St. Anthony Defeats Altamont for NTC Tourney Crown; North Clay, SE/B, South Central Also Win

The St. Anthony Bulldogs captured the championship of the 2019 National Trail Conference Boys Basketball Tournament Saturday night, defeating the Altamont Indians 68-50. 

Also Saturday, North Clay came from behind to defeat Dieterich 60-55 in the third place game, St. Elmo/Brownstown downed Neoga 72-66 in the consolation championship game, and South Central beat Windsor/Stew-Stras 45-37 in the seventh place game.

All four Saturday games and all 14 games during Tournament Week were heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com and streamed live on our YouTube channel.

ST. ANTHONY 68, ALTAMONT 50

The Bulldogs' Jaccob Dust was just too much for Altamont, as the junior poured in 28 points on 13 of 18 shooting. He also led the Bulldogs with seven rebounds.

St. Anthony roared out of the gate and led Altamont 15-6 after one quarter, then pushed the lead to 20, 34-14, at halftime.

Altamont wasn't done, though, as the Indians finally started getting shots to drop. They cut the 20-point deficit to six in the third quarter. St. Anthony finally regrouped and had the lead back up to 10 heading for the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs then outpointed the Indians 20-12 to win by 18 points.

NOTE: Due to technical issues, YouTube broke the championship game into three videos. We've assembled them here in one playlist.

St. Anthony shot 56% from the field, 28 of 50, including 3 of 9 threes. The Bulldogs made 9 of 12 free throws, turned the ball over 15 times, and grabbed 30 rebounds.

Altamont made 43% of its shots, 19 of 44, including 6 of 15 threes. The Indians made just six of 13 foul shots, committed 14 turnovers and grabbed 17 rebounds.

In addition to Dust's 28 points, St. Anthony got 11 points from Luke Ludwig, Kaden Fearday and Jack Hoene 7 each, Aaron Webb 6, Logan Antrim 5, and Bryson Wall 4.

For Altamont, Alek Biggs led the way with 19 points and grabbed five rebounds. Also for the Indians: Denver Duckwitz 11, Noah Teasley 8, and Aiden Jahraus and Tony Klitzing six each.

St. Anthony improved to 16-7 on the season, while Altamont is now 13-10.

Championship Game

ST. ANTHONY (68)

Hoene 2-2 -- 7, Brandenburger 0-0 -- 0, Ludwig 5-1 -- 11, Webb 3-0 -- 6, Fearday 2-2 -- 7, Wall 1-2 -- 4, Antrim 2-0 -- 5, Dust 13-2 -- 28. TOTALS 28 FG, 9 FT.

ALTAMONT (50)

Biggs 7-4 -- 19, Jahraus 2-1 -- 6, Eirhart 0-0 -- 0, Duckwitz 5-1 -- 11, Klitzing 2-0 -- 6, Teasley 3-0 -- 8, Kollman 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 19 FG, 6 FT.

St. Anthony              15    19    14    20    --    68

Altamont                    6       8    24    12    --    50

3-point FG -- St. Anthony 3 (Hoene 1, Fearday 1, Antrim 1), Altamont 6 (Klitzing 2, Teasley 2, Biggs 1 Jahraus 1).

NORTH CLAY 60, DIETERICH 55

This was a game of two halves.

Dieterich and North Clay battled throughout the first half, but Dieterich led 15-13 after the first quarter and 30-24 at halftime.

North Clay then unloaded in the third quarter, outscoring the Movin Maroons 24-13 to pull ahead 48-43 and matched Dieterich 12-12 in the final quarter to win by five.

Both teams shot 50% of better; North Clay 21 of 39 for 54% including 9 of 16 threes, and Dieterich 21 of 42 for 50% including 3 of 9 threes. North Clay made 9 of 12 foul shots, while Dieterich made 12 of 17. North Clay turned the ball over 14 times and 12 times for Dieterich, and North Clay outrebounded Dieterich 20 to 15.

Nick Miller led North Clay with 22 points. Luke Fleener scored 16 points. Also for North Clay: Tyson Jones 9, Aleon Rinehart 6, Blake Noll 3, and Kaden Turner and Trey Smith 2 each.

