The St. Anthony Bulldogs had an offensive explosion in the second quarter Friday night, building a huge halftime lead, en route to a dominating 77-41 victory at home over Robinson on Senior Night.
The Bulldogs connected on five three-pointers and had three different players – Miles Waldhoff, Ryan Schmidt and Brock Fearday -- tally seven points in the second quarter.
As a result, St. Anthony lit up the scoreboard for 32 points during that eight-minute stretch, turning a seven-point lead after the opening eight minutes into a 30-point cushion, 51-21, at intermission.
Heading into the fourth quarter, SAHS owned a comfortable 67-31 advantage resulting in a continuously running clock.
St. Anthony had four players in double figures. Brock Fearday led the way with 20 points, while Schmidt scored 14 and both Waldhoff and Sam Link added 11.
The Bulldogs ended their regular season with a 26-4 overall record and a No. 3 ranking in the Class 1A polls.
They will now enter postseason play as the No. 1 seed in the Moweaqua (Central A&M) Regional. St. Anthony will play its first game at home Monday night against Ramsey. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The winner of that game will face either Nokomis or Windsor/Stew-Stras in the semifinals. That is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Central A&M High School in Moweaqua.
Prior to 2014, the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs had never won a regional tournament.
Now, 12 years later, they find themselves in the winner’s circle almost every year.
For the 9th time in those 12 years – and now four years in a row – the Lady Bulldogs will be making a trip to the sectional.
They made that happen Thursday night with a wire-to-wire 55-30 victory over Altamont in the championship game of the Class 1A Neoga Regional.
They now advance to the Arcola Sectional, where they will face Arcola. The Lady Purple Raiders advanced by defeating Tuscola, 58-57, in the championship game of the Tuscola Regional. The St. Anthony-Arcola contest is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
They will be joined by Decatur St. Teresa and Catlin (Salt Fork), who won the St. Teresa and Georgetown regionals respectively. Those two squads will play at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The Lady Bulldogs got off to a fast start against Altamont. Nancy Ruholl pumped in 11 points, as SAHS raced to a 15-3 lead. All three of the Lady Indians points were from free throws.
St. Anthony continued to stretch the lead. At halftime, the margin was 16 points, 29-13. And heading into the final eight minutes, the Lady Bulldogs were comfortably on top, 44-19.
Kylee Lurkins scored nine points for the Lady Indians, who ended their season at 13-19.
Ruholl finished with a game-high 20 points. Ady Rios scored eight and Addi Lauritzen and Lilly Gannaway both added six. Lauritzen also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Lady Bulldogs, the state’s top-ranked Class 1A team, improved to 27-4.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
It was an all-out effort and hard fought game from beginning to end.
Don’t let the seven-point final margin fool you. It was much closer than that for much of the contest.
For most of the first 24 minutes, Altamont was the aggressor and St. Anthony found itself playing catch-up.
But down the stretch, the Bulldogs finally hit some shots, used their press to force a few turnovers and made just enough free throws.
As a result, St. Anthony escaped with a 45-38 victory Tuesday night on the Indians home floor.
And with that win, the Bulldogs – for the second straight year – captured the National Trail Conference regular season championship with a perfect 8-0 record.
“We’re always proud to win the season title,” St. Anthony coach Cody Rincker said. “The conference tournament gets most of the headlines, but we take a lot of pride in playing with consistency throughout the season. Going 8-0 and winning it a second straight year means a lot to us.”
But the Indians, who entered with a 5-1 league mark and a chance to potentially tie for the league crown, put themselves in position to do exactly that.
The St. Anthony Bulldogs will enter postseason play with a No. 1 seed in the Class 1A Moweaqua (Central A&M) Regional.
St. Anthony’s first game, however, will be a home contest against Ramsey, seeded No. 16. That will be at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 24.
The regional championship will be at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28, at Central A&M High School in Moweaqua.
The winner will advance to the Bridgeport Sectional. Winners of the Chrisman, Bluford (Webber) and Farina (South Central) regionals will also advance to the Bridgeport Sectional.
Here is the complete schedule for the Moweaqua (Central A&M) Regional:
Monday, Feb. 24
Game 1 – 6 p.m. – No. 16 Ramsey at No. 1 St. Anthony
Game 2 – 6 p.m. -- No. 7 Nokomis at No. 6 Windsor/Stew Stras
Game 3 – 6 p.m. – No. 13 Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City at No. 4 Arcola
Game 4 – 6 p.m. – No. 8 Moweaqua (Central A&M) at No. 5 Okaw Valley
Wednesday, Feb. 26
Game 5 – 6 p.m. – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 6 – 7:30 p.m. – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4
Friday, Feb. 28
Game 7 – 7 p.m. Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 (championship)
The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs opened postseason play in impressive fashion Monday night.
The top-seeded Lady Bulldogs raced to a double-digit lead in the first period and were never challenged, rolling to as 67-35 victory in a semifinal game of the Class 1A Neoga Regional.
Ady Rios helped get St. Anthony off to the quick start, pumping in 13 first-quarter points, leading to a 23-10 edge. It was 31-17 at halftime and 46-29 heading into the final eight minutes.
Rios scored a game-high 25 points to lead the SAHS scoring attack, while Nancy Ruholl added 19.
The Lady Bulldogs, who stretched their winning streak to 13 and improved to 26-4 for the season, will now play for the regional championship on Thursday night. They will face Altamont at 7 p.m.
When these two teams met back in December, St. Anthony posted a 44-36 win.
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