The St. Anthony Bulldogs broke on top early and maintained that lead throughout, posting a 45-33 victory Wednesday night over Nokomis in a semifinal game of the Class 1A Bethany (Okaw Valley) Regional.

The Bulldogs will now face Arcola in the sectional championship. The Purple Riders, who are 25-6, defeated Okaw Valley 51-38 to also earn a berth in the sectional final. The championship contest is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday.

Sam Link and Brock Fearday both scored four points and Collin Westendorf and Ryan Schmidt knocked down three-pointers, as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 14-5 lead after the opening eight minutes. It was still a nine-point lead, 26-17, at halftime.

Nokomis outscored St. Anthony 7-5 in the third period to close the gap to seven points, but Schmidt scored seven points in the final quarter to help the Bulldogs expand the lead and secure the victory.

Westendorf and Schmidt both scored 13 points to lead St. Anthony’s scoring attack, while Fearday added nine.

The Bulldogs, the regional’s top seed, improved to 29-4 on the season. Arcola is seeded No. 4.

The winner will advance to the St. Anthony Sectional.

The St. Anthony Bulldogs will enter postseason play looking for their third straight regional championship.

Two years ago, St. Anthony captured the Patoka Regional and last year, the SAHS boys brought home the championship plaque from the South Central Regional.

This year, they will enter as the No. 1 seed in the Class 1ABethany (Okaw Valley) Regional. They will open play Monday, Feb. 19, at home against Ramsey. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

The regional championship will be at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23.

The winner will advance to the Effingham St. Anthony Sectional. Winners of the Casey-Westfield, Altamont and Albion (Edwards County) regionals will also advance to the St. Anthony Sectional.

Here is the complete schedule for the Bethany (Okaw Valley) Regional:

Monday, Feb. 19

Game 1 – 7 p.m. – No. 15 Ramsey at No. 1 Effingham St. Anthony

Game 2 – 6 p.m. – No. 7 Windsor Stew-Stras at No. 6 Nokomis

Game 3 – 7 p.m. – No. 10 Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City at No. 4 Arcola

Game 4 – 7 p.m. – No. 9 Moweaqua (Central A&M) at No. 5 Bethany (Okaw Valley)

Wednesday, Feb. 21

Game 5 – 6 p.m. – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Game 6 – 7:30 p.m. – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4

Friday, Feb. 23

Game – 7 p.m. – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game (championship)

The St. Anthony Bulldogs must have been inspired by the NBA All-Star Game.

They scored early and often. Virtually at-will.

When it was over, the top-seeded Bulldogs had a 78-point victory – no, that’s not a typo -- posting a lopsided 105-27 victory at home over Ramsey in an opening-round game of the Class 1A Bethany (Okaw Valley) Regional.

This one was over at the opening tip. Brock Fearday started a barrage from three-point range that continued throughout the game. He hit three in the opening eight minutes and scored 11 points, helping the host Bulldogs build a comfortable 30-6 lead.

It just got worse from there.

Brock Fearday knocked down three more behind the arc in the second period, and Henry Brandt and Ryan Schmidt also got in the fun from long range. At intermission, St. Anthony was on its way to cracking the century mark, leading 53-13.

Before it was over, the Bulldogs had recorded 21 three-pointers Eight different players connected from behind the arc, with Brock Fearday finishing with eight of them.

The score was 83-24 after three periods and SAHS scored 22 more with a continuously running clock in the final eight minutes.

Brock Fearday led four players in double figures with 31 points. Collin Westendorf scored 21, Schmidt added 15 and Will Fearday came off the bench to knock down a trio of threes and finish with 11.

The Bulldogs, who are also the No. 1-ranked team in Class 1A, improved to 28-4 on the season. They will return to action Wednesday night in Bethany. They will face No. 6 seed Nokomis in a semifinal game at 6 p.m.

It didn’t come as easy as most expected, but the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs captured their third straight regional title Thursday night with a 50-43 victory over Windsor/Stew-Stras in the championship game of the Class 1A St. Anthony Regional.

After beating the Lady Hatchets 72-48 and 62-23 earlier in the season, there were expectations of another blowout. But Windsor/Stew-Stras had other ideas.

Stacie Vonderheide scored seven points and Addi Nuxoll added five, as the Lady Bulldogs jumped out to an 18-11 lead at the end of the first period. Nancy Ruholl hit a three-pointer and scored seven points in the second period, helping SAHS take a double-digit lead, 29-18, into the locker room at intermission.

It was a 12-point margin, 39-27, heading into the final eight minutes. The Lady Hatchets knocked down a pair of threes in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Bulldogs made 9-of-14 free throws to maintain the lead and secure another plaque for the school’s trophy case.

Ella Kinkelaar and Kendra Hayes both scored 12 points for WSS, who ended their season with a 20-14 record.

St. Anthony had three players in double figures. Ruholl led the way with 20 points, while Vonderheide scored 15 and Nuxoll added 12. Both Ruholl and Nuxoll turned in double-double performances, pulling down 11 and 12 rebounds respectively.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 24-8 on the season. They will now advance to the Moweaqua (Central A&M) Sectional. They will play either Arcola or Salt Fork at 6 p.m. Tuesday.