The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs quest to win the National Trail Conference Basketball Tournament ended Thursday night in Beecher City.

The Neoga Lady Indians raced to an early double-digit lead and never looked back, en route to a 44-31 victory in a semifinal game of the annual conference tourney.

That not only avenged a 60-49 loss to St. Anthony just a week ago, it propelled the No. 2 seed Lady Indians into the championship game. They will take on the Altamont Lady Indians, who upset No. 1 CHBC, 60-53 in double overtime.

The championship game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Beecher City High School. The Lady Bulldogs and CHBC will play in the third place contest at 5:30 p.m.

Neoga jumped to a 17-7 lead after the opening eight minutes. St. Anthony was able to trim the lead to 27-20 at halftime, but the Lady Indians didn’t let it get any closer. They led 35-25 after three periods.

Sydney Richards scored 15 points and Trista Moore added 11 for Neoga, which improved to 19-4 on the season.

Riley Guy was the only player that reached double figures for St. Anthony, finishing with 11 points. Abbi Hatton added eight.

The Lady Bulldogs, now 16-8 on the season, will face a CHBC team that lost just its second game of the season to Altamont and is now 19-2. In an earlier meeting in December, the Lady Bobcats rallied in the fourth quarter to top St. Anthony 51-50.

In the other semifinal game, Grace Nelson poured in 38 points to lead Altamont to the upset. The game was close throughout and was tied 47-47 at the end of regulation and was still knotted at 51-51 after the first overtime. The Lady Indians then outscored CHBC 9-2 in the second OT to complete the upset.

The lineup for the final day of the tournament is now set:

•2:30 p.m. – Brownstown/St. Elmo vs. Windsor/Stew-Stras (seventh place)

•4 p.m. – Dieterich vs. South Central (consolation)

•5:30 p.m. – St. Anthony vs. CHBC (third place)

•7 p.m. – Neoga vs. Altamont (championship)

St. Anthony Bulldogs got back on the winning track Tuesday, posting a 47-39 victory at home over Flora.

St. Anthony led at every stop. The Bulldogs led 11-9 after the first eight minutes, 22-18 at halftime and 31-24 after three quarters.

SAHS had a balanced scoring attack. Griffin Sehy led the way with 13 points and Brock Fearday added 12. Sehy had seven of his points and Fearday five down the stretch in the fourth quarter, helping the Bulldogs maintain their lead. Kyle Stewart chipped in with eight points and Max Koening scored seven.

The Bulldogs are now 11-9 on the season. They will return to action Friday with a National Trail Conference game at Windsor/Stew-Stras.

The St. Anthony Bulldogs will enter the 86th annual National Trail Conference Tournament as the No. 1 seed.

The popular tournament will be played Monday, Jan. 24, through Saturday, Jan. 29. All games will once again be played at Altamont High School.

The host Indians are the No. 2 seed, followed by Windsor/Stew Stras (WSS), North Clay, Dieterich, South Central, Neoga, St. Elmo/Brownstown (SEB) and Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City (CHBC).

Here is the tournament schedule:

Monday, Jan. 24

Game 1 – 6:15 p.m. – SEB vs. CHBC

Tuesday, Jan. 25

Game 2 – 6:15 p.m. – St. Anthony vs. Winner Game 1

Game 3 – 7:45 p.m. – North Clay vs. Dieterich

Wednesday, Jan. 26

Game 4 – 6:15 p.m. -- Altamont vs. Neoga

Game 5 – 7:45 p.m. – WSS vs. South Central

Thursday, Jan. 27

Game 6 – 5 p.m. -- Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4

Game 7 – 6:30 p.m. -- Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3

Game 8 – 8 p.m. – Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3

Friday, Jan. 28

Game 9 – 6:15 p.m. – Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5

Game 10 – 7:45 p.m. – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5

Saturday, Jan. 29

Game 11 – 11:30 a.m. -- Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 9

Game 12 – 1 p.m. – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9 (consolation)

Game 13 – 2:30 p.m. – Loser Game 8 vs. Loser Game 10 (third place)

Game 14 – 7:30 p.m. – Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 10 (championship)

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs built an early lead and never looked back, rolling to a 56-41 victory Monday afternoon in an opening round game of the National Trail Conference Girls Basketball Tournament, played at Beecher City.

Lucy Fearday scored eight points and Riley Guy and Grace Karolewicz added four apiece, helping the Lady Bulldogs race to an 18-9 lead after the first eight minutes. It was still a nine-point cushion at halftime, 24-15, but St. Anthony began to expand that in the third period.

The Lady Bulldogs, seeded No. 3, outscored the South Central 15-11 in the third quarter to take a 39-26 edge into the fourth period.

Fearday led all scorers with 20 points, while Guy added 17. Brooklyn Garrett led South Central with 11 points.

The Lady Bulldogs, now 15-8 on the season, advances to the semifinal round, where they will face Neoga at 8:30 p.m. Thursday. The No. 2-seed Lady Indians advanced with a 46-36 win over North Clay.

In other games Monday, Brownstown/St. Elmo defeated Windsor/Stew Stras 54-49 and Altamont outscored Dieterich 15-8 in the fourth period to rally for a 56-52 victory.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Quickness and physicality played key roles Friday night.

And Breese Mater Dei took advantage of both.

The Knights quickness out front helped them control the tempo and create excellent shots throughout the game.

And Mater Dei’s overall physicality on defense resulted in turnovers and a difficulty executing on the offensive end.

St. Anthony played hard all 32 minutes, but the Knights came away with a 56-48 victory at The Enlow Center.

“I thought our youth and lack of strength showed tonight,” St. Anthony coach Cody Rincker said. “Our kids shied away from some of the contact. That’s what led to several turnovers and also kept us from executing on offense.”

It showed up most during a four-minute stretch in the third quarter. Just 43 seconds into the second half, the Bulldogs were within five points, 27-22. But over the ensuing four minutes, they turned the ball over four times and Mater Dei converted after three of those.

Cameron Haag started the 12-3 run with a free throw. Jacob Patton scored four points during that stretch, Haag added two more baskets and Landon Albers hit a short jumper. With 3:29 left in the period, the Knights owned a 39-25 advantage.

“That was a key stretch. We had some costly turnovers,” Rincker admitted. “A lot of times in a game, it’s not how many turnovers you have, but when you have them. We just weren’t strong with the ball and we didn’t take care of the ball. Mater Dei definitely won that battle.”

  1. Lady Bulldogs get big NTC win; beat Neoga 60-49
  2. Bulldogs stay unbeaten in NTC with win at Neoga
  3. Fearday has another strong game; scores 25 in Lady Bulldogs win
  4. NTC Girls Basketball Tournament pairings released