St. A Nabs Second Straight NTC Tourney Championship

The St. Anthony Bulldogs captured the National Trail Conference Boys Basketball Tournament for the second straight season Saturday defeating the Dieterich Movin Maroons 53-48. All 14 tournament games were live video and audio streamed on www.979xfm.com and heard on 979XFM. 

The Neoga Indians won the third place game, defeating Windsor/Stew-Stras 56-48, Altamont went overtime to defeat St. Elmo/Brownstown 71-65 to win the consolation championship, and North Clay defeated Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City 78-65 to win the 7th place game.

An all-tournament team was selected. The members, in no particular order, are Mitchell Stevenson and Alek Biggs of Altamont; Callaway Campton, Ryan Radloff and Tyler Higgs of Dieterich; Reese Johnson and Drew Ramert of Neoga; Adam Levitt, Cade Walsh and Alex Deters of St. Anthony; Lewis Brown of St. Elmo/Brownstown; and Christian Kessler of Windsor/Stew-Stras.

ST. ANTHONY 53, DIETERICH 48

The Bulldogs captured their 22nd conference tournament championship, but Dieterich was in the game throughout the contest.

The battle of the #1 and #2 seeds saw St. Anthony try to end the game early, leading 15-8 after one quarter. Dieterich fought back, though, outscoring the Bulldogs 15-11 in the second quarter to trail just 26-23 at halftime.

St. Anthony outpointed Dieterich 14-8 in the third period to lead 40-31 heading into the final period, and pushed the lead to 11 points before Dieterich came storming back. The Maroons pulled within one at 49-48 before St. Anthony hit four key foul shots to post the five-point win.

St. Anthony shot 48% from the field, making 21 of 44 attempts including 2 of 10 threes. The Bulldogs made 7 of 9 foul shots, grabbed 28 rebounds and turned the ball over 13 times.

Dieterich made 18 of 42 shots, 43%, including 3 of 9 threes The Maroons made 10 of 13 free throws, pulled down 18 rebounds and turned the ball over nine times.

St. Anthony's Alex Deters led all scorers with 17 points on 8 of 12 shooting. Adam Levitt scored 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting with five rebounds. Cade Walsh scored 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Jack Nuxoll scored nine points and led the Bulldogs with seven rebounds. Also for the Bulldogs: Jaccob Dust 2 points and Brandon Runge 1 point.

Callaway Campton scored 15 points to lead Dieterich on 5 of 8 shooting. Tyler Higgs scored 14 points on 7 of 10 shooting. Ryan Radloff scored eight points with six rebounds. Devin Flach scored six points and led Dieterich with seven rebounds. Bryce McClain added five points.

St. Anthony improved to 21-2 on the season, while Dieterich is now 15-6.

NEOGA 56, WINDSOR/STEW-STRAS 48

Neoga broke out to an early lead in this one, leading 20-11 after one quarter, and extending the lead to as many as 18 points before the Hatchets began a comeback in the second half. Trailing 31-13 at intermission, WSS outscored Neoga 17-9 in the third quarter to pull within 40-30 heading to the final period. The Hatchets outscored Neoga 18-16 in the final quarter, but lost by eight.

Neoga made 45% of its shots, 20 of 44, including 1 of 7 threes. The Indians made 15 of 21 free throws, grabbed 34 rebounds, and turned the ball over 11 times.

WSS shot 39% from the field, hitting 19 of 49 shots including 4 of 11 threes. A two-point second quarter really hurt the Hatchets. They also made just 6 of 14 foul shots, turned the ball over 10 times and grabbed 22 rebounds.

Freshman Reese Johnson led Neoga and all scorers with 17 points adding five rebounds. Drew Ramert scored 11 points and Caleb Hill scored 10 points. Also for Neoga: five points apiece for Jackson Clark and Lane Andrews, four for Clayton Butler, and two apiece for Mitchell Cornell and Trevor Roy.

Christian Kessler led WSS with 15 points on 7 of 12 shooting and added seven rebounds. Isaac Kramer added 12 points and Chase Thies scored 11 points. Also for the Hatchets: Gavin Bennett and Adam Burton with four points each, and Jackson Miller with one point.

Neoga improved to 10-9, while Windsor/Stew-Stras is now 9-10 on the campaign.

