Close games. Again. Clutch moments. Again.
The small-school State Farm Holiday Classic had all of these attributes — and more — for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School basketball team last week.
And the Spartans prevailed more often than not in securing a fifth-place finish at the 16-team event held in Bloomington-Normal.
SJO defeated Bloomington Central Catholic 43-39 in the fifth-place game last Saturday at Bloomington High School, which came after the Spartans beat 43-35 earlier on Saturday in a fifth-place semifinal game at Normal Community High School.
SJO suffered only one loss at the tournament, a 41-35 setback to Normal U-High in the quarterfinals last Friday night at Bloomington High School, and opened up its holiday tournament stay with a 46-42 overtime win in first-round action against Kankakee Bishop McNamara last Thursday night at Normal Community High School.
Who stepped up for SJO (13-4) during its four games in three days? Plenty of contributors.
Senior guard Katie Carmer hit all six of her free throw attempts in the fourth quarter of the win against Bloomington Central Catholic en route to nine points. Sophomore center Taylor Wells paced SJO with 10 points in the fifth-place game win, while sophomore guard Payton Jacob also added nine points.
Nine different SJO players made at least one basket in the fifth-place semifinal win against Annawan, with sophomore Ashlyn Lannert scoring a team-high 12 points. Senior forward Taylor Barnes (seven points), Wells (six points) and junior forward Payton Vallee (five points) also contributed.
SJO enjoyed a 17-8 led at the end of the first quarter against Normal U-High and led 26-16 at halftime before the Pioneers outscored the Spartans 13-2 in the third quarter to take a 29-28 lead into the fourth quarter and then hold on for the win.
Vallee scored a team-high nine points for SJO, while Jacob had six points and sophomore guard Ella Armstrong tossed in five points.
SJO, which led 21-16 at halftime against Kankakee Bishop McNamara only to trail 31-30 entering the fourth quarter, held the Irish scoreless in the overtime period to earn its first win at the tournament.
Lannert poured in a team-high 16 points, while Barnes (10 points), Jacob (seven points) and sophomore guard Abby Behrens (five points) all made critical buckets.
Notes: SJO is back in action at 11:30 a.m. this Saturday when it hosts Chillicothe Illinois Valley Central in the Illini Prairie Conference opener for the Spartans. League play resumes next week, with SJO hosting St. Thomas More at 7 p.m. on Jan. 6 before playing at Olympia at 7 p.m. on Jan. 9.
— Prior to its stay at the State Farm Holiday Classic, SJO stayed busy with a grueling four-game nonconference stretch against high-quality opponents from Dec. 12-17. The Spartans suffered a 48-31 home loss to Teutopolis on Dec. 12, with Armstrong scoring a team-high nine points in a rematch of last season’s Class 2A state semifinal game between the two teams. SJO then lost 62-27 at home to Morton on Dec. 14 against a program that has won four of the last five 3A state championships. Lannert paced SJO with 10 points against the Potters.
SJO ended its two-game losing skid on Dec. 16 with a 58-47 home win against Paxton-Buckley-Loda. Behrens (12 points), junior guard Atleigh Hamilton (12 points), Armstrong (11 points) and Lannert (11 points) all reached double figures for the Spartans. SJO followed up its win against PBL with a 58-40 victory against Urbana on Dec. 17 as Jacob scored a career-high 19 points and Armstrong wound up with 14 points to lead the way.
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