St. Anthony Falls To Patoka In Sectional Title Game

BRIDGEPORT -- Shooting only 19.2 percent in the first half, Effingham St. Anthony couldn't seem to find the range and trailed Patoika 26-18 at halftime of the Class 1A Bridgeport (Red Hill) Sectional championship game Friday evening.

The Bulldogs put up a fight in the final quarter after trailing by 13 to pull within four points, but the Warriors connected on their free throws and claimed a 64-58 win to advance to the Carbondale (SIU) Super-Sectional Tuesday.

"We just couldn't buy a basket," said St. Anthony Coach Cody Rincker. "We didn't do a good job of driving to the middle. Shooting only 19 percent didn't help."

St. Anthony held a 12-9 opening quarter lead but Patoka came back and with 5:04 remaining in the second quarter, Patoka's Garrett Belcher knocked down a three-pointer and Jared Cain put in a free throw to tie the score. Patoka moved ahead 16-13 on another three-pointer by Belcher who finished hitting three trifectas in the quarter.

St. Anthony knotted the score at 16-16 on a three-pointer by Nick Grunloh with 3:42 before the half. But a basket by J. Cain gave Patoka a lead it wouldn't relinquish again. Patoka held a 26-18 halftime lead.

Patoka continued to knock in baskets, shooting 66.6 percent in the third period and nailing four of four free throws to lead 39-32 going into the final quarter.

Although the Bulldogs pulled within four points in the final quarter, it was with only 19.3 ticks left on the clock and the Warriors connected on free throws when they had to.

J. Cain, a junior, tallied 27 points to lead the winners, going over 2,000th points in his career so far. Belcher chipped in with 15 and Dylan Back added 12. The Warriors hit 21 of 27 free throws, 13 coming in the final period.

St. Anthony was led by Drew Gibson with 21 points, nine coming in the final quarter run. Grunloh chipped in with 13 while Cade Walsh added 12, all on four three-pointers.

The Bulldogs finished hitting 31 percent from the field while Patoka connected on 50%.

"Patoka has improved over the last time we played them," said Rincker. "Hats off to them. I think if we could have knocked down a few shots early and gotten a good start it would have given us confidence."

The Bulldogs will lose six seniors to graduation. They are Chandler Martelli, James Kabbes, Nick Grunloh, Jeff Niebrugge, Jay Niebrugge, and Kyle Hartke.

"This senior group has been a privilege to be around," said Rincker. "They proved that again tonight because they played until the last buzzer."

St. Anthony ends the season with a 20-11 record. Patoka advances with a 24-11 mark and will face Woodlawn, a 67-48 winner over Christopher in the Junction Gallatin County Sectional at 6 p.m. Tuesday at SIU Arena.

Class 1A Bridgeport Sectional

Championship

ST. ANTHONY (58)

Walsh 4-12 0-0 12, Kabbes 3-7 0-0 6, Martelli 1-8 1-2 3, Grunloh 4-11 2-4 13, Gibson 5-12 9-10 21, Hartke 1-8 0-0 3, Niebrugge 0-0 0-0 0, Deters 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18-58 FG (31.0) 12-16 FT (75.0)

PATOKA (64)

S. Cain 1-3 2-2 5, Belcher 5-10 1-2 15, J. Cain 8-15 11-15 27, Cobb 1-2 1-2 3, Back 2-4 6-6 12, O'Brien 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS 18-26 FG (50.0) 21-27 FT (77.7)

St. Anthony            12     6    14    26    --    58

Patoka                    9    17    13    25    --    64

3-point FG -- St. Anthony 10-33 (Walsh 4-12, Martelli 0-1, Grunloh 3-7, Gibson 2-7, Hartke 1-6), Patoka 7-12 (S. Cain 1-1, Belcher 4-7, Back 2-4). Total Rebounds -- St. Anthony 29 (Gibson 9, Kabbes 8, Grunloh 7), Patoka 25 (Belcher 11, Back 7). Turnovers -- St. Anthony 11, Patoka 17. Technical Foul -- St. Anthony.