ALTAMONT 71, ST. ELMO/BROWNSTOWN 65 (OT)

In one of the most fun games of the week, Altamont and SEB played to a 14-14 tie after one quarter, but Altamont kicked it into another gear in the second quarter, outscoring the Eagles 20-7 to lead 34-21 at halftime. Altamont pushed the lead to 16 before SEB began a huge comeback. The Eagles outscored the Indians 20-12 in the third quarter to pull within 46-41 and eventually came back to take a three-point lead. Altamont, though, got a three from Mitchell Stevenson to tie the game 57-57 and send it to overtime. From there, Altamont outscored St. Elmo/Brownstown 14-8 in the extra period to claim the six-point win.

Both teams shot the ball well overall, Altamont hitting exactly half its shots, 27 of 54, including 9 of 21 threes. The Indians made 8 of 10 foul shots, turned the ball over 17 times and grabbed 24 rebounds.

SEB made 24 of 47 shots, 51%, including 2 of 11 threes. The Eagles made 12 of 15 foul shots, pulled down 18 rebounds and turned the ball over 17 times.

Altamont's Mitchell Stevenson began the game needing 27 points to reach 1,000 for his career and made a last-shot three-pointer to reach the milestone, finishing 10 of 14 from the field. Alek Biggs and Aiden Jahraus each scored 11 points, Denver Duckwitz nine, Kaleb Whitt eight, and Tony Klitzing five.

(ALTAMONT HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AND NATIONAL TRAIL CONFERENCE PRESIDENT JERRY TKACHUK RECOGNIZES ALTAMONT'S MITCHELL STEVENSON FOR SCORING HIS 1,000TH CAREER POINT)

Lewis Brown led all scorers with a monster performance, totaling 35 points for SEB on 13 of 20 shooting. Andy Goldsborough scored 10 points, Isaac Maxey and Rocky Himes seven each, and Nate Philpot, Bryton Pruett and Clayton Aderman with two apiece.

Altamont improved to 12-9 on the season, while SEB is now 13-7.

NORTH CLAY 78, C-H-B-C 65

This started like a NBA game, with North Clay leading 26-20 after one quarter. North Clay kept up the tempo in the second quarter, outscoring CHBC 23-11 to lead 49-31 at halftime. A 16-15 third quarter put the Cardinals up 65-46. CHBC made some noise in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Cardinals 19-13, but North Clay still posted a 13-point win.

Both teams shot the ball well. North Clay hit 53% from the field, 27 of 51 including 6 of 11 threes. The Cardinals made 18 of 26 foul shots, pulled down 19 rebounds, and turned the ball over 11 times.

The Bobcats made exactly half their shots, 24 of 48 including 5 of 12 threes. The Bobcats made 11 of 15 free throws, grabbed 25 rebounds and turned the ball over 15 times.

North Clay had five players in double figures: Kaden Turner 17, Nick Miller 12, Quincy Aldrich and Bryce Holkenbrink 11 each, and Aleon Rinehart with 10. Also for the Cardinals: Reese Blank 8, Luke Fleener and Kyle McKnelly 3 each, Ethan Bible 2, and Tyson Jones 1.

Keegan Martin led CHBC with 14 points, while Nick Miller added 12 points and Dylan Webster 11. Dylan Turner scored nine points, Marshall Nohren 8, Trace Smith 6, Eddie Clearwater 3, and Chad Kirchhofer 2.

This game marked the first time two teams played each other twice in the same tournament. North Clay beat CHBC Monday night 68-32 to open the tourney.

The National Trail Conference also honored a boy and girl athlete scholarship nominee from each conference school. They include: ALTAMONT--Brooke Stuckemeyer and Kaleb Whitt...BEECHER CITY--Olivia Witteborg and Benson Buzzard...BROWNSTOWN--Mackenzie Parkinson and Cameron Callaway...COWDEN-HERRICK--Haley Atchley and Jarrett Sarver...DIETERICH--Lauren Garbe and Devin Flach...NEOGA--Cheyenne Vondrak and Jackson Clark...NORTH CLAY--Madison Healy and Quincy Aldrich...ST. ANTHONY--Maddi Tegeler and Alex Beesley...ST. ELMO--Ashlyn Mitchell and Wade Ireland...SOUTH CENTRAL--Kaelyn Nannini and Luke Bergman...STEWARDSON-STRASBURG--Maria Gentry and Isaac Kramer and WINDSOR--Kasey Bean and Dalton Armes.

The scholarship recipients are Kasey Bean of Windsor and Alex Beesley of St. Anthony.