South Central Upends Altamont, St. Anthony Downs Neoga at NTC Tourney; Other Area Scores

The South Central Cougars upended the Altamont Indians 59-50 in overtime, while the St. Anthony Bulldogs held serve with a 39-25 win over the Neoga Indians in Wednesday action at the 80th Annual National Trail Conference Tournament. The early part of the action was heard on 979XFM before the station was knocked off the air, so the remaining action was heard on KJ Country 102.3. We also continued to offer live audio and video streaming of the action as we plan to do all week long.

Some notes about the video from Wednesday: Video is broken into two parts, see below for part 2. When 979 XFM went off the air during the game, our video continues, but there's static for the audio until we moved things over to KJ Country 102.3. Also, at the beginning of Part 2, there's several minutes of silence due to our software crashing

South Central burst out in front early in their contest with Altamont, leading 18-6 after one quarter, but Altamont began a comeback in the second period and pulled to within 26-19 at halftime. An 18-17 Altamont edge in the third period still left the Indians down 43-37 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Indians eventually tied the game. However, Altamont could never take the lead and the game went to overtime tied 45-45.

South Central, after being held to two points in the fourth quarter, exploded for 14 points in the four-minute overtime period and posted the nine-point win, the first in four games against Altamont this season.

South Central hit 60% of its shots, making 21 of 35 including 11 of 11 over the middle two quarters. The Cougars made 11 of 18 foul shots, overcame 19 turnovers and grabbed a whopping 35 rebounds while making three of seven three-point shots.

Altamont struggled from the field and at the line, making 20 of 60 shots and hitting on just eight of 16 foul shots. The Indians took care of the ball, though, committing just five turnovers in the game and none in the third or fourth quarters. Altamont did have just 21 rebounds, though, and made just one of 15 three-point shots.

Noah Powless paced South Central with 15 points and eight rebounds, Brett Harmeier scored 13 points and grabbed six boards, and Dre Hill scored 11 points and pulled down six rebounds. Powless and Hill combined for 11 of the 14 overtime points. Evan Langley, despite fouling out halfway through the fourth quarter, finished with 11 points. Also for the Cougars: Jace Wilkins and Dylan Brauer each scored four points.

For Altamont, Adam Mayhaus led the way with 16 points, Ryan Armstrong had 13 points and Thomas Caravello off the bench scored 12 points. Also for Altamont: Justin Goeckner three points, and Klaiton Wolff, Brandon Runge and Brandon Hosick two points apiece.

South Central improved to 8-12 and will play St. Anthony in the championship semifinal game Friday night. Altamont slipped to 13-6 and will take on Neoga in the consolation semifinal game at 6:15pm Friday.

NTC Tournament

ALTAMONT (50)

Mayhaus 5-6 -- 16, Armstrong 6-1 -- 13, Caravello 5-0 -- 12, Goeckner 1-1 -- 3, Hosick 1-0 -- 2, Runge 1-0 -- 2, K. Wolff 1-0 -- 2, E. Wolff 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 20 FG, 8 FT.

SOUTH CENTRAL (59)

Harmeier 3-5 -- 13, Hill 3-5 -- 12, Wilkins 2-0 -- 4, Langley 4-3 -- 11, Riley 0-0 -- 0, Brauer 2-0 -- 4, Powless 7-1 -- 15. TOTALS 21 FG, 14 FT.

Altamont                       6    13    18     8       5    --    50

South Central            18      8    17     2    14    --    59

3-point FG -- Altamont 2 (T. Caravello 2), South Central 3 (Harmeier 2, Hill 1).

In the other contest, St. Anthony broke open a close game with a strong third period to post the win. 

Neoga took a quick 5-0 lead in the game before St. Anthony regrouped and held a 10-8 lead after one quarter, and then extended the lead to 19-15 at halftime. The third quarter was the difference, though, as the Bulldogs outscored the Indians 10-2 in the period to extend their lead to 29-17. The Bulldogs posted a 10-8 edge in the fourth quarter to post the 14-point win.

Some notes about the video from Wednesday: When 979 XFM went off the air during the game, our video continues, but there's static for the audio until we moved things over to KJ Country 102.3. Also, at the beginning of Part 2, there's several minutes of silence due to our software crashing

St. Anthony made 17 of 38 shots, 44%, and made four of seven foul shots. The Bulldogs turned the ball over 10 times and grabbed 16 rebounds while making just one of seven three point attempts.

Neoga made 42% of its shots, 10 of 24, and made both of their just two foul shots. The Indians turned the ball over 23 times and grabbed 19 rebounds while making three of seven three point shots.

No one scored in double figures in the game. For St. Anthony: Andrew Gardewine nine, Nick Grunloh eight, Kyle Hartke six, Connor Greene four, Derek Rios four, Zach Gardewine two, James Kabbes two, Jeff Niebrugge two and Chandler Martelli two. For Neoga: Luke Baker eight, Ronnie Kersey seven, Corey Kersey four, Trevor Moore four, and Caleb Abernathy two.

St. Anthony improved to 13-7 on the season, while Neoga slipped to 3-19.

NTC Tournament

ST. ANTHONY (39)

Greene 2-0 -- 4, Kabbes 1-0 -- 2, Hartke 3-0 -- 6, Martelli 1-0 -- 2, Z. Gardewine 1-0 -- 2, Grunloh 3-1 -- 8,  A. Gardewine 3-3 -- 9, Niebrugge 1-0 -- 2, Rios 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 17 FG, 4 FT.

NEOGA (25)

Pygott 0-0 -- 0, Baker 3-0 -- 8, Abernathy 1-0 -- 2, C. Kersey 2-0 -- 4, Ramert 0-0 -- 0, R. Kersey 3-0 -- 7, Moore 1-2 -- 4. TOTALS 10 FG, 2 FT.

St. Anthony            10    9    10    10    --    39

Neoga                        8    7       2      8    --    25

3-point FG -- St. Anthony 1 (Grunloh 1), Neoga 3 (Baker 2, R. Kersey 1).

Tonight at Altamont, the first night of tournament semifinals. At 6:15pm, Beecher City will take on Cowden-Herrick in consolation bracket semifinal action, followed about 7:45pm by championship bracket semifinal action between Dieterich and St. Elmo/Brownstown. Hear all of the action on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.  

In other games Wednesday:

HIGH SCHOOL

BOYS BASKETBALL

Little Illini Conference Tournament

At Newton

Robinson 53, Olney 51

Paris 56, Red Hill (Bridgeport) 43

FRESHMEN/SOPHOMORE

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Mount Vernon 26, St. Anthony 23

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

BASKETBALL

Class 7-2A Effingham St. Anthony Regional

St. Anthony 53, Altamont 40 (championship)

Class 7-2A Assumption Central A&M Regional

Central A&M 43, Ramsey 17

Nokomis 48, Findlay Okaw Valley 18

Class 7-3A Casey-Westfield Regional

Marshall 40, Robinson Nuttall 28 (championship)

Class 7-4A Tolono Unity Regional

Mattoon 41, Danville North Ridge 31 (championship)