High school sports face a picture of uncertainty as the fall season draws nearer.

At Heritage High School, the uncertainty extends beyond the short-term and is due to more than the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought an abrupt and premature end to sports last spring.

For nearly a quarter of a century, Heritage has participated in an athletic co-op, for at least some sports. For the past seven years, the district has been united with Villa Grove for many sports in a series of two-year agreements, which will expire after the upcoming 2020-21 school year.

Villa Grove’s school board has already announced that it will end the agreement in boys’ basketball, boys’ basketball cheerleading and baseball when the contract is up for renewal next year.

“I was disappointed, but not surprised at all when Villa Grove opted to drop the boys’ basketball and baseball coop agreement,” Heritage athletic director Lori Archer said. “I honestly expected it would happen during the last renewal process, especially since they had already dropped softball (after the 2017 season).

“At this point, I’m not so sure how we will move forward. Our school board is currently gathering input from our community. Once that information is compiled, we will consider our options and try to make a decision that works best for our students and our school district.”

Villa Grove school board president Jim Clark said its decisions were a matter of responding to feedback from its residents.

“Our community feels we have enough athletes in those sports to field teams,” Clark said.

He believes that is true beyond the immediate future.

“We have looked at the numbers. At the high school, there will be some ebb and flow, but we have strong feeder programs and think we’ll be OK.”

The choices for Heritage are limited to forging forward on its own or forming a coop with another district if the coop completely crumbles.

Some potential coop partners would include St. Joseph-Ogden, Unity and Salt Fork. The distance from Broadlands to Tolono, where Unity High School is based, is about 14.5 miles. The distance to St. Joseph is about 16.7 miles. The distance to Catlin is about 25 miles.

Heritage High School had an enrollment of 134 during the recently completed school year.

Archer expects that number to remain relatively stable for the foreseeable future.

“Looking at projected numbers, I see that number staying approximately the same the next several years,” Archer said.

Enrollment is an issue which can be a sticking point when districts ponder a coop partnership. For example – based on last year’s enrollments – if either SJ-O or Salt Fork joined forces with Heritage, they would be bumped up a class for football, to 4A for SJ-O and to 2A for Salt Fork. Unity was already 4A for football and that would likely not change if it teamed up with Heritage.

On the positive side, the chances for success – especially during the regular season – increase with additional student-athletes from which to pick.

Heritage, for example, has struggled in recent years to field a girls’ basketball team at both the seventh- and eighth-grade levels and have put one combined team on the court at the junior high.

“We’ve averaged eight to nine players, so we’ve been forced to play an eighth-grade season only,” Archer said. “Our coaches do a great job with the numbers given, but the numbers just aren’t there right now.

“As a result, our high school numbers have suffered as well. Our numbers at the junior high may gradually increase over time, but currently we could not field our own girls’ basketball team at the high school level.

“If it comes to that, we will reach out to other schools to see if there would be any interest in a girls’ basketball coop.”

The outlook is less grim for other Heritage sports.

“I have no doubt we can maintain our own boys’ basketball and baseball programs,” Archer said, “but our girls’ basketball numbers have been very low, so I don’t think we could commit to playing a JV and varsity girls’ basketball schedule on our own.”

When Heritage first teamed up with Shiloh in 1997 (a coop which was known as East Central and lasted through 2013), participation was the driving force.

“The most obvious benefit of being a part of a coop is being able to provide athletic opportunities to our student-athletes that we probably could not provide on our own,” Archer said. “The initial reason for our coops was due to lack of numbers in a particular sport.

“We wanted to assure that our students had the opportunity to be part of a ‘team’ and gain all of those experiences that go along with being a member of a high school sports team.”

While the participation goal was achieved, the coop with Shiloh wasn’t a success in all other areas. In football, there was just one winning season, and during the final eight years of the agreement, the varsity football teams totaled eight wins.

That, in turn, led to another issue.

“We hadn’t had much continued success with the football coop, so our numbers on both sides were declining,” Archer said. “We were struggling to put together a full team (JV and varsity).

“It was a mutual agreement (to dissolve).”

Ultimately, there were no hard feelings.

“Both districts (Heritage and Shiloh) looked for other possible solutions,” Archer said. “Shiloh was able to form their co-op with Oakland/Kansas (now called Tri-County) and we were able to co-op with Villa Grove, which at the time, seemed like the perfect fit for everyone.”

