Bryar Hennessay connected on a three to open the second quarter for the Indians, but SAHS then rattled off the next nine points. Fearday had five points, while Collin Westendorf and Adam Rudibaugh both added a bucket, as the Bulldogs completed a 24-3 scoring surge and built the lead to 30-9.
By intermission, it was a 24-point bulge, 38-14.
“I was very pleased that first half,” said St. Anthony coach Cody Rincker. “I thought our zone press was very affective. We are able to trap and forced them to make some long passes. I thought we looked quick and played with urgency. I liked seeing that.”
His opinion of his team’s second half performance was much different.
The Bulldogs got baskets by Rudibaugh, Fearday and Griffin Sehy to open the second half and make it a 30-point cushion, 44-14. But after that, it was clear they switched gears.
“We’ve talked about handling success and tonight was a perfect example of a team that doesn’t know how to do that yet,” Rincker noted. “We wanted to come out, work on some things, run our stuff and extend the lead. But we got sloppy and started turning the ball over.”
The outcome was never in doubt, but after shooting 65 percent and turning the ball over just four times in the first half, the Bulldogs dipped to 39 percent shooting with eight turnovers in the final two quarters.
“Good teams don’t switch gears like that,” Rincker added. “We started making lazy passes, missed some bunnies and quit playing hard on defense. We totally lost our focus.”
The Indians, who dipped to 6-12 on the season and 2-3 in the NTC, got 12 points from Brady Reynolds and 11 from Richards.
St. Anthony had three players in double figures. Fearday had a game-high 17 points, while Schmidt scored 12 and Koenig added 10. The Bulldogs ended up shooting 52 percent from the field, connecting on 24-of-46 attempts. They were 3-for-10 from long range and 7-for-10 from the foul line. They had 12 turnovers, but forced Neoga into 20.
The Bulldogs are now 12-7 on the season and 4-1 in league play. They will travel to Breese Mater Dei on Friday.
