Altamont Claims 2022 NTC Boys Basketball Tourney Championship

Altamont claimed the championship of the National Trail Conference Tournament.

The Altamont Indians captured the championship of the 2022 National Trail Conference Tournament Saturday night, defeating the St. Anthony Bulldogs 48-41. 

In other tournament finals from Saturday, the Neoga Indians won the 7th place game over the St. Elmo/Brownstown Eagles 66-49; the South Central Cougars won the consolation championship over the Dieterich Movin Maroons 50-34; and Windsor/Stew-Stras won the 3rd place game over the North Clay Cardinals 71-61. 

All four games were heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. We also wrapped up a week of live video streaming of each game, with a peak viewership of 765 for the championship game.

ALTAMONT 48, ST. ANTHONY 41

The Indians led the championship game start-to-finish, ahead 16-10 after one quarter, in front 20-16 at halftime, and up 34-27 after three quarters. St. Anthony closed to within three points late in the game, but Altamont responded by hitting 10 of 13 foul shots in the fourth quarter to post the seven-point win.

Altamont shot 39% from the field, 14 of 36, including 6 of 17 threes. The Indians made 14 of 19 free throws, pulled down 23 rebounds, and committed just nine turnovers.

St. Anthony made 47% of its shots, 18 of 38, but made just 1 of 12 threes. The Bulldogs made 6 of 8 foul shots, grabbed 19 rebounds, and turned the ball over only four times, all in the first quarter.

Altamont's Mason Robinson, named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, led the Indians with 12 points and grabbed five rebounds. Noah Klimpel was also in double figures with 10 points. Also for Altamont: Tyler Robbins 8, Jared Hammer 7, Eric Kollman 6, Logan Cornett 3, and Will Schultz 2. 

Craig Croy led St. Anthony with 12 points and Kyle Stewart was also in double figures with 10 points. Also for St. Anthony: Brock Fearday 6, Griffin Sehy 5, Max Koenig 4, and Adam Rudibaugh and Colton Fearday 2 each.

Altamont improves to 19-5 on the season, while St. Anthony is now 14-11.

Championship Game

ALTAMONT (48)

Hammer 1-4 -- 7, Robinson 3-4 -- 12, Klimpel 3-3 -- 10, Robbins 2-3 -- 8, Cornett 1-0 -- 3, Schultz 1-0 -- 2, Kollmann 3-0 -- 6. TOTALS 14 FG, 14 FT.

ST. ANTHONY (41)

Westendorf 0-0 -- 0, Rudibaugh 1-0 -- 2, Stewart 4-2 -- 10, Sehy 2-0 -- 5, Croy 5-2 -- 12, Koenig 2-0 -- 4, Martelli 0-0 -- 0, B. Fearday 3-0 -- 6, C. Fearday 1-0 -- 2. TOTALS 18 FG, 4 FT.

Altamont                16    4    14    14    --    48

St. Anthony           10    6    11    14    --    41

3-point FG -- Altamont 6 (Robinson 2, Klimpel 1, Robbins 1, Cornett 1), St. Anthony 1 (Sehy 1).

WINDSOR/STEW-STRAS 71, NORTH CLAY/CLAY CITY 61

This was a tale of two halves. North Clay led 16-13 after one quarter and the Cardinals were in front at halftime 27-25. 

The second half belonged to the Hatchets, though. Windsor/Stew-Stras outscored North Clay 26-15 in the third quarter to take the lead 51-42 and posted a 20-19 edge in the fourth quarter to win the game by 10 points.

Windsor/Stew-Stras hit 57% of its shots from the field, 28 of 49, including 18 of 25 in the second half. The Hatchets made 7 of 13 threes.

North Clay made 53% of its shots, 24 of 45, including 7 of 16 threes. The Cardinals made 4 of 8 free throws.

Windsor/Stew-Stras outrebounded North Clay 23 to 15, and North Clay committed 15 turnovers to 10 for Windsor/Stew-Stras.

Samuel Vonderheide and Austin Wittenberg had big games for Windsor/Stew-Stras, Vonderheide 25 points on 10 of 12 shooting, and Wittenberg 21 points. Also for the Hatchets: Talon Bridges 11, Jordan Wittenberg 8, Carter Chaney 4, and Landon Miller 2.

Logan Fleener had a huge game for North Clay, scoring 30 points. Also for North Clay: Collyn Ballard 8, Dakota Weidner 7, Alex Boose 6, Brady Ingram and Bryton Griffy 4 each, and Levi Smith 2. 

Windsor/Stew-Stras improved to 19-5, while North Clay is now 9-14 on the season.

Third Place Game

NORTH CLAY (61)

Dawkins 0-0 -- 0, Ballard 3-0 -- 8, Smith 1-0 -- 2, B. Griffy 1-2 -- 4, Fleener 13-0 -- 30, Boose 2-1 -- 6, Ingram 1-1 -- 4, Weidner 3-0 -- 7. TOTALS 24 FG, 4 FT.

WSS (45)

Bridges 0-0 -- 0, A. Wittenberg 9-4 -- 23, Chaney 0-0 -- 0, Vonderheide 6-1 -- 14, Miller 2-0 -- 5, J. Wittenberg 1-1 -- 3. TOTALS 18 FG, 6 FT.

