By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
For the second straight year, Grace Nelson cracked the 50-point plateau against St. Anthony.
And for the second straight year, it wasn’t enough.
Altamont’s junior standout turned in another terrific performance Monday night, pumping in 56 points, including 41 in the second half.
But the Lady Bulldogs, who owned an 18-point lead midway through the third quarter, hung on to post a 76-73 win at Altamont in a key National Trail Conference matchup.
“It was definitely a storm in that second half,” St. Anthony coach Stacey Rios said. “With our lead, we felt comfortable, even knowing what Grace can do. We felt if we could keep her from going downhill and getting to the basket, that would be a key.
“But Grace also has a good mid-range game,” Rios added. “She stepped out and did what she does. She’s a very good player.”
With 4:08 to play in the third period, St. Anthony owned a 48-30 lead. In the next four minutes, Nelson scored 15 points. But St. Anthony’s Lucy Fearday scored seven and the Lady Bulldogs still owned a double-digit advantage, 59-49, heading into the final quarter.
After a bucket by Kallie Kabbes, SAHS led 67-56 with five minutes remaining. From that point on, however, that lead continued to dwindle.
Brock Fearday and Griffin Sehy combined to score 33 points Friday night, helping the St. Anthony Bulldogs post a 52-37 victory at Sullivan.
Fearday and Sehy accounted for all the team’s points in the opening eight minutes, as the Bulldogs took a 15-12 lead. It was a 29-20 advantage at halftime and St. Anthony expanded it to 42-29 heading into the fourth period.
Fearday finished with 18 points and Sehy added 15. Ryan Schmidt chipped in with nine.
The Bulldogs improved to 3-3 overall. They will play two games next week – Tuesday at Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City and Friday at home against St. Elmo/Brownstown. Friday’s game will be Homecoming at SAHS.
Logan Fleener, Cody Zimbars and Ethan Kuenstler each connected on three-point shots in the fourth quarter Tuesday night, helping the North Clay Cardinals come from behind and post a 53-49 victory at home over St. Anthony in the National Trail Conference opener for both teams.
The Cardinals trailed 37-36 entering the final eight minutes. The three shots from long range helped the hosts go on a 17-12 surge that earned the win. North Clay made just 2-of-6 free throws down the stretch, but the Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize. SAHS got three-pointers from Collin Westendorf and Ryan Schmidt, but it wasn’t enough.
The game was close throughout. It was 12-12 after the opening quarter. St. Anthony then held a slim 22-21 lead at intermission.
Zimbars led three Cardinals in double figures with 14 points. Levi Smith scored 13 and Fleener added 11.
Brock Fearday had a big game for the Bulldogs, leading all scorers with 24 points. Jonathan Willenborg scored nine.
St. Anthony dipped to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference. The Bulldogs will play Friday at Sullivan.
Lucy Fearday scored 23 points Thursday night, helping the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs remain unbeaten with a 63-33 road victory over Windsor/Stew-Stras.
St. Anthony led 11-4 after the first eight minutes and then expanded that to 33-17 at halftime. It was a 28-point margin, 54-26, heading into the fourth period.
Fearday had nine points in the first half and then pumped in 12 more in the third period. Freshman Nancy Ruholl scored 11 and Anna Faber added nine.
The Lady Bulldogs are now 8-0 overall and 2-0 in the National Trail Conference. They will face a tough conference challenge Monday night at Altamont.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Only one question remained after the first quarter ended Monday night.
Would Okaw Valley score?
By that time, the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs owned a 22-0 lead and were well on their way to their seventh win of the season.
When it was over, the Lady Bulldogs had a 69-17 victory.
“Every game, we challenge ourselves to get better,” said St. Anthony coach Aaron Rios. “After playing in the Robinson tournament, there were things we wanted to work on, especially at the defensive end.
“We need to do a better job getting in the passing lanes and we needed work on our help side defense,” Rios added. “Plus, we need to be better with our spacing on offense and we wanted to focus on being disciplined. I thought the girls did a nice job on those things tonight.”
As far as the outcome is concerned, that was determined in the opening minutes. It was clear the Timberwolves were no match for the talented St. Anthony squad.
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