Midway through the opening quarter, St. Anthony held a slim 9-6 lead. Shortly thereafter, the hosts were in total control.

Ryan Schmidt connected on a three, hit a pair of free throws and then drilled another shot from behind the arc to start the run. Before the quarter was over, Will Fearday added another three-pointer, helping the Bulldogs build a 23-9 lead.

Schmidt hit another shot from long range to open the second period and then it was Brock Fearday’s turn. The senior turned in a three-point play and then fired in a three to start a personal string of 11 straight points. After another three-pointer and a drive to the basket by Fearday, the Bulldogs lead ballooned to 22 points, 37-15, at the midway point.

Fearday scored 16 points in the quarter and when Luis Gonzalez nailed a shot from behind the arc in the closing seconds, St. Anthony headed to the locker room with a commanding 47-21 advantage at intermission.

For the half, the Bulldogs were 9-for-13 from long range, a 69 percent clip.

“The three will definitely be more of a weapon for us this year,” Rincker noted. “It’s no secret. We’re going to have shooters on the floor. Tonight, the guys were open and they were ready to shoot. I liked seeing that.”

Typically, there are some rough patches during season-opening games. For the Bulldogs, that was the third period.

On the offensive end, they turned the ball over seven times. On the defensive end, they simply didn’t guard very well.

“We didn’t get as much pressure on our press and I didn’t care for the way we guarded,” Rincker said. “But some of that stemmed from our offense. We turned the ball over way too many times. It wasn’t a good quarter.”

Rantoul’s DJ Davis scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the third period, helping the Eagles reduce the lead by a little. Heading into the final eight minutes, however, St. Anthony was still on top by 22 points, 59-37.

And then the Bulldogs went on a 12-0 run. Brock Fearday, Sam Link and Schmidt hit short jumpers, followed by threes from Schmidt and Keenan Griffith. With 4:33 to play, the gap was 34 points, 71-37, resulting in the mercy rule and a continuously running clock.

“I liked the pace we played with tonight,” Rincker said. “But we’re going to need to work on running our offense against defensive pressure, move the ball a little better and be able to get good shots when we can’t score in transition.

“We’re also going to need to buckle down more on the defensive end,” Rincker added. “We’ve got to keep guys in front of us and prove we can defend the post.”

The Bulldogs’ scoring attack was led by Brock Fearday and Schmidt, their two returning all-starters. Fearday had 23 points and Schmidt added 21. Link was in double figures, as well, with 11 points. Fearday finished with a double-double, also grabbing 12 rebounds.

“I was pleased with both Brock and Ryan tonight,” Rincker noted. “I don’t think either one of them took a forced shot. They let the game come to them.”

The veteran coach also noted the play of Griffith, the junior point guard that was seeing his first varsity action.

“Keenan has a good mind for the game,” Rincker said. “I thought his shot looked good and he stayed aggressive. For a first varsity game, he played very well. I’m looking forward to watching his growth this season.”

St. Anthony shot extremely well. They finished 25-for-39 overall, a 64 percent effort. They were 12-for-19 from long range, a 63 percent clip, and 15-for-20 from the foul line. SAHS had a 28-19 rebounding edge and forced Rantoul into 12 turnovers.

The Bulldogs will return to action Wednesday night. They will face Edwardsville, a newcomer to the tournament and the team many believe to be the tourney favorite. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.