By contrast to the limited on-field success during Heritage’s first coop venture, the combined Villa Grove/Heritage teams fared much better. In football, the coop qualified for the playoffs six of the last seven seasons.

Both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams have produced back-to-back 20-win seasons the last two years, the girls’ teams combining for 47 wins in that span and the boys’ teams posting a total of 44 wins.

The VG/H baseball team won 23 games the last year it was able to take the field (2019).

“With all of the successes our programs have had as a coop, and very little negative feedback, we felt like the coop was a good fit/solution for both schools,” Archer said. “I will always be grateful for the opportunities and successes it provided our students.”

Clark said it’s imperative to continually study all options.

“If you’re not constantly evaluating things, you’re not serving your communities’ best interests,” Clark said.

“It has gone well competition-wise. The competition part is one thing.

“There were 39 kids out for (boys) basketball and that’s a lot of kids. We heard from (Villa Grove) kids who don’t play sports because of the numbers. We examined it to see what’s beneficial for our students.”

At this time, the only coop agreements to be dissolved between Villa Grove and Heritage are baseball, boys’ basketball and boys’ basketball cheerleading.

Clark anticipates that the agreements in cross-country, football, football cheerleading, girls’ basketball, golf and track will continue.

“I foresee it going on as it has been,” Clark said. ‘We’re optimistic that will not change.

Clark noted that not everyone shares that opinion.

“In our community, some were in favor of pulling out completely,” he said.

Football and track, in particular, are sports where, “it takes a lot of kids,” Clark said.

Archer said it is unlikely that Heritage could offer football – even the eight-man variety – unless it was as part of a coop.

“As far as Heritage being able to support an 11-man football team on our own, I honestly don’t see that as a viable option,” Archer said. “We would need at least 35 to 40 students to participate/commit for us to ensure we could have a competitive JV and varsity team year in and year out.

“Those numbers just aren’t there for us. I fear the numbers wouldn’t be there for eight-man football either. I have reached out to other area teams who are choosing to play eight-man football. It would be a good fit for us, but again, I’m not certain we could get the amount of players needed.”

Archer envisioned that a minimum of 19 or 20 students would be needed to pursue an eight-man team independently and added, “I just don’t think we have those numbers.”

It would be easier for Heritage to participate in sports which are viewed more as individual sports, such as cross-country, golf and track, but that wouldn’t be a given either without the benefit of the coop.

“We would certainly have to evaluate the numbers and the financial aspects involved before we could move forward on our own,” Archer said.

She said there are pros and cons to participating in an athletic coop.

“I would like to say that the positives outweigh the negatives, but that’s not always true,” Archer said. “Some of the positives include more opportunities for activities. It definitely benefits both districts financially (shared expenses), sharing facilities and the relationships the students build when they come together as one.

“Unfortunately, there are just as many negatives such as transportation issues (including bus drivers, time on the bus, etc.) Much more effective communication is needed for the coop to be effective (which includes coaches, administrators, bus coordinators, secretaries, etc.), varying school calendars to work around, different school handbooks and Code of Conduct, and not having a ‘full’ commitment to the coop.

“If just one or two of the right people don’t support the coop, it can be detrimental and the coop can never be successful.”

Whatever choices Heritage needs to make in the future, Archer said they won’t be made in haste.

“We will certainly consider all input before a decision is made,” she said. “Our students and athletes have been, and always will be, our main priority and we will do what we can to provide them with the opportunities to be successful.”

The post Heritage explores options as Villa Grove ends co-op in several sports first appeared on SJO Daily.

Two juniors were recognized on the postseason Lincoln Prairie Conference all-league team.

Jake Eversole was a member of the six-player first team and Logan Nohren was chosen for the six-player second team.

Of the 12 total players selected to the first or second teams, five were juniors.

Eversole led the 21-11 Blue Devils with a 17.0 scoring average. He was second on the team with 75 assists.

Nohren averaged 13.7 points per game and led VG/H with a 9.8 rebounding average. Nohren ended with 24 assists.

Both Eversole and Nohren had two games where they eclipsed the 30-point mark in a game.

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The Blue Devils’ Kyleigh Block finished in a tie for 10th in the Class 2A three-point shooting contest on Thursday at Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena.

