Midway through the first quarter, Brody Mason connected a long three-point shot from the corner to put SEB on top, 9-5. Two baskets by Brock Fearday and another by Collin Westendorf helped the Bulldogs tie it up, 11-11, after the opening eight minutes.
Another three by Josiah Maxey gave the Eagles their last lead of the game, 16-13, with 5:32 to play in the second quarter. SEB missed its final seven shots and didn’t score the remainder of the half. But St. Anthony tallied six points to take a slim 19-16 edge to the locker room at intermission.
Offensively, it was a much different story for the Bulldogs than the night before when they shot 72 percent in the first half, including 7-of-8 from behind the arc, scored 44 points and held a comfortable 32-point advantage over Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City.
At halftime Thursday night, SAHS had made just 1-of-8 shots from long range, shot 38 percent overall and scored just 19 points.
“I didn’t know what to expect. With Greg, you never know,” Rincker said. “I was not surprised about what they did offensively. I figured they would try to slow it down. But defensively, they really got after us and caused us some problems. They were physical and competed hard. I guarantee you, whoever we play Saturday night will be physical, too.”
Westendorf hit a short jumper and then converted an Eagles turnover into a three-pointer, boosting St. Anthony’s lead to 24-16 at the 5:54 mark of the third period. But SEB was within five points, 28-23, entering the fourth period.
That’s when Ryan Schmidt took over. In just 90 seconds, the junior forward drilled two threes and hit another jumper to expand the margin to double digits, 36-25. Westendorf added a bucket, Fearday converted a pair of SEB turnovers into scores and Schmidt made two free throws, capping the 16-5 run and increasing the Bulldogs lead to 44-28 with 3:59 remaining.
The Eagles were unable to get any closer than 15 points the rest of the way.,
“Ryan’s like a microwave. He can get hot quickly,” Rincker said. “He has really improved his toughness. He understands he’s going to get hit and has to play through it. Collin helped give us some breathing room in the third quarter and then Ryan came up huge in the fourth.
“It’s a luxury to have multiple scorers,” Rincker added. “It’s comforting. It’s a fun team to coach.”
Mason was the only SEB player to crack double figures, finishing with 12 points. The Eagles shot 31 percent overall, connecting on just 11-of-35 attempts. They were 4-for-17 from three-point range and 6-for-9 at the foul line.
Schmidt finished with 19 points and Westendorf added 16 to pace the Bulldogs. They made 19-of-39 shots for the game, a 49 percent clip. They were 4-for-13 from behind the arc and 9-for-16 at the line. They held a substantial 25-13 rebounding advantage with both Fearday and Brady Hatton pulling down seven boards.
SEB dipped to 18-4 on the season. The Eagles will face the loser of the Altamont-Dieterich semifinal in the third place game. That will be played at approximately 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Bulldogs improved to 22-4 on the season. They will be striving to win their first NTC Tournament title since 2020 and will be playing in the championship game for the seventh straight year.
“There’s just something special about this tournament,” Rincker said. “It’s in its 88th year and there are still a lot of people that come to watch it every year. There have been a lot of good teams and good players come through here. It’s an honor for us to be playing in the championship game again.”
