St. Anthony’s defense forced the Lady Indians into nine turnovers in the third quarter, which certainly helped. But the Lady Bulldogs were also red hot on the offensive end. They made their first nine shots of the period, went 14-for-18 overall and lit up the scoreboard for 31 points during that eight-minute stretch.

That torrid shooting continued in the fourth period. St. Anthony made its first eight shots and led by as many as 20 points on three occasions. The Lady Bulldogs made 79 percent of their shots in the second half, knocking down 23-of-29 attempts.

And didn’t take a single three-pointer.

“That was not by design,” Rios said. “Our girls have the green light to shoot the three. But the way they (Altamont) were pressing us, once we got the ball to Riley and Grace, we were able to get to the bucket or pound the ball inside. We just took advantage of what their defense gave us.”

And did so over and over again – which was needed to overcome the scoring of Nelson, the Lady Indians standout sophomore. She poured in 24 points in the first half and then pumped in 26 more after intermission. She made 14-of-26 shots, including a pair from three-point range, and made 20-of-25 free throws. She scored 19 points in the fourth quarter alone.

“She’s a stud,” Rios said. “The second she steps on the court, she plays her tail off. She just has that ‘thing’ about her. I’m so impressed with how hard she plays and how she leads her team. I wish her the best of luck.”

The first half was also interesting.

After a 15-15 tie at the end of the first period, the Lady Bulldogs looked like they might pull away in the second period. Fearday scored the first five points and Maddie Kibler added a basket to give SAHS a seven-point lead. A three-pointer by Guy made it 25-16 just 2½ minutes into the quarter.

But the Lady Indians then went on a run of their own. Nelson drilled a three, followed by back-to-back buckets after St. Anthony turnovers. After Fearday scored for the Lady Bulldogs, Skylie Klien connected from behind the arc to start a 12-0 run for Altamont. Nelson had seven points during that stretch that put the guests on top, 35-27.

St. Anthony got within two, but another three from Klien sent the Lady Indians to the locker room with a 38-33 advantage at halftime.

“I was not pleased,” Rios said. “Our shot selection was not very good. They got us into taking quick shots. We weren’t playing our kind of basketball. Thankfully, we were able to change that in the second half.”

While Nelson had scoring honors for the game, the Lady Bulldogs had a balanced scoring attack, placing four players in double figures. Guy led the way with 30 points, with 20 of those coming in the second half. Fearday had a double-double, finishing with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Karolewicz added 15 and Hatton came off the bench to score 10 points and grab seven rebounds.

“I was very impressed with how Riley played, especially in the second half,” Rios said. “She ended 10-for-18 shooting and really went to work on their guards.

“Lucy is emerging as one of our leaders along with Riley,” Rios added. “She brings power and energy every game. She’s capable of a double-double every night. She’s a beast inside.”

The coach also noted the play of Karolewicz and Hatton.

“Grace had a great game,” Rios said. “And it was good to see Abbi play like that tonight. We’ve been challenging her. With the way our guards are playing, if we get Abbi going with Lucy, we’ll be a tough team to guard.”

St. Anthony improved to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in the National Trail Conference. The Lady Bulldogs will have a touch challenge Thursday when they travel to Beecher City to face Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City.

“We know it will be a tough game, but we’re looking forward to it,” Rios said. “In my three years here, tonight is the best we’ve played. We’ve had spurts before, but nothing like this. Every coach wants to see their team improve and this team just keeps getting better and better every game.”