Neoga Has Heart-Stopping Win at NTC Tourney; St. A Downs SEB

(NEOGA'S PACI McCLURE FIRES UP THE LAST OF THREE SUCCESSFUL FOUL SHOTS TO GIVE THE INDIANS A 44-43 WIN OVER NORTH CLAY TUESDAY NIGHT)

A great second half performance by a sophomore enabled the Neoga Indians to post a 44-43 win over the North Clay Cardinals in Tuesday night action at the 85th Annual National Trail Conference Tournament at Altamont.

Top-seeded St. Anthony won the opener 57-28 over the St. Elmo/Brownstown Eagles. Both contests were presented by live streaming video and audio on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.

NEOGA 44, NORTH CLAY 43

The sophomore, Neoga's Paci McClure, had three points at halftime, but scored 17 second half points to enable the Indians to post the win. McClure scored 14 of those points in the fourth quarter on three threes and five foul shots.

McClure's biggest moment was when he was fouled with 0:04.2 remaining on a three-point try. He went to the line and made all three foul shots to give Neoga the lead. North Clay got the ball to mid-court but a shot from there at the buzzer missed to the right and that was the ballgame.

It was an interesting game. North Clay held a 13-9 lead after the first quarter, and the Cardinals were up 30-24 at halftime. A wacky third quarter followed in which North Clay did not score and Neoga scored just three points, but that was enough to make it 30-27 heading for the final quarter. Neoga outscored North Clay 17-13 in the period to produce the one-point victory.

While McClure had a big second half, Trevor Roy had kept Neoga in the game in the first half, scoring all 13 of his points. Trenton Moore scored six first half points, Chase Banning hit a big three late and finished with five points. Those four scored all of the Neoga points.

Luke Fleener had a big night for North Clay, scoring 19 points. Ian Bailey scored 10 first half points, Ethan Bible and Tyson Jones each scored six points, and Lane Holkenbrink and Dakota Weidner each scored one point.

Neither team led by more than seven points.

Neoga shot 48% from the field, 15 of 31, including 8 of 18 threes. The Indians made 6 of 10 foul shots, turned the ball over nine times and grabbed just 11 rebounds. North Clay made 16 of 31 shots, 52%, including 2 of 10 threes. The Cardinals also made 11 of 13 free throws, turned the ball over 12 times, and pulled down 18 rebounds.

Neoga improved to 15-7 with the win, while North Clay is now 13-8.

ST ANTHONY 57, ST. ELMO/BROWNSTOWN 28

This game was close early, but the Bulldogs outscored the Eagles 32-17 over the middle two quarters and then posted a 13-4 fourth quarter edge to seal the win.

St. Anthony shot 25 of 55 from the field, 45%, while missing all eight of their three point tries. The Bulldogs made 7 of 14 free throws, grabbed 29 rebounds, and committed just seven turnovers, only two in the second half.

SEB made 11 of 35 shots, 31%, including 2 of 14 threes. The Eagles made 4 of 6 free throws, turned the ball over 19 times, and pulled down 22 rebounds.

St. Anthony's Jaccob Dust had a big game on the night his mother was celebrating her birthday, and on the night he scored his 1,000th career point. Dust finished with another double-double, 25 points and 15 rebounds. Kaden Fearday was in double figures with 10 points. Also for the Bulldogs: Jack Hoene and Aaron Webb with 7 apiece, and Connor Walk, Eli Moore, Grant Nuxoll and Jack Elder with 2 points each.

Gavyn Smith scored 10 points to lead the Eagles. Also for SEB: Jacob Baron 7, Andy Goldsborough and Bryton Pruett 4 each, Kaden Tish 2, and Jace McWhorter 1.

St. Anthony improved to 18-3 on the season, while St. Elmo/Brownstown is now 13-8.

With the Tuesday results, St. Elmo/Brownstown will take on North Clay at 6:30pm Thursday and St. Anthony will play Neoga at 8pm Thursday. There will be a 5pm Thursday game where Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City will play the loser of Wednesday's Altamont/Windsor-Stew/Stras game.

The Wednesday schedule will see the #2 seed Altamont take on the #6 Hatchets at 6:15pm, followed by #3 Dieterich and #6 South Central. Both games will again be live audio and video streamed on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

NTC Tournament

Game Two

SEB (28)

Stine 0-0 -- 0, Pruett 2-0 -- 4, Forbus 0-0 -- 0, Tish 1-0 -- 2, Smith 4-0 -- 10, McWhorter 0-1 -- 1, Higgs 0-0 -- 0, Goldsborough 2-0 -- 4, Tish 0-0 -- 0, Campbell 0-0 -- 0, Baron 2-3 -- 7. TOTALS 11 FG, 4 FT.

ST. ANTHONY (57)

Webb 3-1 -- 7, Hoene 3-1 -- 7, Walsh 0-0 -- 0, Fearday 5-0 -- 10, Dust 10-5 -- 25, Elder 1-0 -- 2, Walk 1-0 -- 2, Moore 1-0 -- 2, Nuxoll 1-0 -- 2, Hotze 0-0 -- 0, Wilenborg 0-0 -- 0, Wiedman 0-0 -- 0, Schuette 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 25 FG, 7 FT.

SEB                          7    10      7      4    --    28

St. Anthony           12    15    17    13    --    57

3-point FG -- St. Elmo/Brownstown 2 (Smith 2), St. Anthony 0.

Game Three

NEOGA (44)

Banning 2-0 -- 5, Fearday 0-0 -- 0, Titus 0-0 -- 0, Moore 3-0 -- 6, McClure 5-5 -- 20, Roy 5-1 -- 13. TOTALS 15 FG, 6 FT.

NORTH CLAY (43)

Lu. Fleener 7-5 -- 19, Ballard 0-0 -- 0, Bible 3-0 -- 6, Holkenbrink 0-1 -- 1, Jones 2-2 -- 6, Bailey 3-2 -- 10, Weidner 0-1 -- 1. TOTALS 15 FG, 11 FT.

Neoga                    9    15    3    17    --    44

North Clay           13    17    0    13    --    43

3-point FG -- Neoga 8 (McClure 5, Roy 2), North Clay 2 (Bailey 2).