SEB, Altamont Winners Thursday at NTC Tournament

The Altamont Indians advanced to the championship game of the 81st Annual National Trail Conference Tournament Thursday night with a 64-46 win over the South Central Cougars. Meanwhile, the St. Elmo/Brownstown Eagles defeated the Neoga Indians 51-32 to move into the consolation championship game Saturday.

Friday night, Beecher City/Cowden-Herrick will play Windsor/Stew-Stras in a consolation bracket semifinal game at 6:15pm, followed by a championship bracket semifinal game between the St. Anthony Bulldogs and the Dieterich Movin Maroons.

ST. ELMO/BROWNSTOWN 51, NEOGA 32

SEB got out of the gate in good shape, leading 14-4 after the first quarter, but Neoga pulled to within 22-16 at halftime. A 16-4 third quarter decided the contest, though, putting the Eagles ahead 38-20 and then SEB posted a 13-12 fourth quarter edge to win by 19 points.

SEB shot 44% from the field, making 21 of 48 including two of 13 threes. SEB made seven of 13 foul shots, committed 17 turnovers and pulled down 30 rebounds.

Neoga made just 12 of 48 shots for 25%, made seven of 11 foul shots, turned the ball over 21 times and grabbed 22 rebounds.

Landon Feezel paced SEB with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Kyle Hardimon scored 13 points and had seven rebounds. Klayton Kroll scored 11 points. Also for SEB: Lewis Brown 4, Brock Oberlink 3, Colten Miller 2, and Cody Brooks 2.

Caleb Hill led Neoga with 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Andy Freeman scored 10 points. Also for Neoga: Caleb Abernathy 3, Jesse Holt 2, Lane Andrews 2, and Zach Gresens 2.

SEB improved to 9-10, while Neoga fell to 1-21.

SEB will play for the consolation championship at 1pm Saturday, while Neoga will play in the 7th place game at 11:30am Saturday.

NTC Tournament

Game 5

ST. ELMO/BROWNSTOWN (51)

Feezel 7-1 -- 16, Hardimon 6-0 -- 13, Kroll 3-5 -- 11,  Brown 2-0 -- 4, Oberlink 1-1 -- 3, Miller 1-0 -- 2, C. Brooks 1-0 -- 2, D. Brooks 0-0 -- 0, Flowers 0-0 -- 0, Pasley 0-0 -- 0, Duckworth 0-0 -- 0, Logue 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 21 FG, 7  FT.

NEOGA (32)

Hill 6-1 -- 13, Freeman 4-0 -- 10, Abernathy 0-3 -- 3, Holt 1-0 -- 2, Andrews 0-2 -- 2, Gresens 1-0 -- 2, Easton 0-0 -- 0, Butler 0-0 -- 0, Clementi 0-0 -- 0, Peters 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 12 FG, 6 F T.

St. Elmo/Brownstown            14      8    16    13    --    51

Neoga                                         4    12      4    12    --    32

3-point FG -- St. Elmo/Brownstown 2 (Feezel 1, Hardimon1 ), Neoga 2 (Freeman 2).

ALTAMONT 64, SOUTH CENTRAL 46

Another case of a team getting out of the gate well, as Altamont outscored South Central 19-6 in the first quarter. Ryan Armstrong keyed the Altamont surge with 13 first quarter points. Altamont had the score doubled 38-19 at halftime, and then South Central outscored Altamont 27-26 in the second half.

Altamont shot 58% from the field, making 23 of 40 shots including five of nine threes. The Indians made 13 of 17 foul shots, turned the ball over just eight times, but pulled down just 14 rebounds.

South Central shot 51% from the field, making 19 of 37 shots including four of 10 threes. The Cougars made four of eight free throws, turned the ball over 20 times and grabbed 19 rebounds.

Armstrong led Altamont in scoring with 20 points. Mitchell Stevenson added 14 points, and Branden Hosick scored 10 points. Also for Altamont: Even Cornett 9, Adam Mayhaus 4, Logan Deadmond 4, Eric Wolff 2, and Sam Childerson 1.

South Central's Brett Harmeier's 22 points led all scorers, with 14 of those points coming in the second half. Also for South Central: Trevor Markley 9, Jon Arnold 7, Ryan Matheny 4, Drevonte Hill 2, and Caleb Harpster 2.

Harmeier went past the 1000-point career scoring mark during the game. It was later learned that South Central's Abby Hahn also went over 1,000 career points in her game Thursday night.

Altamont improved to 18-3 with the victory, while South Central slipped to 8-13 on the season.

Altamont will play for the conference tournament championship Saturday at 7:30pm, while South Central will play for third place at 2:30pm Saturday.

NTC Tournament

Game 6

SOUTH CENTRAL (46)

Harmeier 9-1 -- 22, Lotz 0-0 -- 0, Hill 1-0 -- 2, Fox 0-0 -- 0, Markley 4-0 -- 9, Harpster 1-0 -- 2, Blomberg 0-0 -- 0, Arnold 3-1 -- 7, Matheny 1-2 -- 4. TOTALS 19 FG, 4 FT.

ALTAMONT (64)

Stevenson 4-4 -- 14, Flores 0-0 -- 0, Hosick 4-1 -- 10, E. Wolff 1-1 -- 2, Jackman 0-0 -- 0, Mayhaus 1-2 -- 4, Williams 0-0 -- 0, Armstrong 8-2 -- 20, Caravello 0-0 -- 0, Deadmond 1-2 -- 4, Childerson 0-1 -- 1, Cornett 4-1 -- 9, K. Wolff 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 22 FG, 13 FT.

South  Central             6    13    14    13    --    46

Altamont                   19    19    13    13    --    64

3-point FG -- South Central 4 (Harmerier 3, Markley 1), Altamont 5 (Stevenson 2, Armstrong 2, Hosick 1).

Here's ticket information for Altamont fans: 

Tickets for Altamont fans for the championship game on Saturday will go on sale Friday at 9am in the Altamont High School office. All tickets will be $4. Students will purchase their tickets on their lunch periods.