Anna Faber scored five points in the overtime session, helping the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs come away with a 60-56 win at home Saturday over a very good Pana team.

The game was close throughout. It was tied 11-11 after the opening eight minutes. Nancy Ruholl scored seven points and Lucy Fearday added six more, as the Lady Bulldogs took a 28-22 lead at halftime. It was still a six-point spread, 42-36, heading into the fourth period.

Pana’s Chloe Ashcraft scored 11 points in the final quarter, helping the Lady Panthers outscore SAHS 16-10, tie the game at 52-52 and force the extra session.

Faber hit a jumper and added three free throws in the OT and Stacie Vonderheide scored four points to help secure the victory.

Ashcraft and Anna Beyers combined to score 42 of Pana’s points. Ashcraft finished with 22 and Beyers had 20, but the Lady Panthers dipped to 19-8 on the season.

Fearday had a game-high 26 points for St. Anthony. Ruholl finished with 12 points and Faber and Vonderheide both scored 10.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 21-5 on the season. They will be back in action at home Monday night, hosting North Clay in a National Trail Conference contest.

When it comes to the National Trail Conference Tournament, what two teams do against each other in earlier meetings oftentimes becomes meaningless.

Six weeks ago, the St. Anthony Bulldogs had no trouble rolling to a 61-31 win over St. Elmo/Brownstown.

Tuesday night’s quarterfinal round game of the NTC Tourney was much different.

Yes, the favored Bulldogs still advanced, but it was far from easy.

The Bombers led early and kept it close the entire game before falling 51-45.

SEB led 10-9 after the opening eight minutes, but the Bulldogs came back to take a 20-17 advantage at halftime. St. Anthony then outscored the Bombers 18-11 in the third quarter to build a double-digit margin, 38-28, heading into the final period.

Cade Schaub connected on two three-pointers and scored eight points to help the Bombers get within four late in the contest. But the Bulldogs went 7-for-12 from the foul line, which was enough to maintain the lead and secure the win.

The Bombers, who are now 14-6 on the season, got 17 points from Adam Atwood, 11 from Schaub and 10 from Caleb Cambell.

Collin Westendorf led the Bulldogs with 15 points, while Ryan Schmidt added 11.

St. Anthony, the No. 3 seed, improved to 16-8 on the season.

In other tournament action Tuesday night, top-seeded Altamont beat No. 8 Neoga 67-55; No. 5 Dieterich knocked off No. 4 Windsor/Stew-Straws 60-46; and No. 2 seed North Clay rallied from 13 points down in the second half to beat No. 7 South Central 57-53.

Due to the heavy snowfall, tournament games were cancelled for Wednesday.

Thursday’s schedule is – Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City will play South Central at 5 p.m.; Neoga will face WSS at 6:30 p.m.; and Altamont will play Dieterich at 8 p.m. in a semifinal contest.

There are two games scheduled for Friday. The winner of the CHBC/South Central game will play SEB at 6:15; and St. Anthony and North Clay will clash in a semifinal game at 7:45 p.m. The Cardinals beat the Bulldogs 53-49 in the conference opener for both teams in late November.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

What a shooting performance.

Ryan Schmidt took 14 shots Friday night – five from inside the arc, three from beyond the arc and six at the free throw line.

And he made every one of them.

The St. Anthony sophomore came off the bench to score 25 points and helped the Bulldogs turn an early deficit into a convincing 60-43 victory over North Clay in a semifinal game of the National Trail Conference Basketball Tournament.

That will set up the championship clash tonight (Saturday) between the top-seeded Altamont Indians and the No. 3 seeded Bulldogs. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

A little over six minutes into Friday night’s game, the Bulldogs found themselves trailing 14-5. Two things happened at that point. Head coach Cody Rincker called a timeout and Schmidt entered the contest.

Immediately after that timeout, he grabbed an offensive rebound and scored. That ignited an 18-2 run that turned the game around and created a St. Anthony-Altamont final for the second year in a row.

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The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs used a 27-10 second-quarter scoring outburst to open a big lead and went on to post a 72-62 road victory Monday night at South Central.

SAHS built a 17-10 lead after the first quarter and then exploded in the second period. Nancy Ruholl knocked down three shots from behind the arc for nine points and Stacie Vonderheide scored eight more, as the Lady Bulldogs expanded their advantage to 44-20 at intermission.

The Lady Cougars, behind 12 points from Taegan Webster, closed the gap to 53-40 after the third period, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the halftime deficit.

Webster finished with a game-high 30 points for South Central.

St. Anthony had four players in double figures. Lucy Fearday led the way with 22 points, while Ruholl scored 17, Vonderheide netted 16 and Addi Nuxoll added 10.

The Lady Bulldogs notched their 20^th win of the season. They are now 20-5 overall and 6-0 in the National Trail Conference. They will return to action Saturday with a home game against Pana.