Dieterich had balanced scoring: Derek Kuhl and Cole Niebrugge 13 each, Matthew Hunzinger 11, Collin Hartke 10, and Evan Bohnhoff 8.

North Clay improved to 18-6, while Dieterich is now 14-9.

Third Place Game

NORTH CLAY (60)

Jones 3-0 -- 9, Fleener 4-6 -- 16, Ballard 0-0 -- 0, Bible 0-0 -- 0, Holkenbrink 0-0 -- 0, Smith 1-0 -- 2, Turner 1-0 -- 2, Weidner 0-0 -- 0, Rinehart 3-0 -- 6, Noll 1-0 -- 3, Miller 8-3 -- 22, Bailey 0-0 -- 0, Ingram 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 21 FG, 9 FT.

DIETERICH (55)

E. Bohnhff 3-0 -- 8, Budde 0-0 -- 0, Will 0-0 -- 0, Hunzinger 4-1 -- 9, Gephart 0-0 -- 0, Will 0-0 -- 0, S. Bohnhoff 0-0 -- 0, Dosra 0-0 -- 0, Hartke 3-6 -- 12, Einhorn 0-0 -- 0, Kuhl 5-3 -- 13, Elmore 0-0 -- 0, Niebrugge 6-0 -- 13, Westendorf 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 21 FG, 10 FT.

North Clay               13    11    24    12    --    60

Dieterich                  15    15    13    12    --    55

3-point FG -- North Clay 9 (Jones 3, Milelr 3, Fleenr 2, Noll 1), Dieterich 3 (E. Bohnhoff 2, Elmore 1).

ST. ELMO/BROWNSTOWN 72, NEOGA 66

This game was back-and-forth the entire contest.

SEB took an 8-0 lead out of the gate, then watched Neoga score 12 straight, then scored the final six points of the quarter to lead 14-12. A 17-17 second quarter left the Eagles up 31-29 at halftime, then SEB outpointed Neoga 15-14 to lead 46-43 after three quarters.

The guns really came out in the fourth quarter, as SEB outscored Neoga 26-23 and won by six points.

Nate Philpot led the way for SEB with 21 points, all in the second half. Philpot poured in 18 points in the fourth quarter, going six of seven from the field and four of four at the line. Jacob Baron scored 12 points and Nick Rosborough 11 for the Eagles. Also for SEB: Andy Goldsborough 9, Bryton Pruett 8, Jaxson Tish 6, and Jace McWhorter 5.

Trevor Roy led Neoga with 16 points, while Nick Titus scored 14 points and Reece Johnson 13 points. Also for Neoga: Mitchell Cornell 9, Chase Banning 8, Levi Peters 4, and J.C. Keller 2.

St. Elmo/Brownstown shot 46% from the field, 24 of 52, including 7 of 17 threes. They made 17 of 21 free throws, turned the ball over just four times, and grabbed 23 rebounds.

Neoga shot 43% from the field, 23 of 54, including 10 of 28 threes. They made 10 of 13 free throws, turned the ball over 10 times, and pulled down 32 reobunds.

SEB is now 13-10 on the season, while Neoga is 12-9.

Consolation Championship

SEB (72)

Philpot 7-5 -- 21, Baron 4-4 -- 12, Rosborough 4-3 -- 11, Goldsborough 2-5 -- 9, Pruett 3-0 -- 8, Tish 2-0 -- 6, McWhorter 2-0 -- 5. TOTALS 24 FG, 17 FT.

NEOGA (66)

Roy 7-0 -- 16, Titus 4-2 -- 14, Johnson 3-6 -- 13, Cornell 4-0 -- 9, Banning 3-0 -- 8, Peters 2-0 -- 4, Keller 0-2 -- 2, Fearday 0-0 -- 0, Lanham 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 23 FG, 10 FT.

SEB                14    17    15    26    --    72

Neoga            12    17    14    23    --    66

3-point FG -- SEB 7 (Philpot 2, Pruett 2, Tish 2, McWhorter 1), Neoga 10 (Titus 4, Roy 2, Banning 2, Johnson 1, Cornell 1).

