By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Just 72 hours earlier, they were hoisting the championship trophy after winning the National Trail Conference Basketball Tournament.
But Tuesday night, it was time to play again. On the road. Against a very good team.
So how would the St. Anthony Bulldogs respond?
As it turns out, they responded just fine.
The Bulldogs never trailed in the game. They led by double digits in the first half and by as many as 21 points before settling for a 61-46 victory at Casey-Westfield.
“The concern about a game like this is that there will be a letdown,” SAHS coach Cody Rincker said. “But the boys did a good job of not letting that happen. They just kept rolling from Saturday night.”
A three-pointer by Brock Fearday and a layup by Ryan Schmidt following a Casey-Westfield turnover staked St. Anthony to a 5-0 lead just 49 seconds into the game. The Warriors never got closer than three points the rest of the way.
The Bulldogs built an 11-2 lead midway through the opening quarter, but then didn’t score again for a little over four minutes. By that time, Casey-Westfield had narrowed the gap to 11-8.
But St. Anthony responded. Collin Westendorf knocked down a three that ignited an 11-4 run. Schmidt also hit a three and scored six points, helping the Bulldogs take their first double-digit lead of the game, 22-12, with three minutes left in the opening half. At intermission, it was a 26-19 advantage.
Nancy Ruholl and Adysen Rios combined to score 51 points Monday night, leading the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs to a 77-40 win at home over North Clay.
Rios scored seven points and both Ruholl and Addi Nuxoll added four more, as the Lady Bulldogs built an 18-6 lead after the opening eight minutes.
The Ruholl-Rios scoring binge heated up even more in the second period. Ruholl knocked down three shots from behind the arc and scored 15 points, while Rios made a shot from long range and tallied 11 more, helping the hosts go on a 32-19 run and take a 50-25 advantage to the locker room at halftime.
St. Anthony led by 33 points, 72-39, after three quarters, resulting in a continuously running clock.
Ruholl finished with a game-high 29 points, while Rios added 22. Stacie Vonderheide was also in double figures, finishing with 16.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 21-6 overall and 6-1 in the National Trail Conference. They will return to action Thursday night at home against Brownstown/St. Elmo in another NTC contest.
The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs got balanced scoring and rolled to their 20th victory of the season Saturday afternoon with a 79-34 thumping of Pana.
St. Anthony had four players in double figures and dominated every phase of the game.
The Lady Bulldogs led 27-18 after the first eight minutes and then went on a 24-2 scoring spree to build a 31-point halftime lead, 51-20. It was 70-26 heading into the final quarter.
Stacie Vonderheide continued her torrid scoring, pouring in 31 points, with 25 of those coming in the first half. She also grabbed 12 rebounds in yet another double-double performance. Adysen Rios scored 17 points, Nancy Ruholl had 15 and freshman Addie Lauritzen added 10. St. Anthony finished with 19 total assists, 38 rebounds and 17 steals.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 20-6 on the season. They will return to action Monday with a National Trail Conference home game against North Clay. SAHS is 5-1 in the NTC.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
For the second year in a row, Ryan Schmidt turned in a memorable shooting performance at the National Trail Conference Basketball Tournament.
A year ago, the then-sophomore came off the bench and had a perfect shooting night in the semifinals. He took 14 total shots – five from two-point range; three-from three-point range; and six from the foul line – and made them all. He finished with 25 points and helped St. Anthony defeat North Clay.
The Bulldogs sharpshooter was back at it again Saturday night. No, he wasn’t perfect this time. But Schmidt’s lefthanded jump shot was definitely locked in. He connected on 20-of-22 total shots, going 8-for-8 inside the arc, 4-of-5 behind the arc and 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
Schmidt was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and rightfully so. He scored 36 points to lead the Bulldogs to the 70-60 victory over Dieterich in the championship game of the 88th annual NTC Tournament played at Altamont High School.
St. Anthony returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2020, but it was the school’s 25th overall tournament title.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Don’t let the margin of victory fool you.
This was a closely contested game for most of the 32 minutes.
There’s a reason St. Elmo/Brownstown (SEB) had 18 wins – and an eight-game winning steak -- entering Thursday night’s contest. The Eagles played tough, hard-nosed defense against St. Anthony and made enough shots to stay close.
But in the fourth period, the Bulldogs showed why they are the tournament and state’s top-ranked team. Their defense forced five turnovers and they finally started knocking down some shots.
As a result, St. Anthony went on a 23-9 scoring surge over the final eight minutes to pull away and post a 51-32 victory in a semifinal game of the 88th annual National Trail Conference Basketball Tournament played at Altamont High School.
“That’s a good basketball team we played tonight,” St. Anthony coach Cody Rincker said. “I could sing (SEB head coach) Greg Feezel’s praises all day long. He’s an outstanding coach that always gets the most out of his kids. I have the utmost respect for him and for the SEB program.”
The Bulldogs will now face either Altamont or Dieterich for the tournament championship Saturday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
“We needed a game like this,” Rincker noted. “We were challenged and faced adversity. This should help get us ready for the championship game.”
But the win was anything but easy.
It was obvious from the beginning the shorter, but scrappy Eagles had come to play and weren’t intimidated by the top seed at all.
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