Basketball

St. Anthony’s Riley Guy and North Clay’s Madison Lovett put on quite a show Monday night.

Both girls pumped in 32 points, but when the final buzzer sounded, it was Guy and the Lady Bulldogs that emerged with a 66-64 victory at home.

Guy had 17 points by halftime, but Lovett had tallied 20 and the Lady Cardinals held a 36-32 edge.

The third quarter actually made the difference. Guy had nine points in the quarter and Grace Karolewicz scored five, helping the Lady Bulldogs go on a 20-10 scoring surge that put St. Anthony on top 52-46 heading into the final eight minutes.

Lovett scored eight more points in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Bulldogs held on for the win and improved to 11-14 on the season.

Reese Jones added 14 points for St. Anthony.

The Lady Bulldogs will close out their regular season Thursday with a game at St. Elmo/Brownstown.

The St. Anthony freshman and sophomore basketball teams posted victories at home Monday night over Newton.

In the freshman contest, the Bulldogs raced to a 20-3 lead after the first quarter and rolled to a 58-24 decision. It was 32-12 at halftime and 49-19 after three quarters.

Michael Martelli scored 12 points and Eli Levitt had 10 for SAHS.

The sophomore game was much closer, but the Bulldogs still came out on top, 41-33. St. Anthony used a 15-5 run in the third period to pull ahead.

Craig Croy led all scorers with 17 points, while Kyle Stewart added 11.

St. Anthony's Jaccob Dust (left) and Jack Hoene were among the 12 boys named to the National Trail Conference All-Tournament Team. Dust was named the Most Valuable Player. Also named to the team were Ian Bailey (North Clay), Andy Goldsborough (St. Elmo/Brownstown), Keenin Willshire (South Central), Cole Niebrugge (Dieterich), Trevor Roy (Neoga), Chase Dodson (South Central), Derek Kuhl (Dieterich), Paci McClure (Neoga), Kaden Eirhart (Altamont) and Aidan Jahraus (Altamont). ET Sports Report photo by Steve Raymond.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

For the second time in school history, a group of seniors will graduate from St. Anthony without ever having lost a game in the National Trail Conference Tournament.

From 1955 through 1958, St. Anthony High School was the home for the tournament championship trophy.

And Saturday night’s 62-45 victory over Altamont gave the Bulldogs their second “four-peat” in the 85-year history of the popular tournament.

But even though the final margin was 17 points, the victory didn’t come easy.

The Bulldogs led for 30 of the 32 minutes. They threatened to pull away on numerous occasions, but each time, the host Indians would battle their way back. With five minutes to play in the game, it was just a five-point gap.

But after missing five straight free throws at one time, St. Anthony made its final 10, which helped the Bulldogs close out the game on a 21-9 run and secure the school’s 24th NTC Tournament title overall.

“This is four in a row and we’ve enjoyed each one because each one is a little different,” St. Anthony coach Cody Rincker said. “And we don’t ever want to take them for granted because eventually this run will come to an end.

“Winning this tournament is a big deal,” added Rincker, who has guided the Bulldogs into six championship games during his seven seasons. “We had to compete every single game. The guys have done a great job continuing to work hard so this is a possibility each year.”

A bucket by Aidan Jahraus and a free throw from Noah Teasley trimmed to the lead to 41-36 one minute into the final quarter. It was still only a seven-point spread, 47-40, when the Bulldogs began their string of five straight misses at the foul stripe. But the Indians couldn’t take advantage, turning the ball over three times and missing three straight shots.