May 1, 2025 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Way to go, SJO: Spartans’ girls’ basketball heading to state!

In a season full of signature wins, the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team delivered another one on Monday night.


And it was a historic one, too.

The Spartans defeated Chicago Christian 58-35 to win the Class 2A Pontiac Super-Sectional, clinching the program’s second-ever trip to the state tournament, but also securing the program’s first-ever state trophy in the process.


The 2006-07 team advanced to the state quarterfinals in Class A during the last year of the two-class system, but lost 56-39 to eventual state champion Breese Central in the Elite Eight.


The 2018-19 team will come home with no worse than a fourth-place trophy once the season concludes on Saturday night.


SJO (28-4) faces Teutopolis (31-4) in a state semifinal game at 7:15 p.m. on Friday night at Redbird Arena in Normal. Chicago Marshall (26-8) plays Hillsboro (30-5) in the first state semifinal game at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The third-place game is set for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, with the state championship game at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday.


SJO rode the efforts of seniors Bree Trimble and Peyton Crowe on Monday night in Pontiac to seal the historic win.


Trimble dropped in a game-high 26 points, while Crowe tallied 12 points to complement Trimble’s big night. SJO led 12-10 at the end of the first quarter and 25-18 at halftime before expanding its lead to 42-27 to start the fourth quarter.


Senior Maclayne Taylor added six points, while sophomore Payton Vallee and freshman Payton Jacob each had four points. Junior Hannah Dukeman, junior Katie Cramer and freshman Ashlyn Lannert each had two points to round out the scoring.


SJO will face Teutopolis for the second time this season after the Wooden Shoes handed the Spartans their first defeat of the season, with Teutopolis winning 72-39 on its home court on Dec. 6. But since the Spartans lost 50-46 to Kankakee Bishop McNamara on Dec. 29 in the third-place game of the small-school State Farm Holiday Classic, second-year coach Kevin Taylor’s program has won 15 straight games.

On Friday, they’ll get another chance to not only add to that win streak, but also add to their successful and ground-breaking season.



*Photo credit to Julie Trimble.

Banner
Related Posts

SJO baseball letter and award winners

June 7, 2022

June 7, 2022

Tyler Altenbaumer, Sr.Andrew Beyers, Sr.Hayden Brazelton, Sr.Austin Cotter, Sr.Avian Gerdes, Sr.Nolan Grindley, Sr.Coby Miller, Sr.Ramsey Primmer, Sr.Griffin Roesch, Sr.Maddux Carter,...

Heritage softball hires new coach

March 8, 2019

March 8, 2019

Greg Immke is no longer the Heritage softball coach. The Heritage Board of Education accepted his resignation at their February...

Mabry clocks top time for SJO boys’ cross-country during Spartan Classic victory

October 1, 2021

October 1, 2021

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School boys’ cross-country team has already run on a variety of courses during the first month...

Meyer, Knott shine in Rantoul for Spartans

April 10, 2019

April 10, 2019

Two trips to Rantoul in a three-day span produced some quality performances from the St. Joseph-Ogden High School boys’ track...

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...

Groundbreaking takes place at new baseball field

April 9, 2021

April 9, 2021

A ground breaking ceremony took place this week at the new home of the Royal Giants and the St. Joseph-Ogden...

SJO girls’ track and field wins eighth straight sectional title, qualifies 13 athletes for state

May 13, 2019

May 13, 2019

Winning sectional titles and sending multiple athletes to the state meet. That’s the standard the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’...

Frick, Hug and Martinie excel as SJO girls’ basketball opens new year with win

January 9, 2023

January 9, 2023

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team has shown flashes of its potential thisseason. Just not enough on a...

Armstrong, Cramer help lead SJO girls’ basketball in two wins

February 1, 2020

February 1, 2020

Postseason play is right around the corner for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team. And the Spartans continue...

Thanks for the memories

November 9, 2019

November 9, 2019

We asked the St. Joseph-Ogden Cross Country team to share their favorite memories from the 2019 season. Here are their...

Hamilton, Taylor spark SJO girls’ track and field at Sages Invitational

April 29, 2019

April 29, 2019

The regular season is winding down for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ track and field team. And the Spartans...

SJO girls’ basketball stays close, but loses first two games

November 27, 2023

November 27, 2023

Playing in the Illini Prairie Conference means the St. Joseph-Ogden girls’ basketball team will get tested during conference games each...

Get to know SJO Volleyball Player Mikyla Haley

October 31, 2022

October 31, 2022

What do you think makes the team so successful? I think the way our team is so close is what...

Wesley showcases love of baseball with Spartans, travel teams

April 26, 2019

April 26, 2019

Sam Wesley has been playing his favorite sport since he was very young. Wesley, a junior at St. Joseph-Ogden High...

Smith, Spartans on roll entering playoffs

October 29, 2022

October 29, 2022

Hosting home football playoff games became common for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School football team in the past. In fact,...

Comments
Leave a Reply