The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs will take their early 2-0 record into the Lady Maroons Thanksgiving Invitational in Robinson.

There are eight teams in this year’s field. Each is guaranteed four games. The tourney begins Tuesday night and will conclude with games on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 29 and 30.

St. Anthony will be in Pool B, along with Martinsville, Olney and Marshall. The Pool A teams include Robinson, Fairfield, Oblong and Mt. Carmel.

Here is the full schedule:

Tuesday, Nov. 26

5 p.m. – Martinsville vs. Olney

6:30 p.m. – Marshall vs. St. Anthony

8 p.m. – Robinson vs. Oblong

Friday, Nov. 29

9 a.m. – St. Anthony vs. Olney

10:30 a.m. – Marshall vs. Martinsville

Noon – Mt. Carmel vs. Fairfield

5 p.m. – Oblong vs. Fairfield

6:30 p.m. – Robinson vs. Mt. Carmel

8 p.m. – Martinsville vs. St. Anthony

Saturday, Nov. 30

9 a.m. – Oblong vs. Mt. Carmel

10:30 a.m. – Robinson vs. Fairfield

Noon – Olney vs. Marshall

3 p.m. – Pool A #4 vs. Pool B #4 (7th place)

4:30 p.m. – Pool A #3 vs. Pool B #3 (5th place)

6 p.m. – Pool A #2 vs. Pool B #2 (3rd place)

7:30 p.m. – Pool A #1 vs. Pool B #1 (championship)

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.

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs broke out to a quick lead Thursday night and then rolled to their second victory, posting a 58-37 decision at Sandoval.

The Lady Bulldogs grabbed a 16-3 lead after the opening eight minutes, expanded it to 35-11 at halftime and were never threatened in the second half.

Riley Guy pumped in 15 of her game-high 20 points in the opening half. Lucy Fearday chipped in 11 points, helping St. Anthony get off to a 2-0 start on the season.

The Lady Bulldogs will now prepare for the Lady Maroons Thanksgiving Invitational in Robinson. They will open tourney play Tuesday night with a 6:30 p.m. game against Marshall. St. Anthony will play a total of four games in the eight-team event, which will conclude on Saturday, Nov. 30.

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.”

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