The beginning of the season didn’t treat the St. Joseph-Ogden girls’ basketball team well.
The Spartans slogged through the first month of the season with a 2-5 record, ended December with a losing record and didn’t get above .500 until a home win in the second week of January against Prairie Central.
But once the Spartans got the winning formula down, it never fully left. So even while SJO’s season came to an end with a 35-21 loss to Peotone on Tuesday night in a Class 2A Iroquois West Sectional semifinal game, coach Drew Arteaga’s program remained one of the more consistent ones in the area, finishing with a 17-12 record that included a sterling 8-1 ledger in Illini Prairie Conference games and a second-place finish in the 10-team conference.
Especially considering this. On Dec. 27, in the first round of the State Farm Holiday Classic, the Spartans lost 50-18 to Kankakee Bishop McNamara. It was the lowest offensive output of the season for SJO and the the second-most lopsided loss.
Fast forward nearly two months later, though, and the Spartans defeated Bishop McNamara 45-41 last Thursday night to win a regional title in Clifton, the third straight season SJO has hoisted a regional plaque in the air and the 20th time overall in program history.
In the season-ending loss to Peotone — the second time the Blue Devlis had beaten the Spartans in two weeks after SJO closed the regular season with a 46-31 loss at Peotone on Feb. 7 — senior guard Addison Frick had a team-high nine points, with fellow senior Addy Martinie adding eight points. Sophomore forward Kayla Osterbur and sophomore guard Timera Blackburn-Kelley rounded out the scoring with two points apiece.
SJO showed early against Bishop McNamara the regional title game wouldn’t follow the same script as when the teams met at the State Farm Holiday Classic. SJO trailed 8-5 at the end of the first quarter, but went into halftime ahead 18-17 and held a narrow 29-28 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Martinie shined for SJO in the win, pouring in a game-high 21 points on the strength of five three-pointers, with 15 of her points in the second half.
Frick joined Martinie in double figures with 11 points, while sophomore guard Katie Ericksen (five points), junior forward Sara Kearney (four points), Blackburn-Kelley (three points) and sophomore guard Addison Brooks (one point) all contributed offensively.
The win against Bishop McNamara came after SJO opened the postseason with a 43-29 win against Prairie Central in a regional semifinal game in Clifton on Feb. 10 as SJO steadily built its lead throughout the night.
The Spartans led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter, 25-13 at halftime and 36-20 to start the fourth quarter.
Like has been the case most of the season, when the Spartans’ three-point shooting connected, good results followed. SJO drained nine three-pointers, accounting for 63 percent of its offense.
Martinie dropped in a game-high 20 points and sank four three-pointers to pace SJO. Brooks joined Martinie in double figures with 10 points, including eight points in the first quarter when she sank a pair of three-pointers. Frick added nine points on a trio of three-pointers, while Ericksen and Blackburn-Kelley each chipped in two points.
While the Spartans should return the majority of their roster next season, Arteaga will need to replace three key seniors in Martinie, Frick and Addison Seggebruch. All told, SJO compiled a 65-44 record the past four seasons.
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