SOUTH CENTRAL 45, WINDSOR/STEW-STRAS 37

This was close throughout the contest.

South Central led 10-9 after one quarter, were up 18-13 at halftime, in front 29-23 after three quarters, and outscored WSS 16-14 in the final quarter to win by eight points.

South Central shot just 33% from the field, 12 of 36, including just 1 of 13 threes, but made 20 of 24 from the line, turned the ball over just eight times, and grabbed 23 rebounds.

Windsor/Stew-Stras made 37% of its shots, 14 of 38, including 1 of 10 threes. The Hatchets made just eight of 19 free throws, turned the ball over 12 times, and pulled down 27 rebounds.

Logan Lotz and Daniel Roberts each scored 15 points to lead South Central. Also for the Cougars: Hunter Brandt 9, Colin Miller 4, and Keenin Wilshire 2. 

Freshman Gavan Wernsing led WSS with 16 points. Also for the Hatchets: Beau Bennett 8, Adam Burton 6, Clay Tabbert 3, Logan Greuel 2, and Jackson Miller and Wyatt Smith 1 each.

South Central is now 13-10 on the season, while Windsor/Stew-Stras is 13-11.

Seventh Place Game

SOUTH CENTRAL (45)

Lotz 3-9 -- 15, Roberts 4-7 -- 15, Brandt 3-3 -- 9, Miller 1-1 -- 4, Willshire 1-0 -- 2. TOTALS 12 FG, 20 FT.

WSS (37)

Bennett 3-1 -- 8, Greuel 1-0 -- 2, Miller 0-1 -- 1, Tabbert 0-3 -- 3, Smith 0-1 -- 1, Burton 3-0 -- 6, Wernsing 7-2 -- 16. TOTALS 14 FG, 8 FT.

South Central               10    8    11    16    --    45

WSS                                9    4    10    14    --    37

3-point FG -- South Central 1 (Miller 1), Windsor/Stew-Stras 1 (Bennett 1).

This was the one-year anniversary of the untimely death of Altamont Athletic Director Todd Arnold. To honor his memory, the National Trail Conference has created the Todd Arnold Memorial Most Valuable Player Award. The first recipient was St. Anthony's Jaccob Dust, who scored 67 tournament points. Todd's parents, Bob and Carol Arnold, and brother, Mitch Arnold, along with his sons, Trent and Tyler, were all on hand for the presentation of the award to Dust as well as the plaques to the other All-Tournament Team members.

They are Derek Kuhl of Dieterich; Trevor Roy of Neoga; Nate Philpot of St. Elmo/Brownstown; Hunter Brandt of South Central; Nick Miller and Luke Fleener of North Clay; Gavan Wernsing of Windsor/Stew-Stras; Kaden Fearday and Luke Ludwig of St. Anthony; Alek Biggs and Aiden Jahraus of Altamont.

(NATIONAL TRAIL CONFERENCE ALL-TOURNAMENT MEMBERS WITH TODD ARNOLD'S SONS TRENT AND TYLER ARE: 3rd left to right; MOST VALUABLE PLAYER JACCOB DUST OF ST. ANTHONY; AIDEN JAHRAUS AND ALEK BIGGS OF ALTAMONT; KADEN FEARDAY OF ST. ANTHONY; DEREK KUHL OF DIETERICH; NATE PHILPOT OF ST. ELMO/BROWNSTOWN; HUNTER BRANDT OF SOUTH CENTRAL; NICK MILLER OF NORTH CLAY; GAVAN WERNSING OF WINDSOR/STEW-STRAS; LUKE LUDWIG OF ST. ANTHONY; AND LUKE FLEENER OF NORTH CLAY. NOT PRESENT IS TREVOR ROY OF NEOGA)

The National Trail Conference also honored its scholarship nominees; a boy and girl from each conference school; and recognized the recipients, Nate Philpot of St. Elmo/Brownstown and Katie Kabbes of St. Anthony.

The conference also took time to honor the Voice of the National Trail Conference Tournament, Altamont High School Technology Director Charles Niehaus, for his 25 years' service to the tournament.