 decision at Stanford Olympia.

The teams were tied at halftime, 11-11. The difference was the third quarter where Olympia held a 16-7 edge, which accounted for its final victory margin.

Katie Cramer netted a team-high 10 points for SJ-O. She nailed two three-point shots, boosting her team-leading total to 20.

Ella Armstrong and Payton Jacob each contributed seven points for the Spartans.

SJ-O (15-5 overall) returns to action on Monday at Tolono Unity. SJ-O is 2-1 in Illini Prairie Conference play.

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fred@mahometnews.com

The offensively balanced St. Joseph-Ogden girls’ basketball team received a season-high 12 points from Taylor Wells on Monday and remained unbeaten in Illini Prairie Conference games.

Wells became the 10th different squad member to lead – or share the team-lead – in scoring for a game this season.

In the 42-25 triumph over visiting St. Thomas More, Ashlyn Lannert chipped in with eight points and Payton Jacob contributed six points.

STM held a 19-16 halftime lead, but Wells scored six of her points in the third quarter as SJ-O pulled away. The Spartans yielded only one second-half basket and held a 35-21 lead after three quarters.

Jacob and Lannert also tallied four points apiece in the third quarter, a period where SJ-O scored 19 of the 21 points.

SJ-O is 15-4 overall and 2-0 in conference action. The Spartans, who have a four-game winning streak, return to action tonight at Stanford Olympia.

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The Spartans had their second-best defensive effort of the season on Saturday and opened Illini Prairie Conference play with a decisive 55-19 victory over visiting Chillicothe IVC.

Payton Jacob tallied 14 points for SJ-O. Katie Cramer hit 10 points. Both players converted two three-point shots.

Seven of Jacob’s points came in the first quarter as the Spartans jumped into a 17-6 lead.

SJ-O was sent to the free-throw line just twice and Jacob made both attempts in the third quarter.

Taylor Wells added eight points and Ella Armstrong netted six for SJ-O.

The Spartans’ lead was 29-10 at halftime.

The only opponent that was held to fewer points in a game this season by SJ-O was Iroquois West, which was limited to 16 points in the season’s second game.

SJ-O (14-4) has won six of its last seven games and returns to action tonight at home against St. Thomas More.

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The St. Joseph-Ogden girls’ basketball team put up 58 points in successive home games to start the week while snapping a two-game losing streak.

On Monday, SJ-O overpowered Paxton-Buckley-Loda 58-47. On Tuesday, the Spartans topped Urbana 58-40.

Four players scored in double figures against PBL. Abby Behrens and Atleigh Hamilton each ended with 12 points. Teammates Ella Armstrong and Ashlyn Lannert both added 11 points.

SJ-O held a narrow 23-19 halftime lead, but Hamilton hit six of her points in the third quarter and the team’s lead was 43-33 entering the final eight minutes.

Against Urbana, both Payton Jacob (19 points) and Armstrong (14 points) registered season-high point totals. They each drilled three three-point shots.

The Spartans carried a 23-18 lead into halftime, but Jacob tallied eight of her points in the third quarter as the team extended its lead to double digits, 41-31.

SJ-O (10-3) is idle until the State Farm Classic, which is played at various Bloomington-Normal locations. That event begins on Dec. 26.

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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 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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