St. Anthony in NTC Tourney Championship Game

The St. Anthony Bulldogs moved into the championship game of the 84th Annual National Trail Conference Basketball Tournament with a convincing 60-25 win over the North Clay Cardinals Thursday night.

Earlier Thursday, South Central defeated Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City 58-28 and St. Elmo/Brownstown got by Windsor/Stew-Stras 60-55. 

All three games were heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com and were live streamed on our YouTube channel.

ST. ANTHONY 60, NORTH CLAY 25

Bulldogs Coach Cody Rincker said he challenged his club that they hadn't won anything this season; no tournament titles and 14 wins. The squad responded with perhaps their best performance of the season.

St. Anthony got after North Clay defensively from early on and took over the game early, leading 16-4 after one quarter and 31-8 at halftime. The Bulldogs outscored the Cardinals 29-17 in the second half to win by 35 points. This, against a North Clay team that has won 17 games this season.

St. Anthony held the Cardinals to 14 shots in the first half, and just three baskets.

Jaccob Dust and Kaden Fearday shared scoring honors with 16 points apiece. Also for the Bulldogs: Jack Hoene 8, Aaron Webb 6, Luke Ludwig 5, Alex Brandenburger 3, and Logan Antrim, Quentin Milleville and Grant Nuxoll 2 each.

St. Anthony shot 43% from the field, 23 of 53 including 5 of 18 threes. The Bulldogs made 9 of 13 foul shots, turned the ball over just seven times, and grabbed 32 rebounds.

North Clay made just 10 of 36 shots, a hair under 30% including 3 of 13 threes. The Cardinals had just two foul shots and made them, turned the ball over 17 times and pulled down just 17 rebounds.

Scoring for North Clay: Aleon Rinehart and Kaden Turner 5 each, Nick Miller and Trey Smith 4 each, Blake Noll 3, and Tyson Jones and Luke Fleener 2 each.

St. Anthony improved to 15-7 on the season and will play at 7:30pm Saturday for the conference tournament title. They will play the winner of Friday night's semifinal game between Altamont and Dieterich. North Clay is now 17-6 on the season and will play the Altamont/Dieterich loser at 2:30pm Saturday for third place.

Here's ticket information for Bulldogs fans for Saturday night's game: tickets will be sold Friday from 8am to 3pm, and Saturday from 10am to noon at St. Anthony High School. Any unsold tickets would be returned to Altamont Community High School and sold at the door.

NTC Tournament

Game Eight

NORTH CLAY (25)

Jones 1-0 -- 2, Fleener 1-0 -- 2, Ballard 0-0 -- 0, Bible 0-0 -- 0, Holkenbrink 0-0 -- 0, Smith 1-2 -- 4, Turner 2-0 -- 5, Rinehart 2-0 -- 5, Noll 1-0 -- 3, Miller 2-0 -- 4, Bailey 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 10 FG, 2 FT.

ST. ANTHONY (60)

Hoene 3-1 -- 8, Milleville 1-0 -- 2, Brandenburger 1-0 -- 3, Ludwig 3-1 -- 7, Webb 2-2 -- 6, Elder 0-0 -- 0, Fearday 5-1 -- 14, Wall 0-0 -- 0, Moore 0-0 -- 0, Walk 0-0 -- 0, Walsh 0-0 -- 0, Croy 0-0 -- 0, Nuxoll 1-0 -- 2, Antrim 1-0 -- 2, Dust 6-4 -- 16. TOTALS 23 FG, 9 FT.

North Clay                4      4    10    7    --    25

St. Anthony            16    15    20    9    --    60

3-point FG -- North Clay 3 (Turner 1, Rinehart 1, Noll 1), St. Anthony 5 (Fearday 3, Brandenburger 1, Hoene 1).

ST. ELMO/BROWNSTOWN 60, WINDSOR/STEW-STRAS 55

This might have been the most exciting game of the tournament to this point.

St. Elmo/Brownstown briefly took charge of the game when they grabbed a 13-point lead, but Windsor/Stew-Stras surged back to tie the game before the Eagles made their foul shots down the stretch. SEB led 16-9 after one quarter and 32-19 at halftime. The Hatchets pulled back to within 43-40 after three quarters before the Eagles posted a 17-15 fourth quarter edge to win by five.

Jaxson Tish came off the bench to hit six threes to lead SEB with 18 points. Bryton Pruett went six-for-six from the line in the fourth quarter to help hold off the Hatchets. Pruett finished with 12 points. Andy Goldsborough scored nine points with 10 rebounds. Also for SEB: Nate Philpot 11, Jacob Baron 7, Jace McWhorter 2, and Nick Rosborough 1.

