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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Ella Armstrong hit two tie-breaking free throws with 2.6 seconds left on Saturday as the Spartans captured an Illini Prairie Conference win at Pontiac, 44-42.

The Spartans held a 13-3 lead after the first quarter, but had lost the lead in the fourth quarter.

Katie Cramer matched her season’s high with four three-point baskets and led SJ-O with 12 points. Armstrong totaled nine points, six from the free throw line.

Cramer’s final three-pointer, in the last 30 seconds, created a 42-42 deadlock.

The Spartans are 5-2 in conference action.

SJ-O (18-6 overall) returns to action tonight at Rantoul.

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The Spartans went 4-4 in the Illini Prairie Conference dual-meet series, which ended on Saturday at Pontiac, and placed fifth in the nine-team event.

Individually, two SJ-O athletes compiled 7-1 records during the two-day competition.

A.J. Wagner (113 pounds) won all but one of his bouts, including four by pin. His fastest fall was 37 seconds.

Isaiah Moore (126 pounds) was also 7-1 at the league meet. He posted three pins, including one in 23 seconds.

Overall, 12 SJ-O athletes competed at the IPC meet and all 12 won at least one match. Eight squad members had pins.

Brodie Sullivan (182 pounds) was 5-2 with two pins. His quickest pin was 56 seconds. Trevon Carr (170 pounds) was 5-3 with three pins. His fastest fall was in 1:03. Max Shonkwiler (195 pounds) was 5-3 with three pins, including one in 55 seconds.

Owen Birt (220 pounds) was 4-3 and Isaiah Immke (138 pounds) was 4-4. Immke had two pins, including a fast fall of 1:53.

Chase Chapman (132 pounds) was 3-3 with a pin in 4:37. Conrad Miller (145 pounds) was 3-5 with two pins, including one in 35 seconds.

Other Spartan competitors were Austin Kofoot (120 pounds), who was 2-4; A.J. Wells (285 pounds), who was 1-2; and Austin Cotter (285 pounds), who was 1-4.

The Spartans’ conference team wins were 46-4 over St.  Thomas More, 54-18 over Olympia, 47-21 over Rantoul and 42-39 over Chillicothe IVC.

The team’s losses were to eventual champion Unity 65-5, eventual runner-up Prairie Central 62-18, eventual third-place finisher Pontiac 48-32 and eventual fourth-place finisher Monticello, 50-24.

The lone SJ-O winner against Unity was Immke, who collected a 19-3 technical fall triumph. Wagner, Moore and Chapman were the winners against Prairie Central.

SJ-O returns to action on Thursday at El Paso in a meet that also includes Clinton.

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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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The Oakwood Comets girls’ basketball team won all four games in last week’s Comet Classic to capture team honors in the eight-school event.

After knocking off Blue Ridge in the opener, 49-15, Oakwood followed up with a 49-21 triumph over Urbana University High and a 60-29 conquest of Rantoul that sent coach Stephanie Marsh’s team into Friday’s title game.

Katelyn Young scored 32 points against Uni and 34 against Rantoul. Addie Wright hit seven points in each of those games. Aaliyah Denius totaled nine points against the Eagles.

Against Uni, which has a 5-2 season record, Young netted 12 first-quarter points as the Comets jumped into a 16-6 lead. Uni managed just three second-half field goals.

Young followed up with 19 points in the first half versus Rantoul (1-5). She swished 10 points and Denius added six during a 23-9 third-quarter spurt. The Eagles connected on just five second-half baskets.

In the championship game, Oakwood (5-1 overall) edged Tri-County (4-1 overall), 60-59. The Comets led 15-9 after one quarter, but had to withstand a fourth quarter where the Titans sank 7-of-8 free throws and made three three-pointers.

Young scored seven of her team-high 23 points in the fourth stanza to keep the Comets in control.

Wright (16 points) and Ashlynn Pinnick (12 points) both reached their season’s high for scoring. Wright hit what proved to be the decisive basket in the final half-minute. Her shot gave the team a three-point lead.

After making 4-of-10 free throws in the first three quarters, the Comets drained 7-of-11 in the fourth quarter.

Oakwood returns to action tonight at home against Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond. It is the first of eight games for the team in an 18-day period. Six of those games will be played at home.

Young is averaging 26.1 points per game through six games.

Oakwood Boys’ basketball

Thanks to the perimeter prowess of Brevin Wells, Oakwood won the team title in the Tri-County Turkey Tournament.

Oakwood (4-2 overall) and Judah Christian completed the tournament with 4-1 records. By virtue of a 54-43 win against Judah, the Comets emerged as the team titlists.

In his last three tourney games, Wells drained 16 of his 18 field goals from three-point range, scoring 54 points in that span.

Oakwood started the week with a 50-38 win over the Paris junior varsity team, a game where it fell behind 14-6 in the first quarter before recovering and carrying a 23-16 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Josh Young, Isiah Ruch and Kade Anderson all scored 12 points.

On Tuesday, the Comets lost a non-tournament game to Watseka, 50-40.  Ruch led the way with 12 points. Jackson Powell had 10 points and Young netted nine.

Wells’ 12 points were tops for the Comets in a 66-35 win over Martinsville. Young added 10 points and Ruch collected nine.

Martinsville managed just four second-half baskets.

A 29-24 halftime lead ballooned to 51-30 entering the fourth quarter. Wells had seven points and Young six in the third quarter.

Against Judah, Oakwood trailed 8-2 after one period and 21-14 at halftime.

Wells and Powell each made seven third-quarter points and the Comets surged ahead, 38-35.

Judah managed just seven second-half field goals.

Wells and Powell each ended with 12 points.

In a 70-65 loss to Tri-County, Wells converted eight three-point shots en route to a 24-point effort.

Powell had 13 points and Ruch totaled 12.

Oakwood completed tournament play with a 64-55 win over Hutsonville/Palestine.

Wells tallied 18 points, Young had 17 and Elijah Harden chipped in with 10.

The Comets made 16 of 21 free throws. After the first quarter, Oakwood’s lead was 25-7.

Oakwood

Wrestling

Five Comet grapplers were recognized by The Illinois Best Weekly in the publication’s preseason Class 1A state rankings.

Junior Gage Reed was rated third at 113 pounds and senior Caide Borden was ranked fifth at 220 pounds. Reed was 35-10 last year and Borden was 26-9 a year ago.

Three teammates achieved honorable mention status: sophomore Joe Lashuay (132 pounds), junior Connor Hutson (138 pounds) and senior Caleb Lashuay (152 pounds).

Oakwood will open its season on Saturday at the Cumberland Duals.

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The Comets bounced back from a Thursday night loss to win their home-opener on Saturday, a 49-15 triumph over previously unbeaten Blue Ridge in first-round action at the Comet Classic.

Katelyn Young had her third consecutive 20-point game to start the season, notching a game-high 22 points. Aubrey Wells hit two three-pointers and contributed 10 points.

Addie Wright totaled six points.

Oakwood led 19-4 after one quarter and 33-8 at halftime.

On Thursday at Arthur, Oakwood lost a 42-35 decision to Arthur Okaw Christian. Young scored 20 points while Wright and Ashlynn Pinnick each chipped in with five points.

The Comets (2-1) return to action tonight against Urbana University High in a second-round game of the Comet Classic, scheduled for a 7 o’clock tipoff. Uni defeated Rantoul 52-39 on Saturday.

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