The onslaught continued in the second period. Highland turned the ball over eight more times and the Bulldogs took advantage. Kaden Fearday scored back-to-back baskets and Jaccob Dust and Antrim both scored after yet more miscues by Highland. At intermission, St. Anthony was comfortably in front, 39-10.

“Our guys are long, quick and active,” Rincker noted. “We’ve challenged them to be better defensively than we’ve been in the past; and we’ve been pretty good for several years. If they get after it and play like they’re capable of, they’re going to hang some low numbers this year defensively.”

It was more of the same in the third period. The Bulldogs forced seven more turnovers and the margin just continued to expand. Dust scored six points in the quarter, helping St. Anthony take a whopping 53-20 advantage into the fourth quarter, along with a continuously running clock.

“It’s a fine line on how to handle games like this when the score gets out of hand,” Rincker admitted. “You don’t want to run up the score, but it’s also important that the guys get their reps in.”

As he also did on opening night, Rincker substituted five new players at a time throughout the contest. He was pleased with what he saw from his second unit.

“There was definitely improvement,” the coach noted. “Monday night was the first varsity action for most of those kids. I thought they looked more comfortable and stayed aggressive tonight. I want to continue playing at this pace, but if we’re going to, we have to have at least 10 kids that can play.”

St. Anthony had three players reach double figures. Dust and Webb led the way with 14 points each, while Antrim added 11.

The Bulldogs shot 56 percent from the floor, connecting on 27-of-48 total shots. They were 5-of-15 from three-point range and 9-of-16 from the free throw line.

St. Anthony will now look to tangle with Effingham at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Both teams are 2-0 coming into that contest.

“That will be our first real test,” Rincker admitted. “I’m anxious to see how our kids handle the atmosphere and excitement, plus how they handle playing against a quality team like Effingham.”