Bulldogs Capture Regional Championship

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Published on February 26 2016 10:12 pm
Last Updated on February 27 2016 8:36 am
Written by Millie Lange

St. Anthony High School has Nokomis' number. In 2014, the Bulldogs upended Nokomis on their home floor in the regional semifinals, 48-35. This time around it was for the whole thing as St. Anthony took a 55-38 win Friday evening to claim the Class 1A Nokomis Regional championship.

St. Anthony drew first blood as Drew Gibson sank a basket and the two teams were off to the races. The score was knotted at 9-9 after the opening quarter and Gibson had seven of the nine points.

Nick Grunloh then nailed a three-pointer to start the second period and the Bulldogs pushed ahead, a lead that they were never to relinquish the rest of the way. Nokomis tied the score at 12-12 but that was the closest the Redskins were to come.

Grunloh knocked down another three-pointer and Cade Walsh hit a trifecta and the Bulldogs held a 21-16 halftime lead.

When the third period opened, Walsh again connected from the three-point arc and it was the start of four three-pointers in the period as Walsh connected again while Grunloh hit one and Gibson one. St. Anthony ripped ahead by 15 with around two minutes to play and finished with a 37-26 lead going into the final quarter.

The Bulldogs never let Nokomis back in the game, finishing with a 17 point victory.

Grunloh and Gibson tallied 17 points each for the Bulldogs while Walsh ended with 12 points, all coming from the three-point line. St.  Anthony hit 45 percent from the field, 71.4 percent at the line and were 52.9 percent from three-point land.

St. Anthony had a 22-18 rebound margin as Gibson pulled down six and James Kabbes had five. St. Anthony had only six turnovers in a well played contest, none in the final period.

Nokomis was led by 6-foot-5 sophomore Brayden Sabol with 17 points. He was the lone Nokomis player in double figures. Chris McGuire led in the rebound department with five.

The Redskins hit 39.3 percent from the field, 68.7 percent at the line and 25 percent from three-point range with only one of four. They had 10 turnovers. Nokomis finishes the season with a 20-10 mark.

St. Anthony (20-10) will now advance to the Red Hill (Bridgeport) Sectional and face Dieterich, a 48-43 winner over Oblong in its own regional championship, Wednesday at 7 p.m.

This was the second regional championship in the last three years for Coach Cody Rincker and the Bulldogs.

Class 1A Nokomis Regional

Championship

ST. ANTHONY (55)

Walsh 4-7 0-0 -- 12, Kabbes 1-5 4-4 6, Martelli 0-3 0-0 0, Grunloh 7-12 0-0 17, Gibson 5-8 6-10 17, Hartke 1-5 0-0 3, Niebrugge 0-0 -- 0, Levitt 0-0 0-0 0,  Nuxoll 0-0 0-0 0, Beesley 0-0 0-0 0, Deters 0-0 0-0 0, Lawrence 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18-40 FG (45.0) 10-14 FT (71.4)

NOKOMIS (38)

Herpstreith 1-5 4-4 7, Detmers 2-9 2-2 7, McGuire 0-3 1-4 1, Barnes 3-6 0-0 6, Sabol 7-8 3-4 17, Engelman 0-1 0-0 0,  Watson 0-0 0-0 0, Ransdell 0-0 0-0 0, Marley 0-0 0-0 0, Follis 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 13-33 FG (39.3) 11-16 FT (68.7)

St. Anthony           9    12    16    18    --    55

Nokomis                9      7    10    12    --    38

3-point FG -- St. Anthony 9-17 (Walsh 4-7, Martelli 0-1, Grunloh 3-6, Gibson 1-1, Hartke 1-2), Nokomis 1-4 (Detmers 1-3, McGuire 0-1).