Basketball

Despite playing without two starters, the St. Anthony Bulldogs had no problem rolling to a 62-34 victory Tuesday night at Neoga.

Logan Antrim and Aaron Webb are both dealing with injuries, but Kennan Walsh and Connor Walk stepped into the starting lineup and played well.

Kaden Fearday knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points in the opening period, helping the Bulldogs build a 19-7 lead after eight minutes.

Walk had eight points in the first half, Walsh four and Eli Moore came off the bench and connected on a shot from long range. By halftime, St. Anthony had expanded the lead to 36-17.

The Bulldogs then outscored the host Indians 17-6 in the third period to take a 53-23 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Jaccob Dust led the St. Anthony scoring attack with 17 points, while Fearday scored 13 and Walk added 12.

The Bulldogs, now 15-2 on the season, will return home to face Breese Mater Dei Friday night. The Knights are 14-4 and ranked in the Top 10 in Class 2A.

St. Anthony also won the junior varsity game, 35-25. Eli Moore scored 13 points and Seth Hotze added 12.

In the freshman-sophomore contest, the Bulldogs won 54-25. Eli Levitt had 10 points and Griffin Sehy added nine.

Not surprisingly, the Altamont Lady Indians secured the top seed in the National Trail Conference Girls Basketball Tournament.

The Lady Indians are currently 18-3 and got the No. 1 seed over a Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City squad that has a 14-3 mark.

The tournament, which is played at Beecher City High School, will begin Monday, Jan. 20. Games will also be played on Wednesday, Jan. 22, Thursday, Jan. 23 and conclude Saturday, Jan. 25.

Here are the other teams that will compete – No. 3 Brownstown/St. Elmo; No. 4 Neoga; No. 5 St. Anthony; No. 6 North Clay; No. 7 Windsor/Stew-Stras; No. 8 Dieterich; and No. 9 South Central.

Here is the tournament schedule:

Jaccob Dust scored 11 points in the fourth quarter Friday night, helping the St. Anthony Bulldogs pull away for a 60-49 victory at home over a talented Mt. Carmel team.

Behind the big scoring night of junior Beau Stipp, the Golden Aces (10-6) stayed close throughout. Stipp had 20 of his game-high 32 points in the first half. But St. Anthony still led 15-14 after eight minutes and 33-27 at intermission.

Dust then dominated the second half. The 6’7” senior center, pumped in 18 points in the final 16 minutes to help the Bulldogs stay in front. Dust was 6-for-6 from the foul line in the second half and finished with 27 points overall.

Jack Hoene added 11 points for St. Anthony, which improved to 14-2 overall.

The Bulldogs, ranked No. 7 in the Class 1A poll this week, will be back in action today (Saturday) at their own shootout. They will face Quincy Notre Dame in the seventh and final game of the day, scheduled for 8 p.m. The Raiders will enter with a 5-8 record.

Altamont trailed early, but then turned things around and went on to post a 63-43 victory Monday night over St. Anthony in the Altamont Freshman Tournament.

The Bulldogs took a 13-9 lead after the first period, but the Indians led 23-20 at halftime and 43-33 after three quarters. Altamont then outscored St. Anthony 20-10 in the final period.

The Indians had four players in double figures. Jarhaus scored 12 points, while Robinson, Hammer and Eirhart each added 11.

Griffin Sehy led St. Anthony with 15 points and Jonathan Willenborg added 10.

St. Anthony basketball standout Jaccob Dust has been named the WCIA 3 Athlete of the Week.

The 6-foot-7 senior forward is averaging 17 points and nine rebounds per game this season for the state-ranked Bulldogs.

“It’s been a blast so far. Just being together with the guys and grinding every day has been really fun,” Dust said. “We have a lot of depth. And because everyone is coming in every day and putting in the work, we have been successful so far.”

The 13-2 Bulldogs will be in action tonight (Friday) at home against Mt. Carmel and then host the St. Anthony Shootout Saturday. The Bulldogs will play Quincy Notre Dame at 8 p.m.