SJO girls’ basketball embarks upon IHSA postseason play

Throw the records out the window.
Take it one game at a time.
Survive and advance.
Pick any well-used cliche, and it’s applicable at this time of the year for high school girls’ basketball teams across the state of Illinois.

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team embarks upon IHSA postseason play on Monday night, with the top-seeded Spartans (14-15) taking on No. 7 Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley in a regional semifinal game that tips at 6 p.m. in Gibson City on the Falcons’ home court.

Fourth-seeded Hoopeston Area and sixth-seeded Paxton-Buckley-Loda play at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the second regional semifinal game, with the two regional semifinal winners meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in the regional championship game in Gibson City.

But before the postseason tips off for the Spartans, here’s how the final two weeks of the regular season ended:

Spartans fall in regular-season finale
SJO sustained a 46-32 home loss to Peotone this past Wednesday night in a nonconference game that doubled as the regular-season finale for the Spartans.

Peotone led 15-8 at the end of the first quarter and 21-17 at halftime before expanding its lead to 39-23 to start the fourth quarter.

Senior guard Taylor Hug and junior forward Addy Martinie each scored nine points to pace SJO, with Hug connecting on a trio of three-pointers.
Junior guard Addison Frick added seven points, while freshman Katie Ericksen (three points), senior guard Kaytlyn Baker (two points) and junior forward Ellie Ward (two points) rounded out the scoring against the state-ranked Blue Devils.

SJO and Peotone could meet again in the postseason. Peotone is in the Prairie Central Regional and the winner of that regional meets the winner of the GCMS Regional in a sectional semifinal game in Coal City on Feb. 21.

Defense lifts SJO to road win
The Spartans concluded Illini Prairie Conference play with a 39-23 win at Paxton-Buckley-Loda last Monday night.

SJO held an 8-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and upped its advantage to 19-11 at halftime before the Panthers trimmed the deficit to 27-22 to start the fourth quarter. But the Spartans limited PBL to only one free throw in the final eight minutes to come away with a double-digit victory.

Martinie scored a team-high 13 points for SJO and Frick joined her in double figures with 11 points. Junior guard Addie Seggebruch added six points, Hug contributed five points and Baker chipped in four points.

Spartans narrowly lose to Rockets
A big game from Martinie and a big comeback in the fourth quarter nearly propelled SJO to a win at Unity on Feb. 2.

But the Rockets ended up with the Illini Prairie win, prevailing 47-46 in Tolono.
Martinie scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Spartans, with 13 of those points coming in the second half.

SJO led Unity 12-11 at the end of the first quarter, but trailed 25-19 at halftime and 35-29 to start the fourth quarter.

Hug added nine points on a trio of three-pointers, with Frick supplying eight points. Seggebruch (four points) and Ericksen (two points) also contributed.

SJO cruises by Rantoul
A strong second half allowed the Spartans to post a comfortable 53-23 home win against Rantoul on Jan. 30.
SJO only led 9-7 at the end of the first quarter and 19-13 at halftime against the Eagles in the Illini Prairie game before outscoring Rantoul 16-6 in the third quarter to go ahead 35-19.
Hug scored a game-high 12 points and sank four three-pointers to pace the Spartans. Seggebruch joined Hug in double figures with 10 points.
Ericksen and freshman guard Timera Blackburn each finished with eight points, while Baker (five points), Frick (five points), freshman forward Addie Brooks (three points) and senior guard Olivia Baltzell (two points) also got in on the fun.