Danika Ramsey hit a three-pointer, Dayana Haslett made three free throws and Presley Williams added another foul shot – all after Lady Bulldogs turnovers – to trim the gap to 38-33 at the 3:13 mark.
After a free throw by SAHS’s Nancy Ruholl, Seabaugh turned in a three-point play and converted yet another turnover into a short jumper to get BSE within a single point, 39-38.
St. Anthony’s Adysen Rios got loose underneath for a basket and made it a three-point play after being fouled. But the Lady Bulldogs’ 10th turnover of the period resulted in a bucket by Madi Miller, getting the Lady Bombers to within 42-40 heading into the final eight minutes.
“They came much more intense on defense,” St. Anthony coach Aaron Rios said. “They started double-teaming us and we didn’t swing the ball around like we needed to do. We weren’t patient at all. We tried to rush things and it hurt us. We didn’t play our game and we turned the ball over way too much.”
Stacie Vonderheide hit a pair of free throws and Ruholl converted a BSE turnover into a three-pointer, expanding St. Anthony’s lead to 47-40 at the 5:31 mark.
The Lady Bulldogs led by as many as eight, but a basket from behind the arc by Seabaugh made it a four-point spread, 51-47, with 1:04 still remaining. Another three-point play by Rios 20 seconds later sealed the victory for SAHS.
“The past couple years, we’ve let leads against teams like Neoga and Tuscola get away from us down the stretch,” Rios noted. “This year, I think we’ve been better in those moments late in the game. Tonight, we made a couple big plays at the end that allowed us to hang on. Hopefully, that will boost our confidence.”
It looked like it would be an easier game for St. Anthony at the beginning. Both Vonderheide and Ruholl scored eight points in the opening quarter. A three by Vonderheide gave the Lady Bulldogs a 17-5 advantage heading into the second period.
The SAHS defensive pressure forced the Lady Bombers into 15 first-half turnovers. Despite that, BSE still managed to generate good offense in the second quarter and stay within striking distance. Seabaugh hit a pair of shots from long range and scored eight points for BSE.
But the Vonderheide-Ruholl attack was also clicking. Vonderheide had 10 more points and Ruholl added eight, helping the Lady Bulldogs take a 35-21 edge into the locker room at halftime.
“I thought we came out with good energy and played one of our best quarters of the year,” Rios said. “Things went back-and-forth in the second quarter, but they we got out of sync. Their defense caused us some problems and we started turning the ball over. We just hung on at the end.
It was definitely an ugly win,” Rios added. “We can’t have a bad quarter like that Saturday night. If we do, Altamont will eat us up.”
Seabaugh led the Lady Bombers with 20 points, while Haslett added 12. They shot 42 percent from the floor, connecting on 16-of-38 attempts. They were 4-for-9 from three-point range and 11-for-20 at the line. They turned the ball over 25 times.
Vonderheide scored a game-high 24 points and Ruholl finished with 21 to pace the Lady Bulldogs. They made 19-of-50 shots overall, a 38 percent clip. They were 5-for-19 from long range and 11-for-15 from the free throw line. SAHS was guilty of 24 turnovers.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 17-6 on the season and will now face Altamont for the tournament title. The Lady Indians beat St. Anthony 78-67 in December in a game the Lady Bulldogs played without Ruholl.
“I respect the heck out of Criag (Tarr, the Altamont coach),” Rios said. “They have a very good team with an all-star type player in Grace (Nelson). I think everyone is in for a good ballgame Saturday night. We’re going to come out, try to play our brand of basketball and see what happens.”