A total of 32 finalists participated at state.

Block, a junior, hit 8 of her 15 attempts at Redbird.

During the regular season, Block led the Blue Devils with 54 three-pointers. In her varsity career, Block has amassed 1,217 career points.

Also on Thursday, VG/H teammate Aliya Holloman was chosen for the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association all-state special mention team.

Holloman was the top scorer this season on a 25-6 team, averaging 20.0 points per game. She completed her prep career with 1,853 points, 599 of those coming this season.

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The Villa Grove/Heritage boys’ basketball season ended in Wednesday’s semifinal round with a 56-40 loss to the host Spartans.

After three lead changes in the early minutes, SJ-O shot ahead 5-4 as part of a 16-0 run. The Hawks were unable to recapture the lead although they pulled within six points (42-36) in the game’s final seven minutes before SJ-O went on a 14-4 run to end the game.

Jake Eversole nailed a team-high 16 points. Logan Nohren added 11 points.

On Tuesday, the Hawks picked a great time to earn their first overtime win of the season.

VG/H used the extra four minutes to power past Tolono Unity 67-63 and secure a spot in the Class 2A regional semifinals.

Eversole led the way for the Hawks, hitting the 30-point mark for the second game in a row. His 30 points included four three-point baskets.

Nohren added 16 points to the VG/H cause and Blake Smith contributed 12 points.

Unity led 15-6 after one quarter and 27-22 at halftime. VG/H took a 40-36 lead into the final period. The teams ended in a 55-55 deadlock after regulation.

Until Tuesday, VG/H was 0-2 for the season in overtime games.

VG/H ends the season with a 21-11 overall record. SJ-O snapped the team’s season-best five-game winning streak in the regionals.

For the season, Eversole was the team’s top scorer in 17 of the 23 games in which he played, including the final nine.

Nohren led – or shared – the team lead in scoring in nine games. Both Eversole and Nohren hit the 30-point mark in two games.

Blake Smith was the scoring leader in five games, Issac Mahoe in two games and Ierik Sorenson in one game.

Eversole (40), Smith (22), Mahoe (17) and Sam Reno (16) were the team’s top three-point marksmen.

Coach Corey White didn’t know what to expect coming into a season where four starters from the previous year’s 20-win team had to be replaced and one of those candidates – Ezra Ely – never played basketball this season following a football injury that sidelined him throughout most of the winter.

“For the first month, we were trying to see the best combination,” White said. “By mid-January we figured it out and took off from there (winning nine of 11 games before Wednesday).”

For the majority of the season, four juniors and senior Sorenson were in the starting lineup.

“We’ll have a nice nucleus back,” White said. “It’s great to have back-to-back 20-win seasons and we hope to make it three in a row next year.

“We’ll keep building and try to get to the point where we can play for a regional championship and win one.”

In addition to the underclassmen who played prominent roles this season, Ely is expected to return next year along with junior Nick Coffin, who suffered a season-ending injury in December.

In addition to Sorenson, Reno and Anthony Arbuckle were the other seniors who were a part of the Hawks’ regular rotation this season.

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St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ basketball took a double-digit lead in the first quarter of Wednesday’s Class 2A regional semifinal game in their gym and then had to hang on in the final period to collect a victory.

SJ-O opened up a 17-4 first-quarter lead and never lost the lead again despite Villa Grove/Heritage pulling within a 42-36 margin in the game’s last seven minutes.

The Spartans ended the game on a 14-4 run to capture a 56-40 triumph.

SJ-O (23-8) will take on state-ranked Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin (31-0) in Friday’s 7 p.m. regional championship game.

Freshman Ty Pence led the Spartans to the postseason win with 19 points and seven rebounds.

Jordan Kelly chipped in with 12 points. Payton Cain and Payton Grimsley each ended with eight points.

Other top rebounders for SJ-O were Grimsley with six and Kelly with five. Izard contributed four assists and two steals.

On Tuesday, the Spartans scored 20 of the 22 first-quarter points – after opening the game on a 9-0 run – and overpowered Westville 70-22 in a Class 2A regional tournament quarterfinal game in St. Joseph.

Chance Izard tallied a game-high 17 points for SJ-O and for the season has made a team-best 80 three-pointers.

Lukas Hutcherson hit a season-high 10 points and became the seventh squad member to post a double-digit scoring performance this season.

