Bulldogs Capture Girls NTC Tournament Championship

BEECHER CITY -- Effingham St. Anthony High School captured the championship of the National Trail Conference Girls Basketball Tournament Saturday.

The Bulldogs edged Altamont 47-42. St. Anthony leaped out to a 19-8 opening quarter lead as Meg Richards connected for seven points and Abby Weis chipped in with five.

But Altamont came back with a slight 8-7 second period to pull within 26-16 at halftime.

St. Anthony had a 13-11 third quarter but once again the Indians fought back and outdistanced St. Anthony 15-8 in the final period with Tinley Mette's seven points. But that opening quarter put the Indians under the gun and they couldn't make up that deficit.

The Bulldogs were led by Richards with 13 points, Weis with 12 and Sydney Gibson with 11. Altamont was led by Mette with 12 points.

"We got off to a great start on both ends of the floor," said St. Anthony Coach Bart Wiedman. "We just need to keep our composure down the stretch by being fundamentally sound. We did make free throws down the stretch which is a nice lift."

St. Anthony improves to 16-8.

Third place in the tournament went to Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg over Neoga, 76-64.

The two teams played to a 10-10 opening quarter tie before the Hatchets pushed ahead 37-22 at halftime. Neoga came back with a 22-9 third quarter to pull within 46-44 going into the final period. That's when WSS took off again with a 30-20 run for the victory.

Four players hit double figures for the Hatchets. Becca Schlechte led the way with 27 points while Megan Schlechte chipped in with 18, Katrina Davis 13 and Nikki Trussell 13.

Neoga was led by Blair Banning with 30 points and Jaycie Roy with 12.

In the consolation championship, North Clay (Louisville) defeated South Central 43-32.

North Clay held a 26-14 halftime lead. The Cougars came back with a 13-5 third period run to pull within 31-27 but North Clay got back on track with a 12-5 final period.

The Cardinals were led by Maddie Craig with 16 and Brilee Kessler with 10. South Central was led by Abby Hahn with 13.

In the seventh-place game, Brownstown/St. Elmo was a 43-31 winner over Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City.

The two teams were close with BSE leading only 17-16 at halftime. BSE then started to move away with a 15-11 third quarter and finished with an 11-5 final period.

Elizabeth Johnson led the way for the winners with 14 points. CHBC was led by Lauren Wojcik with eight.

Named to the NTC All-Conference Team were Megan Schlechte (Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg), Most Valuable Player; Abby Weis (St. Anthony), Leah Mayhaus (Altamont), Blair Banning (Neoga), Jaycie Roy (Neoga), Abbie Schmidt (St. Anthony), Shelby Stone (Altamont), Maddie Craig (North Clay), Megan Richards (St. Anthony), Abbie Hahn (South Central), Becca Schlechte (Windsor/Stew-Stras) and Taylor Jones (North Clay).

Championship Game

ALTAMONT (42)

Stone 2-1 -- 5, Duckwitz 3-0 -- 7, Grimsley 1-0 -- 2, McHugh 1-0 -- 3, Mette 3-6 -- 12, Goeckner 1-0 -- 3, Hosick 0-1 -- 1, Mayhaus 2-3 -- 7, Burns 1-0 -- 2. TOTALS 14 FG, 11 FT.

ST. ANTHONY (47)

Schmidt 1-0 -- 2, Kinkelaar 1-0 -- 2, Weis 4-2 -- 12, McHugh 0-0 -- 0, Gibson 4-3 -- 11, Richards 5-2 -- 13, Clausius 2-2 -- 6, McGuire 0-1 -- 1. TOTALS 17 FG, 10 FT.

Altamont                 8    8    11    15    --    42

St. Anthony          19    7     13     8    --    47

3-point FG -- Altamont 3 (Duckwitz 1, McHugh 1, Goeckner 1), St. Anthony 3 (Weis 2, Richards 1).

Third Place Game

WINDSOR/STEW-STRAS (76)

Davis 4-5 -- 13, M. Schlechte 6-6 -- 18, Davis 0-0 -- 0, B. Schlechte 8-11 -- 27, Schultz 0-0 -- 0, Everett 2-1 -- 5, Trussell 5-3 -- 13. TOTALS 25 FG, 26 FT.

NEOGA (64)

Ewing 2-0 -- 4, Titus 0-0 -- 0, Roy 3-4 -- 12, Banning 10-10 -- 30, Hill 3-0 -- 6, Estay 0-0 -- 0, Partlow 3-0 -- 8, Dryden 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 23 FG, 14 FT.

Windsor/Stew-Stras          10    27      9    30    --    76

Neoga                                 10    12    22    20    --    64

3-point FG -- Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg 0, Neoga 4 (Roy 2, Partlow 2).

Consolation Championship

SOUTH CENTRAL (32)

Hahn 3-6 -- 13, Hilmes 0-0 -- 0, Hall 1-0 -- 2, Kollman 1-0 -- 2, Wilkins 3-1 -- 7, Sigrist 3-2 -- 8. TOTALS 11 FG, 9 FT.

NORTH CLAY (43)

Kessler 4-0 -- 10, Fender 2-0 -- 4, Fleener 1-0 -- 2, Coble 1-0 -- 2, Jones 3-2 -- 9, Craig 7-2 -- 16. TOTALS 18 FG, 4 FT.

South Central           6      8    13     5    --    32

North Clay              16    10     5    12    --    43

3-point FG -- South Central 1 (Hahn 1), North Clay 3 (Kessler 2, Jones 1).

Seventh Place

BSE (43)

Scholes 0-2 -- 2, Johnson 6-0 -- 14, Da. Shelton 4-1 -- 9, De. Shelton 1-3 -- 5, Baron 3-1 -- 7, Oberlink 0-2 -- 2, Howard 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 16 FG, 9 FT.

CHBC (31)

Robertson 3-1 -- 7, Wheeler 1-0 -- 3, Persinger 0-0 -- 0, Lorton 1-0 -- 2, Moon 0-0 -- 0, Smith 1-0 -- 2, Johnson 0-0 -- 0, Oldham 2-1 -- 5, Wojcik 4-0 -- 8, Endsley 0-4 -- 4. TOTALS 12 FG, 6 FT.

BSE             8    9    15    11    --    43

CHBC          8    8    10      5    --    31

3-point FG -- Brownstown/St. Elmo 2 (Johnson 2),  Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City 1 (Wheeler 1).