By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

For the second year in a row, Ryan Schmidt turned in a memorable shooting performance at the National Trail Conference Basketball Tournament.

A year ago, the then-sophomore came off the bench and had a perfect shooting night in the semifinals. He took 14 total shots – five from two-point range; three-from three-point range; and six from the foul line – and made them all. He finished with 25 points and helped St. Anthony defeat North Clay.

The Bulldogs sharpshooter was back at it again Saturday night. No, he wasn’t perfect this time. But Schmidt’s lefthanded jump shot was definitely locked in. He connected on 20-of-22 total shots, going 8-for-8 inside the arc, 4-of-5 behind the arc and 8-of-9 from the free throw line.

Schmidt was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and rightfully so. He scored 36 points to lead the Bulldogs to the 70-60 victory over Dieterich in the championship game of the 88th annual NTC Tournament played at Altamont High School.

St. Anthony returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2020, but it was the school’s 25th overall tournament title.

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs got balanced scoring and rolled to their 20th victory of the season Saturday afternoon with a 79-34 thumping of Pana.

St. Anthony had four players in double figures and dominated every phase of the game.

The Lady Bulldogs led 27-18 after the first eight minutes and then went on a 24-2 scoring spree to build a 31-point halftime lead, 51-20. It was 70-26 heading into the final quarter.

Stacie Vonderheide continued her torrid scoring, pouring in 31 points, with 25 of those coming in the first half. She also grabbed 12 rebounds in yet another double-double performance. Adysen Rios scored 17 points, Nancy Ruholl had 15 and freshman Addie Lauritzen added 10. St. Anthony finished with 19 total assists, 38 rebounds and 17 steals.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 20-6 on the season. They will return to action Monday with a National Trail Conference home game against North Clay. SAHS is 5-1 in the NTC.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

There were really just two questions that needed to be answered Wednesday night.

How would the top-seeded St. Anthony Bulldogs play in their opening game?

And would Brock Fearday add his name to the school’s 1,000-point club?

Both questions were answered early.

After eight minutes, the Bulldogs already owned a double-digit lead.

But it took just 2 minutes and 50 seconds for Fearday to reach the 1,000-point plateau, banking in a 10-foot jump shot at the 5:10 mark.

Fearday ended up sharing game-high scoring honors, as the Bulldogs rolled to a 76-32 victory over Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City (CHBC) in their opening game of the 88th annual National Trail Basketball Tournament, played at Altamont High School.

“Anytime you’re the No. 1 seed, you want to jump on a lower seed,” St. Anthony coach Cody Rincker said. “You want to assert your presence and dominance. I thought the boys did a good job of that. They came out with a sense of urgency and set the tone early.”

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Don’t let the margin of victory fool you.

This was a closely contested game for most of the 32 minutes.

There’s a reason St. Elmo/Brownstown (SEB) had 18 wins – and an eight-game winning steak -- entering Thursday night’s contest. The Eagles played tough, hard-nosed defense against St. Anthony and made enough shots to stay close.

But in the fourth period, the Bulldogs showed why they are the tournament and state’s top-ranked team. Their defense forced five turnovers and they finally started knocking down some shots.

As a result, St. Anthony went on a 23-9 scoring surge over the final eight minutes to pull away and post a 51-32 victory in a semifinal game of the 88th annual National Trail Conference Basketball Tournament played at Altamont High School.

“That’s a good basketball team we played tonight,” St. Anthony coach Cody Rincker said. “I could sing (SEB head coach) Greg Feezel’s praises all day long. He’s an outstanding coach that always gets the most out of his kids. I have the utmost respect for him and for the SEB program.”

The Bulldogs will now face either Altamont or Dieterich for the tournament championship Saturday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

“We needed a game like this,” Rincker noted. “We were challenged and faced adversity. This should help get us ready for the championship game.”

But the win was anything but easy.

It was obvious from the beginning the shorter, but scrappy Eagles had come to play and weren’t intimidated by the top seed at all.

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs built an early double-digit lead and then cruised to a 69-40 win at home Wednesday night over South Central in a National Trail Conference contest.

Stacey Vonderheide pumped in 13 first-quarter points, helping St. Anthony take a 20-8 lead after the opening eight minutes. The lead expanded to 43-26 at halftime and 56-30 heading into the fourth period.

Vonderheide, who scored 27 points in the opening half, finished with a game-high 38 points.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 19-6 overall and 5-1 in the NTC. They will return to action Saturday with a game at Pana.

  1. Vonderheide named MVP of NTC Girls Basketball Tournament
  2. Lady Bulldogs upset Altamont to win NTC Tourney championship
  3. Top-ranked Bulldogs post 81-75 win over St. Joe-Ogden
  4. Weather causes change in schedule for NTC Boys Tournament