Altamont to Play Dieterich for NTC Tourney Championship

VIDEO UNDER STORY

The Altamont Indians advanced to the championship game of the 78th Annual National Trail Conference Tournament Friday night with a hard-fought 65-57 victory over the Stewardson-Strasburg Comets.

The St. Anthony Bulldogs downed the South Central Cougars 56-23 in the other Friday contest to move into the consolation championship game.

Both contests were heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

Altamont 65, Stewardson-Strasburg 57

The Indians and Comets played a very physical ballgame that wasn't decided until late in the fourth quarter.

Stew-Stras took an early six-point lead, but Altamont battled back to tie the game at 8-8 after the first quarter.  The scoring picked up in the second quarter as Altamont outpointed Stew-Stras 21-18 to take a 29-26 halftime lead.  A 13-12 third quarter left Altamont in front 42-38.

The Indians pushed the lead to 10 in the fourth quarter, but the Comets came back to make it a two-point contest before having to foul.  Altamont made its foul shots to pull away and win by eight, outpointing Stew-Stras 23-19 in the final stanza.

Junior point guard Garrett Ziegler led the way for Altamont, scoring 25 points.  Cole Borders came off the bench to score 12 points, Jon Kuhns scored nine, Derek Jahraus seven, Logan Hill and Ryan Mayhaus four each, Justin McGinnis three, and Jake Seidel one.

For Stew-Stras, Justin Fulk scored 19 points before fouling out in the minute of the game.  Jason Fry scored 16 points, Brandon Helmuth and Jason Becker each scored nine points, and Dylan Roley and Bryse Bugger each scored two points.

Altamont made 18 of 44 shots for 41%, hit on 25 of a whopping 40 foul shots, committed 12 turnovers and grabbed 26 rebounds while making three of 10 three-point shots.

Stew-Stras hit 52% of its shots, making 23 of 44, but made nine of just 11 foul shots, turned the ball over 19 times and grabbed 25 rebounds while making two of 10 three-point tries.

Altamont improved to 15-5 while Stew-Stras slipped to 11-8 on the season.

It'll be #1 and #2 in the championship game, as #2 Altamont will take on top-seeded Dieterich for the tournament title.  Game time is 7:30pm.

Here's ticket information for Altamont fans:

Altamont High School students can purchase tickets, one per student from 8 to 8:30am.  Adult season ticket holders may buy two tickets for each season ticket presented between 9 and 10:30am.  Season ticket holders who have already purchased reserved chairs for the tournament will be limited to one additional bleacher ticket.  At 1pm, sales will begin for the remainder of the public with two tickets available to each person in line, as long as the tickets last.

St. Anthony 56, South Central 23

This game was close throughout the first quarter, with St. Anthony leading the Cougars 11-8 at the end of the period.  The Bulldogs took over in the second quarter, though, posting a blistering 16-3 advantage to take a 27-11 halftime lead.  After a ho-hum third quarter where St. Anthony outscored South Central 11-8 to lead 38-19, the Bulldogs outpointed the Cougars 18-4 in the fourth quarter to account for the 33-point win.

South Central just couldn't get the lid off the basket, as St. Anthony held them to nine of 35 shooting for 26%.  The Cougars made just five of 12 foul shots, committed 14 turnovers and pulled down just 14 rebounds while missing all 10 of their three-point tries.

St. Anthony made 43% of their shots, making 22 of 51 and made 10 of 16 foul shots.  The Bulldogs committed 15 turnovers and grabbed 34 rebounds while making two of four three-point shots.

St. Anthony's Jacob Schuette led all scorers with 16 points while Jason Vogel added 12 points and Alex Hoelscher 11 points.  Charlie Schultz scored seven points and Patrick Martelli added six points.  Jeff Niebrugge added one point.

Rudy Hablewitz scored 13 points to lead the Cougars.  Brett Harmeier and Fischer Tharp each scored four points and Austin Schwarm scored two points.

St. Anthony improved to 6-14 while South Central dropped to 5-15 and was eliminated from further tournament action.

Here's the full schedule for the final day of this year's NTC Tournament at Altamont:

11:30am--7th Place Game--Brownstown vs. Beecher City

1pm--Consolation Championship Game--St. Elmo vs. St. Anthony

2:30pm--3rd Place Game--Cowden-Herrick vs. Stewardson-Strasburg

7:30pm--Championship Game--Dieterich vs. Altamont

Doors for the championship game will open at 6:45pm and any remaining tickets will go on sale.  All bleacher tickets for Saturday night's game will be $4..

VIDEO: Altamont vs. Stew-Stras

Due to technical issues with our Internet connection, there is no archive copy of St. Anthony vs. South Central