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Daniels | Good opportunity to showcase girls' basketball in St. Joseph

matt daniels, the news-gazette, champaign-urbana, ill.
·5 min read

Dec. 16—ST. JOSEPH — Drew Arteaga sees opportunities and usually takes them.

It's why the 2011 St. Joseph-Ogden graduate enlisted in the Army National Guard in 2012 after his freshman year at Eastern Illinois University.

It's why he served our country during a nine-month deployment in Afghanistan — while also holding the role of Westville boys' basketball coach — that started in September 2019.

It's why he jumped at the chance to become the girls' basketball coach at his alma mater when the chance presented itself in the summer of 2021.

It's why he left his teaching job at SJ-O in 2022 to go into the business world, a move that now has working as an insurance agent with Country Financial in his hometown of St. Joseph.

And it's why he's hopeful this latest endeavor he's involved with — the inaugural Country Financial Shootout at SJ-O — becomes a yearly staple on the girls' basketball calendar.

"I really think it's time to start providing the same opportunities for girls' basketball that are there for boys," Arteaga said. "There are so many good women's basketball players out there that don't get the recognition they deserve. With college figures like Caitlin Clark leading the way, I think now is a great time for girls' basketball to really expand and take part in events like these."

The eight-team Country Financial Shootout tips off at 1 p.m. on Saturday at SJ-O, bringing in teams not only from central Illinois but southern Illinois to the Spartans' home gymnasium. Breese Central, the top-ranked team in Class 2A in the first Associated Press poll of the season, plays Pleasant Plains at 1 p.m. before Richland County meets Fieldcrest at 2:30 p.m. SJ-O hosts Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond at 4 p.m. before Mahomet-Seymour tangles with Eureka at 5:30 p.m. to conclude the event.

All eight teams will also have their junior varsity teams playing at SJ-O, with those games going on at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

SJ-O is no stranger to hosting basketball shootouts or tournaments, but mainly on the boys' side with the Toyota of Danville Classic and the Christie Clinic Shootout. The Spartans did hold a pre-Thanksgiving girls' basketball tournament for a few years, but Arteaga said after he met with SJ-O athletic director Justin Franzen to review the event once it ended in 2022, he wanted to do something different moving forward.

"We loved hosting our tournament, but we saw that we had a ton of multi-sport athletes that played both basketball and volleyball. We love that a majority of our kids are multi-sport athletes and that they are a part of a phenomenal volleyball program," Arteaga said. "However, with a good volleyball program comes postseason runs that reduced the number of full practices before we were playing in our first game in our tournament. So, when we looked at other options, we didn't see another tournament fitting in our schedule, but we really wanted to host something that our girls took a ton of pride in and allowed us to get another home game on the schedule.

"We thought a girls' shootout would be really cool because there are so few on the girls' side. We are really excited to be able to provide this shootout to our kids instead of the tournament. We have circled this shootout on our schedule since early November and our girls have made it a goal to win at home at their shootout."

SJ-O (3-5) is fresh off a 55-26 win on Thursday night against Bismarck-Henning/Rossville after a daunting early-season schedule has seen the Spartans lose to quality programs like Teutopolis, Peoria Richwoods and Maroa-Forsyth SJ-O will have to contend with an ALAH team that has a double-double threat every time the Knights take the court in senior Claire Seal. ALAH has won four of its last five games.

For the Spartans, seniors Addison Frick, Addy Martinie and Addi Seggebruch are the go-to scorers along with the clear leaders this season, as well.

"We have no idea where we will end up in February or how far we will go, but I do know if we continue to practice with the same intensity that we have for the last six weeks, I would hate to see us in February," said Arteaga, who has guided the Spartans to a pair of Class 2A regional championships in his first two seasons. "We are excited for this group and what they will accomplish when it is all said and done."

Coming up with what teams to have for the inaugural event was the next step for Arteaga and Franzen after they decided to go ahead with the shootout format.

"We wanted to find teams from various parts of the state and bring them to a neutral location to play," Arteaga said. "We wanted competitive matchups and for teams to play other teams that they normally don't get to see throughout the year, and I think we were able to do just that. We are pumped for the schools that could attend this year, and I think we will see high quality basketball games for our first year hosting this shootout."

Arteaga doesn't just want the Country Financial Shootout to stick around in 2023. Not only because in his relatively new job as an insurance agent, he's helping sponsor the event.

"As long as my boss doesn't fire me," Arteaga said with a laugh, "this shootout isn't going anywhere anytime soon."

Meaning Arteaga and the Spartans will get the opportunity on Saturday to showcase girls' basketball on a stage they normally don't get around these parts. It's a worthy goal that is worth area fans supporting.

"We want girls' basketball to start becoming more popular in our community and other local communities," Arteaga said. "I hope this is something that every program enjoys and something that other programs want to be a part of in the future."