Published on February 10, 2026 7:09 am
Last Updated on February 10, 2026 7:10 am
BY MILLIE LANGE
TOLEDO — It was payback time and Effingham St. Anthony was ready.
The Bulldogs fell to Cumberland 49-39 in the semifinals of the National Trail Conference Girls Basketball Tournament recently. The Pirates went on to win the NTC Tourney title while St. Anthony finished third.
But this time around in regular season play, the Bulldogs put it all together for a 35-33 regular season victory Monday evening.
St. Anthony edged out to a 7-6 opening quarter lead as Jackie Vonderheide put in a three-pointer, Lilly Gannaway two free throws and Addie Lauritzen a basket.
Alysa Dittamore kept the Pirates close with four points.
A low-scoring second period saw the Bulldogs have another one-point edge, 4-3 to lead 11-9 at halftime.
Nancy Ruholl, the Bulldogs leading scorer, then went to work. After scoring two points in the first half, she came back with a 14-point second half. Ruholl tallied six points in the third quarter while Ali Kollmann added three and the Bulldogs led 24-18 going into the final period.
The Pirates mounted a comeback with a 15-11 final quarter, had the ball as the seconds ticked away but couldn’t get that last basket to tie the score. Jade Carr scored seven and Alysa Dittamore six in the final period but it was too late.
The Bulldogs’ Ruholl came up big with two three-pointers and two free throws for eight in the final period. Lauritzen connected on a basket and Gannaway a free throw and the Bulldogs had pulled out the two-point win.
Ruholl tallied 16 on four field goals, three from beyond the arc, and five of 10 at the line.
Cumberland was led by Miller with five baskets, two from three-point range, for 12 and Dittamore with five baskets and two free throws, also for 12.
Both teams will finish out regular season play Thursday before regionals begin. St. Anthony will travel to Newton while Cumberland will head to Tri-County.
At Toledo
ST. ANTHONY (35)
Gannaway 0-5 — 5, Ruholl 4-5 — 16, Henning 0-0 — 0, Schultz 1-0 — 2, Vonderheide 1-0 — 3, Kollmann 1-1 — 3, Lauritzen 3-0 — 6. TOTALS 10 FG, 11 FT.
CUMBERLAND (33)
Leitch 0-0 — 0, Miller 5-0 — 12, Tolen 0-0 — 0, Carr 2-3 — 7, Jones 1-0 — 2, Dittamore 5-2 — 12. TOTALS 13 FG, 5 FT.
St. Anthony 7 4 13 11 — 35
Cumberland 6 3 9 15 — 33
3-point FG — St. Anthony 4 (Ruholl 3, Vonderheide 1), Cumberland 2 (Miller 2).