Being able to play basketball has been a means to something bigger for St. Joseph-Ogden‘s Payton Cain: building connections.

Cain started playing sports as a young boy with his dad and brother.

“(My dad) passed that love for all sports down to me and my brother,” Cain said. “(Basketball) just grew to be one of my favorite sports. I just stuck with it since I was a kid.”

Growing up with the same group of guys who thoroughly enjoy being around each other helped feed that love.

“It’s been fun,” he said. “Just growing the connections between each friend and the connections that we’ve built through basketball, going to tournaments every weekend with each other, it’s been awesome.

“It seems like we are always hanging out with each other. High school made us a little busy, but whenever we have a chance, we all try to hang out with each other. We do the most random stuff. We are all very close.”

That closeness has helped the Spartans come together for one common goal this season: taking everything day-by-day.

“This year we determined that we are not going to focus on long-term goals yet, we’re going to build day-by-day,” he said.

“We are going to set a goal individually each day, and a team goal each day, and when we complete each team goal every day, it will help us build towards the higher, bigger goals.”

Cain has been doing his part.

As the Spartans enter Friday’s home matchup against Prairie Central with a 13-6 overall record, Cain is hitting his stride.

The senior led the Spartans in scoring with 15 points as they collected their 13th win on Tuesday over Tolono Unity. Cain also matched Ty Pence’s 23-points in a recent 66-45 win over St. Thomas More.

While Cain has added to the total score throughout the 2019-20 season, his efforts on the boards have also been noted. Cain has led the Spartans in rebounds in six games.

But for the 6-foot senior, what he can do in the Spartans’ last 10 games leading up to postseason play is most important.

After all, seasons are built day-by-day.

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Taylor Barnes scored a season-high 18 points on Monday and teammate Payton Vallee grabbed 13 rebounds to lead St. Joseph-Ogden past visiting Monticello 47-39 in a girls’ Illini Prairie Conference basketball game.

SJ-O held a slim 21-20 halftime lead, but built its advantage to 34-27 after three quarters. Five Spartans scored in the third quarter, but no player hit more than three points in the stanza.

Katie Cramer finished with eight points and Ella Armstrong contributed six.

SJ-O helped its cause by sinking 11 of 15 free throws.

The game was the 13th in 23 games played by the team this season that have been settled by nine points, or less. SJ-O is 10-3 in those contests.

The Spartans (17-6) return to action tonight at Pontiac. The team is 4-2 in conference games.

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Payton Cain and Ty Pence both reached their season’s high for points scored in a game on Tuesday as St. Joseph-Ogden’s boys’ basketball team won at home over St. Thomas More, 66-45, in an Illini Prairie Conference game.

Cain and Pence each tallied 23 points.

Teammates Conner Hodge and Chance Izard chipped in with seven points apiece.

Hodge gathered a team-high nine rebounds, but had plenty of support on the boards. Payton Grimsley had eight rebounds, Cain had seven rebounds and Pence collected seven rebounds.

Pence had a team-best two assists.

SJ-O (11-6) snapped a two-game losing skid and returns to action, weather permitting, on Friday at Stanford Olympia.

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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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The Spartans were outscored 18-5 in the third quarter on Saturday at home and lost a 65-51 decision to unbeaten Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin.

Chance Izard netted a season-high seven three-point shots and scored 25 points, leading the team in scoring for the 11th time in 16 games.

At halftime, SJ-O trailed 26-24 against an opponent which now has an 18-0 season record.

In the third quarter, the Spartans were limited to one field goal apiece, scored by Jordan Kelly and Ty Pence.

Payton Grimsley finished the game with six points.

SJ-O (10-6) returns to action on Tuesday at home against St. Thomas More.

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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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Oakwood’s losing streak reached three games on Tuesday with a 61-50 loss to visiting St. Thomas More.

The Sabers stormed into a 17-4 lead after one quarter.

Jackson Powell led the way for Oakwood with a season-high 14 points. He nailed three three-point shots.

Teammates Kade Anderson and Isiah Ruch each finished with 11 points. Elijah Harden and Brevin Wells hit five points apiece.

The Comets (4-5) return to action on Friday at Chrisman in their first Vermilion Valley Conference encounter of the season.

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The Comets matched their season’s high for points scored on Friday, but lost a 78-66 decision at home to Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond.

Brevin Wells scored a team-high 16 points and raised his team-high three-point total to 25 by sinking two shots from beyond the arc.

Kade Anderson scored 14 points. Isiah Ruch and Jackson Powell each chipped in with 12 points.

A-L/A-H expanded a 15-13 lead after one quarter into a 35-24 margin at halftime. The visitors nailed nine three-point shots.

The Comets (4-4) return to action on Tuesday at home, facing St.  Thomas More.

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