The Aaron Rios coaching era started on a positive note Monday night, as the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs presented him with his first coaching victory, a 53-42 win at Dieterich.

Riley Guy scored 12 of her game-high 14 points in the first half, helping St. Anthony build a 29-23 halftime lead. The Lady Bulldogs maintained that advantage the rest of the way, finishing with a season-opening 11-point victory.

Dieterich and St. Anthony were tied 10-10 after the opening eight minutes, but Guy connected on a trio of 3-pointers and Anna Faber chipped in with four more points, helping the Lady Bulldogs build the six-point spread at intermission.

Grace Karolewicz hit a three and Reese Jones tallied three points in the third quarter, helping St. Anthony maintain its six-point lead. Lucy Fearday then had four points in the final period, as the Lady Bulldogs expanded their lead down the stretch.

Jones and Izzy Hakman both finished with eight points for St. Anthony, while Karolewicz, who also hit a 3-pointer in the opening period, had seven.

The Lady Bulldogs will play Thursday at Sandoval.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs will have a brand new look this year.

Not only did they lose five seniors – and the bulk of the team’s scoring – their veteran coach, Bart Wiedman, retired.

This year’s squad consists of one senior, one junior, three sophomores, five freshmen and a first-time head coach in Aaron Rios, who plans to bring his passion for the game of basketball into his first head coaching position.

“I am so grateful for this opportunity to coach basketball,” Rios said. “We’re going to teach fundamentals and work hard, but I also want the girls to have fun playing the game. One of my goals is to create positivity around this program.”

Rios was born in Santa Anna, California, and raised in Burlington, Iowa. He played basketball at Iowa Central Community College when it was one of the top 10 junior college teams in the country, and then at Iowa Wesleyan, helping that program to a school record in wins.

He served as a volunteer associate coach for five years at Burlington High School and has helped coach the St. Anthony Grade School teams.

“That’s how I made my connections with Greg Fearday and Kevin Palmer,” Rios noted. “When Bart resigned, they asked if I’d be interested in the girls coaching position, so I decided to interview for the job.

“It’s an honor and privilege to be given this chance,” Rios added. “I look forward to leading this program and building it for the future. Being a head coach has been a dream of mine.”

The Tom Bryant Memorial Basketball Shooting & Fundamentals Camp has been scheduled for two consecutive Sundays in November at St. Anthony High School’s Enlow Center.

The dates are November 3 and 10.

The camp is for boys and girls in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Those in kindergarten through second grade will meet from 9-11 a.m. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth graders will meet from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

The instructors will be the St. Anthony coaches, assistant coaches and current players.

The fee is $25.

All proceeds will fund the annual Tom Bryant Scholarships.

For more information or a registration form, call Anita Baker at 217-663-5061.