Collin Westendorf and Ryan Schmidt converted a pair of turnovers into baskets. Brady Hatton hit a short jumper in the lane, as did Schmidt. By the 6:12 mark, the margin had grown to double digits, 39-24.

North Clay’s Lucas Griffy snapped the 8-0 run with a basket, but the Bulldogs proceeded to score the next 11 points. Westendorf was the catalyst, knocking down a pair of three-pointers and adding another basket, causing the lead to balloon to 24 points, 50-26, with just five minutes gone in the third period.

“I liked what I saw in that third quarter,” Rincker admitted. “We finally started sharing the basketball, getting into a flow on offense and playing with tenacity of defense. That’s the way we need to play the game. You saw what happened when we did.

“We used our press to speed them up and create some turnovers,” Rincker added. “We knew they were going to beat our press from time to time, but in that first half, we were leaving our back guys hanging out to dry. And Weidner lit us up. We have to play better than that.”

By the end of the third quarter, St. Anthony was comfortably on top, 58-33. And less than three minutes into the final period, the margin reached 30 points, 64-34, resulting in a continuously running clock.

“We really shared the basketball in the second half,” Rincker said. “Sometimes, we need to remember to just make the simple pass to the guy that’s open. Let our offense work. When we did that, everybody got into the flow of the game, especially Collin. And it also opened up offensive rebounding opportunities for us.”

The shooting statistics back that up. The Bulldogs shot a blistering 77 percent in the second half, making 17-of-22 attempts. They were also 4-for-6 from three-point range.

St. Anthony also shot well in the opening half, but wasn’t as affective on the defensive end. The Cardinals were able to get off open shots, especially Weidner. The senior forward was 6-for-8 from the field, including 4-of-6 from long range, and had 16 of his team’s 24 points.

“We focused more on him after that first half,” Rincker said. “We didn’t give him those open looks and really challenged his shot.”

Weidner was held scoreless the second half, missing all three of his field goal attempts.

The Bulldogs had four players in double figures. Schmidt led the way with 15 points, while Westendorf scored 14, Brock Fearday 12 and Hatton added 10.

St. Anthony ended up shooting 70 percent overall, making 30-of-43 shots from the floor. They were 5-for-11 from behind the arc and 5-of-8 from the foul line. The Bulldogs held a 19-14 rebounding advantage and forced North Clay into 18 turnovers.

SAHS improved to 4-2 on the season and is 1-0 in the NTC. The Bulldogs will return to action at home Tuesday when they host Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City in another NTC contest.