The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs built an early lead and never looked back, rolling to a 56-41 victory Monday afternoon in an opening round game of the National Trail Conference Girls Basketball Tournament, played at Beecher City.

Lucy Fearday scored eight points and Riley Guy and Grace Karolewicz added four apiece, helping the Lady Bulldogs race to an 18-9 lead after the first eight minutes. It was still a nine-point cushion at halftime, 24-15, but St. Anthony began to expand that in the third period.

The Lady Bulldogs, seeded No. 3, outscored the South Central 15-11 in the third quarter to take a 39-26 edge into the fourth period.

Fearday led all scorers with 20 points, while Guy added 17. Brooklyn Garrett led South Central with 11 points.

The Lady Bulldogs, now 15-8 on the season, advances to the semifinal round, where they will face Neoga at 8:30 p.m. Thursday. The No. 2-seed Lady Indians advanced with a 46-36 win over North Clay.

In other games Monday, Brownstown/St. Elmo defeated Windsor/Stew Stras 54-49 and Altamont outscored Dieterich 15-8 in the fourth period to rally for a 56-52 victory.