By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Whew!!

At 9:34 Thursday night, there was a collective sigh of relieve from the St. Anthony cheering section.

The top-seeded Bulldogs had just been pushed to the limit by a determined, tough and scrappy North Clay team.

It took a clutch three-pointer from a freshman and two crucial free throws from a senior to help the Bulldogs survive and advance, finishing with a 45-43 win in a semifinal game of the 86^th annual National Trail Conference Basketball Tournament.

That victory was the 14^th straight for SAHS in this popular tournament and earned the Bulldogs a berth in the championship game for the fifth consecutive year.

“It’s just one game at a time for us,” said St. Anthony coach Cody Rincker. “I know that’s cliché, but it’s what you have to do. It’s part of the culture we’re trying to build here. But we haven’t won anything yet. We have to prove ourselves again Saturday.”

That’s when the Bulldogs will face either Altamont or Windsor/Stew-Stras in the finals. Game time Saturday night is set for 7:30 at Altamont High School.

Rincker and the Bulldogs are just grateful they will have the opportunity to play for another NTC Conference Tournament title.

Until North Clay’s last-second full-court heave fell short, the contest was in doubt.

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The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs stayed right in the middle of the National Trail Conference race with a convincing 56-29 victory at home Monday night over South Central.

Just one week after beating the Lady Cougars in an opening round game of the NTC Tournament, the Lady Bulldogs began taking control in the second quarter.

Led by Riley Guy, SAHS outscored South Central 17-4 to turn a five-point lead after the opening eight minutes into an 18-point cushion, 37-19, at halftime.

Guy poured in 21 points to lead that first-half surge. The senior guard connected on five shots from behind the arc. She knocked down two and scored 12 points in the first period and then added three baskets from long range in the second quarter.

The hosts kept it up in the third period. The Lady Bulldogs expanded their lead to 26 points by outscoring the Lady Cougars 12-4. They took a 49-23 lead into the final quarter.

Guy finished with a game-high 24 points. Grace Karolewicz also reached double figures with 10.

St. Anthony improved to 18-8 overall and 4-1 in the NTC. They will play at home again next Monday against North Clay.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Methodical.

That’s the way St. Anthony coach Cody Rincker described his team’s play on the offensive end Tuesday night.

And he liked what he saw.

The Bulldogs showed patience throughout, resulting in one high-quality shot after another. And they knocked most of them down.

The No. 1 seed shot 60 percent overall and rolled to a 57-31 victory over St. Elmo/Brownstown in an opening-round game of the 86^th annual National Trail Conference Tournament in Altamont.

“We need to play like that more often, especially with this younger group,” Rincker said. “I thought it helped them get in the flow of the game.

“With a young group like this – a group that didn’t play in the tournament last year – it was nice to see them assert themselves, get established and execute the game plan.”

That game plan focused on “the paint.”

“We wanted to establish ourselves in the paint,” Rincker explained. “Whether it was posting up, driving or rebounding, we wanted to control the paint. That led to very high percentage shots. I thought every shot we took was going in.”

Many of them did.

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The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs raced to a quick lead Saturday and then rolled to a 60-47 victory over Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City in the third place game of the National Trail Conference Girls Basketball Tournament.

SAHS built a 20-6 lead after the first eight minutes. The Lady Bulldogs were then on top 32-24 at halftime and 43-27 heading into the fourth period.

For St. Anthony, this avenged a tough 51-50 loss to CHBC earlier in the season.

The Lady Bulldogs had three players in double figures. Lucy Fearday led the way with 19 points, while Riley Guy scored 16 and Anna Faber added 10.

The Lady Bobcats, who dipped to 19-3 on the season, got 19 points from Gracie Heckert and 13 from Lani Morrison.

St. Anthony, now 17-8 on the year, will be back in action Monday at home against South Central. The Lady Bulldogs just defeated South Central 56-41 in an opening-round game of the NTC Tournament.

In the championship game, the Neoga Lady Indians needed two overtime periods to get past Altamont, 64-58, to capture the tournament title. Sydney Richards scored 22 points for Neoga, but Altamont’s Grace Nelson led all scorers with 32 points.