North Clay             16    11    15    19    --    61

WSS                       13      8    10    14    --    45

3-point FG -- North Clay 9 (Fleener 4, Ballard 2, Boose 1, Ingram 1, Weidner 1), Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg 3 (A. Wittenberg, Vnderheide 1, Miller 1).

SOUTH CENTRAL 50, DIETERICH 34

South Central led wire-to-wire, up 14-5 after one quarter, 28-8 at halftime, and 36-22 after three quarters. Dieterich staged a big comeback from down 24 to moving within nine before South Central regrouped to win by 16. 

South Central shot 50% from the field, 16 of 32, including 3 of 8 threes. The Cougars made 15 of 19 foul shots and overcame 17 turnovers. 

Dieterich made 13 of 44 shots, 30%, including 2 of 14 threes. The Maroons made just 8 of 20 foul shots, turned the ball over 17 times, and were outrebounded by Dieterich 27 to 23.

Keenan Willshire with 14 points and Spencer Johannes with 13 led South Central in scoring. Also for South Central: Aiden Dodson 9, Ethan Watwood 8, London Hails 5, and Brandt Hiestand 2. 

For Dieterich: Pete Britton 9, Bryce Budde 7, Andrew Lidy and Luke Westendorf 6 each, Caleb Gephart 4, and Cole Will 2. 

South Central is now 19-6 on the season, while Dieterich is now 13-8.

Consolation Championship

SOUTH CENTRAL (50)

Hails 1-2 -- 4, Hiestand 1-0 -- 2, Watwood 2-3 -- 8, Dodson 2-3 -- 9, Johannes 5-3 -- 13, Buonaura 0-0 -- 0, Anderson 0-0 -- 0, Willshire 5-4 -- 14. TOTALS 16 FG, 15 FT.

DIETERICH (34)

Britton 4-0 -- 9, Budde 2-2 -- 7, Lidy 3-0 -- 6, Will 1-0 -- 2, Desai 0-0 -- 0, Westendorf 2-2 -- 6, Bloemer 0-0 -- 0, Gephart 1-2 -- 4, Wente 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 13 FG, 6 FT.

South Central          14    14      8    14    --    50

Dieterich                    5      3    14    12    --    34

3-point FG -- South Central 3 (Dodson 2, Watwood), Dieterich 2 (Britton 1, Budde 1).

NEOGA 66, ST. ELMO/BROWNSTOWN 49

Neoga saved their best game of the tournament for Saturday, having played four days in a row. The Indians were up 21-8 after one quarter, 38-18 at halftime, and 55-35 after three quarters.

Neoga shot 59% from the field, making 22 of 37 shots including 4 of 11 threes. The Indians made 16 of 25 free throws, grabbed 31 rebounds, and turned the ball over 18 times. 

St. Elmo/Brownstown shot 30% from the field, 15 of 50, including 6 of 17 threes. The Eagles made 13 of 19 foul shots, pulled down 19 rebounds, and turned the ball over 13 times.

Paci McClure led Neoga with 24 points, while Brady Reynolds scored 15 points. Kaden Young and Quinton Richards each scored 7 points, Justin Bullock 5, Luke Romack 4, and Will O'Dell and Kyle Peters 2 each. 

Neoga is now 14-8 on the season, while St. Elmo/Brownstown is now 12-12.

The All-Tournament Team including Robinson, the MVP, are Noah Klimpel of Altamont; Kyle Stewart and Craig Croy of St. Anthony; Logan Fleener and Dakota Weidner of North Clay; Samuel Vonderheide and Austin Wittenberg of Windsor/Stew-Stras; Keenin Willshire and Spencer Johannes of South Central; Paci McClure of Neoga; and Bryce Budde of Dieterich. 

Seventh Place Game

SEB (49)

Behl 0-0 -- 0, Logan 0-0 -- 0, Pasley 3-6 -- 13, Smith 0-1 -- 1, J. Maxey 2-0 -- 6, B. Maxey 4-4 -- 12, Miller 0-0 -- 0, Stine 1-0 -- 3, Schaub 0-0 -- 0, Campbell 2-2 -- 7, Atwood 3-0 -- 7. TOTALS 15 FG, 13 FT.

NEOGA (66)

Monroe 0-0 -- 0, Hennesay 0-0 -- 0, Reynolds 4-4 -- 15, Young 3-0 -- 7, Peters 1-0 -- 2, McClure 6-10 -- 23, Richards 3-2 -- 8, O'Dell 1-0 -- 2, Will 0-0 -- 0, Bullcok 2-1 -- 5, Romack 2-0 -- 4 TOTALS 22 FG, 17 FT.

SEB                  8    10    17    14    --    49

Neoga            21    17    17    11    --    66

3-point FG -- St. Elmo/Brownstown 6 (J. Maxey 2, Pasley 1, Stine 1, Campbell 1, Atwood 1), Neoga 5 (Reynolds 3, Young 1, McClure 1).

Members of the National Trail Conference All-Tournament Team.