Jackson Miller and Gavan Wernsing each scored 14 points to lead Windsor/Stew-Stras. Beau Bennett scored 12, Wyatt Smith 7, Clay Tabbert 6, and Parker Domzalski 2.

St. Elmo/Brownstown shot 45% from the field, 17 of 38, including 10 of 21 threes. The Eagles also made 16 of 20 foul shots, committed 11 turnovers, and grabbed 23 rebounds.

Windsor/Stew-Stras shot 35% from the field, 15 of 43, including 6 of 19 threes. The Hatchets were 10 of 18 from the line, turned the ball over just seven times and grabbed 21 rebounds.

Windsor/Stew-Stras, now 13-9, will play in the 11:30am game Saturday, while St. Elmo/Brownstown, now 12-10, will play for the consolation championship at 1pm Saturday.

NTC Tournament

Game Seven

WSS (55)

Domzalski 0-2 -- 2, Bennett 5-1 -- 12, Greuel 0-0 -- 0, Miller 5-1 -- 14, Tabbert 2-2 -- 6, Smith 2-3 -- 7, Wernsing 5-2 -- 14. TOTALS 19 FG, 11 FT.

SEB (60)

Pruett 2-6 -- 12, Rosborough 0-1 -- 1, McWhorter 0-2 -- 2, Goldsborough 4-0 -- 9, Philpot 4-4 -- 13, J. Tish 6-0 -- 18, Baron 1-3 -- 5. TOTALS 17 FG,16 FT.

WSS                9    10    21    15     --     55

SEB               16    16    11    17     --    60

3-point FG -- Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg 6 (Miller 3, Wernsing 2, Bennett 1), St. Elmo/Brownstown 10 (J. Tish 6, Pruett 2), Philpot 1, Goldsborough 1)

SOUTH CENTRAL 58, COWDEN-HERRICK/BEECHER CITY 28

CHBC took and early lead, but a timeout by Blake Doehring after the Cougars were down 5-0 turned things around. From that point, South Central outscored the Bobcats 19-5 in the quarter to lead by nine. A 19-2 second quarter left the Cougars ahead 38-12 at halftime.

South Central made 22 of 49 shots for 45% including 5 of 11 threes. The Cougars made 10 of 18 foul shots, turned the ball over just nine times, and grabbed 26 rebounds.

CHBC was 9 of 29 from the field for 31% including 1 of 7 threes. The Bobcats were 9 of 20 from the line, turned the ball over 25 times and grabbed 26 rebounds.

Daniel Roberts and Hunter Brandt shared scoring honors with 14 each for South Central, while Keenin Willshire came off the bench to score 11 points, all in the first half. Also for the Cougars: Logan Lotz 9, Seth Shumate and Tanner Hester 3 each, Colin Miller 2, and Mason Robb and Sebastian Cowger 1 each.

For CHBC: Nick Miller 11, Dylan Webster 10, Keegan Martin 3, Brett Beck 2, and Ditton Curl and Alec Edwards 1 each.

South Central, now 12-9, will play in the 6:15pm game Friday against the Neoga Indians. CHBC is eliminated from further tournament play.

Following South Central and Neoga, Dieterich will play Altamont to see who will play St. Anthony for the tournament championship Saturday night. The loser will play North Clay for third place Saturday afternoon.

NTC Tournament

Game Six

SOUTH CENTRAL (58)

Lotz 4-0 -- 9, Roberts 6-1 -- 14, Hall 0-0 -- 0, Cowger 0-1 -- 1, Robb 0-1 -- 1, Brandt 6-2 -- 14, Hester 1-0 -- 3, Miller 0-2 -- 2, Shumate 1-0 -- 3, Collins 0-0 -- 0, Hall 0-0 -- 0, Willshire 4-3 -- 11, Patten 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 22 FG, 10 FT.

CHBC (28)

Webster 3-4 -- 10, Curl 0-1 -- 1, Burks 0-0 -- 0, Martin 1-1 -- 3, Smith 0-0 -- 0, Cox 0-0 -- 0, Edwards 0-1 -- 1, Lucas 0-0 -- 0, Beck 1-0 -- 2, Miller 4-2 -- 11, Clearwater 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 9 FG, 9 FT.

South Central            19    19    15    5    --    58

CHBC                         10      2      9    7    --    28

3-point FG -- South Central 4 (Lotz 1, Roberts 1, Hester 1, Shumate 1), Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City 1 (Miller 1)