“Good teams figure out ways to win when they don’t play their best,” St. Anthony coach Cody Rincker said. “I think that’s what you saw tonight. Even though we didn’t play well, we still had enough to pull away at the end.”

Some of the credit, however, goes to North Clay and hard it played for all 32 minutes.

“(Head coach) Josh (Zink) gets his teams to play extremely hard and with tenacity and physicality,” Rincker noted. “That’s what kept them in the ballgame for as long as it did. It’s a credit to Josh and his boys.”

After Tyson Jones converted a Bulldog turnover into a layup at the 4:49 mark of the first quarter, the visiting Cardinals held a 5-3 lead. It was their final lead of the game.

St. Anthony responded with eight straight points over the next two minutes to build an 11-5 advantage. Connor Walk hit the team’s only 3-pointer and Aaron Webb scored in the final seconds, giving the Bulldogs an 18-9 lead after eight minutes of play.

Webb and Logan Antrim then scored two quick buckets as the second period opened to make it a 13-point spread, 22-9. But for the ensuing five minutes, it was all North Clay.

The Cardinals got back-to-back-to-back threes from Luke Fleener, Ethan Bible and Lane Holkenbrink that sparked a 13-0 run that knotted the score at 22-22 with 2:49 to play in the first half. Jaccob Dust hit four free throws for St. Anthony, but Collyn Ballard hit a long three right before the buzzer, to bring the Cardinals within 28-27 at intermission.

“Some of our group was a little under the weather,” Rincker said. “Plus, we were bouncing back after such an emotional high in the tournament and playing a game we were supposed to win. I would have liked to have seen a cleaner game tonight, but it pointed out a lot of things we have to work on yet.

“I thought we got a little cute; a little lackadaisical with the ball,” Rincker added. “We took it for granted how hard we have to play. This was a good learning experience for us. Teams are going to come after us hard this year and we have to come to play every night.”

St. Anthony forced North Clay into three turnovers on its first four possessions of the second half and converted three of those into baskets. Dust had two of those and Antrim added a third, building the lead to 35-27. The lead fluctuated between six and nine points the rest of the third quarter, with the Bulldogs owning a 45-38 edge heading into the final eight minutes.

A bucket by Fleener and a free throw by Holkenbrink got the Cardinals within 47-41 at the 4:58 mark, but the Bulldogs responded with an 11-1 run over the next four minutes that sealed the victory.

“I thought we attacked their zone a little better in the second half,” Rincker noted. “I also thought we passed the ball pretty well at times and I liked how we played through their physicality and contact.”

Dust led the offensive attack with 19 points, while Webb added 13. Dust also grabbed nine rebounds and Jack Hoene pulled down seven to help the Bulldogs to a 29-18 advantage on the boards.

St. Anthony shot 46 percent overall, connecting on 23-of-50 attempts. They made just the one three, but shot 61 percent inside the arc, making 22-of-36 shot. The Bulldogs were also 11-of-17 from the free throw line. St. Anthony’s decision forced North Clay into 21 turnovers.

St. Anthony also won the junior varsity contest. It built a 33-6 halftime lead and rolled to a 60-19 decision. Kennan Walsh led the way with 13 points.

The Bulldogs improved to 5-0. They will celebrate Homecoming Friday night at home against Sullivan.