April 25, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Wells, defense shine as balanced SJO girls’ basketball team wins regional title

The high school girls’ basketball season has taken St. Joseph-Ogden High School all across the state of Illinois.

With plenty of wins to follow for the Spartans during the past three months.

The latest road trip — and most important one of the season — SJO will take will see the program travel north on Interstate 57 on Tuesday. With a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.

SJO (23-7) will face Prairie Central (24-8) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in a Class 2A Peotone Sectional semifinal game. If the Spartans can beat the Hawks — they already own a 69-48 win against Prairie Central back on Jan. 10 in St. Joseph — then SJO will advance to play either Fieldcrest (31-2) or Paxton-Buckley-Loda (12-17) at 7 p.m. on Thursday in a sectional championship game in Peotone.

The latest game to transpire for SJO is taking place after another superb performance by the Spartans allowed them to celebrate a 2A regional championship this past Friday night. SJO easily defeated Kankakee Bishop McNamara 51-17 on Bishop McNamara’s home court, sealing the 18th regional title in program history and fourth in the last five seasons.

Defense propelled the Spartans past the Fighting Irish, with SJO holding Bishop McNamara scoreless in the first quarter to take an 11-0 lead. The Spartans’ offense picked up production in the second quarter, taking a convincing 33-7 lead into halftime and then holding a 49-15 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Balanced offense once again paced the Spartans in their regional title win.
Taylor Wells scored a game-high 10 points for SJO, with Payton Jacob not far behind with nine points. Ella Armstrong and Peyton Jones each supplied eight points, while Addison Frick tallied seven points and Ashlyn Lannert chipped in five points.
Alyssa Hamilton and Alison Kearney also got in on the offensive fun, each scoring two points apiece.

Banner
Related Posts

Jacob, Cramer and Barnes help SJO girls’ basketball top Prairie Central

January 20, 2020

January 20, 2020

Needing a big win, the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team delivered last Thursday night. The Spartans stopped a...

Frick, Brooks deliver, but SJO girls’ basketball loses twice

January 16, 2023

January 16, 2023

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team kept it close in its two Illini Prairie Conference games last week,...

5 questions with RYKER LOCKHART

March 1, 2024

March 1, 2024

How would you describe your team? Tight knit and together What is the biggest lesson you have learned this season?Don’t...

Jones named SJO student-athlete of the month

November 18, 2020

November 18, 2020

Helene Jones likes a challenge. Jones, the October St. Joseph-Ogden student-athlete of the month, enjoys math because it challenges her....

Expectations remain high for SJO baseball in 2019 season

March 28, 2019

March 28, 2019

For a program that has accomplished everything in the last decade except win a state championship, the goals veteran St....

Smith, Wertz shine as SJO football wins homecoming game

September 26, 2022

September 26, 2022

It was a happy homecoming for the St. Joseph-Ogden football team.And with the Spartans defeating Nokomis 42-12 this past Friday...

SJO baseball ups win streak to 13 games and Haley nets 400th career victory

April 26, 2023

April 26, 2023

The path to 20 wins each season can take high school baseball teams on a different path. Maybe the majority...

Getting to know SJO football Captain Aidan McCorkle

October 29, 2022

October 29, 2022

We asked the SJO football team captains five questions. Here are Aidan McCorkle’s responses. Why is being a team captain...

McKinney, Wedig help SJO football pull away from Prairie Central

September 5, 2025

September 5, 2025

Big offensive plays are bound to happen with the St. Joseph-Ogden football team. The Spartans, simply put, have too many...

Postseason play begins for St. Joseph Middle School baseball, softball teams

September 22, 2020

September 22, 2020

Whether the St. Joseph Middle School would have baseball and softball teams this school year was uncertain. All because of...

Blackburn soars on Friday nights

September 6, 2019

September 6, 2019

Kaylee Blackburn isn’t afraid of heights. In fact, the St. Joseph-Ogden High School cheerleader is known as a high-flyer. Blackburn,...

SJO cross-country teams eager to start season off and running

August 31, 2019

August 31, 2019

The end goal for every high school cross-country runner in Illinois is to end the season racing at Detweiller Park...

Get to know SJO volleyball player Shayne Immke

October 31, 2022

October 31, 2022

What do you think makes the team so successful? We all have such amazing talent and team chemistry and we...

SJO Board to discuss basketball at November meeting

November 4, 2020

November 4, 2020

Basketball isn’t a sure thing at St. Joseph-Ogden High School this winter. The district will have to decide whether to...

SJO soccer to play for regional title on Wednesday

October 23, 2024

October 23, 2024

The most successful St. Joseph-Ogden soccer season in program history is trying to addanother chapter of excellence this week. The...

Comments
Leave a Reply