Bulldogs Edge Hearts Friday Night; Finals at St. Anthony Tourney Set for Saturday

In an exciting game that never featured a double-digit lead, the St. Anthony Bulldogs edged the Effingham Hearts 55-53 at the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament Friday night.

The contest in a jam-packed Enlow Center was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. Be watching for a video replay of the game online early next week.

St. Anthony held the lead for much of the early part of the game, up 12-8 after one quarter and 24-19 at halftime. The Bulldogs had the opportunity to take a double-digit lead just before halftime, but Effingham got a steal and a three-point play to make a five-point contest at the break.

Effingham went on a roll in the third quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 18-13 to tie the game 37-37 heading into the fourth quarter. St. Anthony was eventually able to take a narrow lead and hold it for much of the final quarter, outscoring Effingham 18-16 in the period to post the two-point win.

St. Anthony shot 41% from the field, 17 of 41 including 5 of 12 threes. The Bulldogs shot 29 free throws and made 16 for 55%. The Bulldogs turned the ball over just nine times and grabbed 28 rebounds.

Effingham shot 38% from the field, 21 of 55 including 3 of 12 threes. The Hearts made 8 of 12 foul shots, committed 11 turnovers and pulled down 34 rebounds.

Jack Hoene led St. Anthony in scoring with 15 points, 13 in the second half. Jaccob Dust scored 11 points with nine rebounds, and Alex Brandenburger was in double figures with 10 points. Also scoring for St. Anthony: Luke Ludwig 6, Kaden Fearday 5, Aaron Webb 5, Logan Antrim 2, and Bryson Wall 1.

Effingham's Landon Wolfe led all scorers with 31 points including 7 of 10 from the line and completed a double-double with 10 rebounds. Also for Effingham: Nate Thompson 8 with 5 rebounds; Jacob Briggerman 6 with 5 rebounds; Parker Wolfe 5, Tate Niebrugge 2, and Cole Marxman 1 with 8 rebounds.

St. Anthony is now 2-1 in the tournament and will play for third place Saturday evening, while Effingham is now 1-2 and will play for fifth place.

Here's the Saturday schedule at St. Anthony:

3pm--7th Place Game--Tolono Unity vs. Okaw Valley

4:30pm--5th Place Game--Effingham vs. Robinson

6pm--3rd Place Game--St. Anthony vs. Breese Central

7:30pm--1st Place Game--Highland vs. Mattoon

St. Anthony Tournament

Game 12

ST. ANTHONY (55)

Hoene 4-4 -- 15, Brandenburger 3-3 -- 10, Ludwig 3-0 -- 6, Webb 2-0 -- 5, Elder 0-0 -- 0, Fearday 1-3 -- 5, Wall 0-1 -- 1, Antrim 0-2 -- 2, Dust 4-3 -- 11. TOTALS 17 FG, 16 FT.

EFFINGHAM (53)

Niebrugge 1-0 -- 2, P. Wolfe 2-0 -- 5, L. Wolfe 11-7 -- 31, D. Thompson 0-0 -- 0, N. Thompson 4-0 -- 8, Stoneburner 0-0 -- 0, Briggerman 3-0 -- 6, Marxman 0-1 -- 1. TOTALS 21 FG, 8 FT.

St. Anthony               12    12    13    18    --    55

Effingham                   8     11    18    16    --    53

3-point FG -- St. Anthony 5 (Hoene 3, Brandenburger 1, Webb 1), Effingham 3 (L. Wolfe 2, P. Wolfe 1).