Three other Spartans finished with nine points apiece:  Dade Allinger, Cain and Pence.

Senior Brayden Weaver, who was injured in football and only returned to action in basketball on Senior Night, scored his first two points of the season.

Conner Hodge cleared a team-high seven rebounds. Cain and Drew Coursey handled six boards apiece.

Coursey added two assists as did Kelly.

Friday’s winner will earn a berth in the Pontiac Sectional and will face either Pontiac or Coal City at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

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The Hawks completed the regular season with a season-best four-game winning streak following Friday’s 56-34 triumph on the road against Sangamon Valley.

Jake Eversole hit a season’s high for points (32) and three-pointers (seven) to lead VG/H. Blake Smith contributed nine points and Logan Nohren added eight points.

The Hawks led 21-9 after one quarter and 36-13 at halftime.

The Hawks (20-10) are part of the seven-team Class 2A regional at St. Joseph. VG/H will play in the 7:30 p.m. game on Tuesday against Tolono Unity.

The post Heritage goes into IHSA play on four-game win streak first appeared on SJO Daily.

The Hawks built a 46-12 halftime lead on Wednesday in a makeup home game at Heritage against Argenta-Oreana and went on to overpower the Bombers 63-28.

Senior Sam Reno and junior Jake Eversole shared the VG/H scoring lead with 14 points apiece.

Reno reached his season’s high for points and also drained a season-high four three-point shots. Eversole has scored in double figures in 16 of the 20 games he has played.

Logan Nohren scored 12 points, Tanner Clodfelder contributed six points and teammates who chipped in with five points apiece were Anthony Arbuckle and Carson Howard.

The Hawks (19-10) conclude the regular season on Friday with a road game against Sangamon Valley. VG/H is attempting to reach the 20-win mark for the second consecutive season, a feat that last occurred 17 years ago.

Next week, VG/H is part of the seven-team Class 2A regional at St. Joseph. The Hawks will play in the 7:30 p.m. game on Tuesday against Tolono Unity.

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Jake Eversole hit the 20-point mark for the fourth time in his last five games, tossing in 23 on Friday in the Hawks’ 55-38 verdict over Blue Ridge at Heritage.

Eversole canned 23 points and raised his team-high total of three-pointers to 26 by sinking two of those shots.

Logan Nohren netted a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Carson Howard chipped in with six points.

VG/H led 15-13 after one quarter, but expanded its lead to 28-20 at halftime.

Nohren has amassed 278 rebounds in 28 games this season.

The Hawks (18-10) return to action on Friday when they end the regular season at Sangamon Valley.

The post Eversole’s 23-points lead Hawks over Blue Ridge first appeared on SJO Daily.

The regional drought continues for Villa Grove/Heritage.

The Blue Devils dropped a 50-34 decision to St. Joseph-Ogden in Thursday’s Class 2A girls’ basketball regional finals on the Spartans’ court.

The last regional crown for a Villa Grove girls’ basketball team came in 1999. For Heritage, the most-recent regional title was claimed in 2004.

Kyleigh Block scored a team-high 14 points for the Blue Devils. Aliya Holloman had nine points and Samantha Campbell totaled six points.

“We didn’t finish plays that we normally did all year,” VG/H coach Dan Sappenfield said. “We couldn’t find that offensive rhythm.”

VG/H trailed 24-18 at halftime, but rallied and took a 27-26 third-quarter lead.

Sappenfield prefers to look at the positives of the season as he reflects. The 25 wins are the most ever for a girls’ basketball team from Villa Grove.

“Twenty-two was the most before,” Sappenfield said. “It was an awesome season with a cohesive group that was connected all year.”

VG/H finished 8 of 15 from the free-throw line against the Spartans and was held to six second-half field goals.

Holloman and Jordyn Ray are the lone graduating seniors.

“Those two left it better than they found it, and that’s all you can ask,” Sappenfield said. “We have a nice nucleus back, but we will miss them a ton.”

VG/H (25-6) had its second seven-game winning streak ended in the regional finals by SJ-O (21-10).

In the pre-game individual three-point shooting contest, Block drained 11 of 15 attempts and was one of four athletes to advance to next week’s Paris Sectional. The other three qualifiers were from Clinton.

The post VGH girls’ basketball celebrates 25-win season first appeared on SJO Daily.

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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