November 8, 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

Brazelton, Roesch combine on no-hitter as SJO baseball wins its first six games

April 23, 2021

April 23, 2021

The St. Joseph-Ogden baseball team last played in the state tournament in 2017. With the way the Spartans have opened...

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,...

Gilliland coaching legacy strong at PVO

June 1, 2020

June 1, 2020

Coaching legacies can last decades for families. For the Gilliland family of rural Ogden, that notion has resonated for a...

Izard leads SJO boys’ basketball to Classic title

December 13, 2019

December 13, 2019

Defending its home court and winning its own tournament each season is always a main goal for the St. Joseph-Ogden...

Johnson exploring college choices

May 3, 2019

May 3, 2019

Caleb Johnson has options. The St. Joseph-Ogden senior committed to play baseball for William Penn University in January but the...

McKinney, Wedig lead SJO football past PBL before Grey Ghostsvisit tonight

September 4, 2026

September 4, 2026

The St. Joseph-Ogden football team has looked like it’s in midseason form before the calendarhad even flipped to September. Especially...

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...

Weaver, Miller help SJO football stay unbeaten

September 10, 2019

September 10, 2019

A close game in the fourth quarter ended the way the St. Joseph-Ogden High School football team wanted last Friday...

McCarty, Burnett sharp on the mound as SJO baseball pads win total

April 14, 2019

April 14, 2019

The wins keep adding up for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School baseball team. Much like the solid pitching by the...

Vogelsang resigns as SJO soccer coach; superintendent expresses frustration over ‘unfortunate’ situation

December 20, 2019

December 20, 2019

St. Joseph-Ogden High School will need a new soccer coach for the 2020 season. Dan Vogelsang has resigned from the...

SJO softball’s senior night set for Monday as Spartans try to end skid

May 6, 2019

May 6, 2019

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School softball team will try to end a two-game losing skid and score its first runs...

Get to know SJO Volleyball player Chloe harper

October 31, 2022

October 31, 2022

What do you think makes the team so successful? I think the motivation and fight our team has is what...

Opportunity for growth is outlook SJO boys’ track and field is taking amid pandemic

April 17, 2020

April 17, 2020

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School boys’ track and field team had competed in a few indoor meets in February and...

Spartans advance in sectional

June 10, 2021

June 10, 2021

—-ST. JOSEPH—-
There is an adage in baseball that a good offense wins games, but good defense wins championships. It does...

Poe named male student-athlete of the month for August

September 20, 2019

September 20, 2019

Photo by Betty Lake Photography Eric Poe is a leader. St. Joseph-Ogden cross country head coach Jason Retz said Poe...

Comments
Leave a Reply