Bulldogs Capture NTC Boys Tourney Championship (Updated)

Effingham St. Anthony captured the championship of the National Trail Conference Tournament.

ALTAMONT --The game was close throughout but eventually Effingham St. Anthony hit its free throws in the final quarter to pull out a 70-60 victory over Dieterich to win the championship of the 88th Annual National Trail Conference Boys Basketball Tournament Saturday.

The Bulldogs edged out to a 16-15 opening quarter lead as Ryan Schmidt took the scoring leadership roll with three regular baskets and two three-pointers for 12 points.

Landen Keck led Dieterich with two three-pointers and two free throws for eight. The Movin' Maroons connected on nine of 10 free throws in that quarter.

St. Anthony continued with the lead at halftime, outscoring Dieterich 18-13 for a 34-28 lead. Schmidt scored seven points while Collin Westendorf stepped in with six.

Dieterich nailed three trifectas in the quarter as Caleb Gephart put in two and Tanner Will one with a regular basket.

St. Anthony hit 63.6 precent from the field in that opening half run while Dieterich was at 43.7 percent.

The Maroons came back with a slight 15-14 third quarter to pull within 48-41 at halftime. Westendorf knocked in six points and Jaxon Funneman added four.

Schmidt continued on for the Bulldogs with seven points.

St. Anthony then put the icing on the cake with a 22-17 final quarter run. The Maroons had to foul and St. Anthony came up with the free throws. Schmidt connected on seven of eight at the line while Westendorf put in three of four. Brock Fearday chipped in with six points.

Gephart scored seven in the final quarter for Dieterich.

Schmidt had a record performance in the championship game for the Bulldogs with 36 points on 12 of 13 field goals and eight of nine at the line. He set the title game record after Leon Gobczynski (Teutopolis) and Chris Bochtler (St. Anthony) scored 33 points each. Gobczynski in 1971 and Bochtler in 2002 during the championship game.

During the tournament's history, the all-time scoring record is 41 points in a consolation semifinal Feb. 2, 1979 by Randy Mathis (Windsor) in a 79-56 victory over Beecher City. Curtis Schwarm of Brownstown scored 37 in a quarterfinal game as a sophomore and had 40 in a quarterfinal game as a senior.

Schmidt is the 12th player to score 36 or more in a single game in the NTC Tournament history and it's the 13th time overall that this has happened. Thanks to Kurt Becker for all the great statistics.

Westendorf and B. Fearday tallied nine points each and Brady Hatton added eiight.

Dieterich was led by four players in double figures. Gephart led the way with 15 on five field goals, two of those three-pointers. Keck finished with 12, Westendorf 11 and Funneman 10. Will chipped in with nine.

The third place contest went to Altamont over St. Elmo/Brownstown, 54-44.

St. Elmo/Brownstown edged out to a 15-10 opening quarter lead behind Brody Mason's six points and five from Cade Schaub. The Eagles still held a lead, 25-23 at halftime. Collin Maxey got in the fray with eight points.

Kade Milleville was keeping Atlamont close with seven and Aden McManaway added four.

The Indians then came out after halftime to make a 15-5 run to lead 38-30. Milleville put in eight of his team's points on a three-pointer, two regular baskets and a free throw. Alec Jahraus knocked down his second three-pointer.

From there, Altamont held off St. Elmo/Brownstown with a 16-14 final quarter for the victory. Eli Miller put in nine points.

Josiah Maxey tallied eight for SEB in the final period.

Milleville finished with 22 to lead the Indians. He connected on six of 10 from the field and eight of nine at the free throw line. Plus he pulled down seven rebounds. Also in double figures was E. Miller with 11.

St. Elmo/Brownstown was led by three players in double digits. C. Maxey led the way with five field goals, two of those from three-point range and a free throw for 13. J. Maxey and Schaub chipped in with 10 each.

In the consolation championship, North Clay (Louisville) downed Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg 66-49.

The Cardinals edged out to a 17-11 opening quarter lead as Cody Zimdars connected on two baskets and four of four at the line for eight points while Jesse Weidner scored five.

Jackson Gurgel had five for the Hatchets.

North Clay continued on with a 20-15 second quarter to lead 37-26 at halftime. Carder Walden took over the scoring duties for the Cardinals with 10 points on four field goals and a free throw.

Gurgel continued on to lead WSS with six points.

WSS came back with a slight 10-9 third quarter behind Gurgel's seven points.

But North Clay had a 20-13 final period, connecting on 10 of 11 from the free throw line. They finished with 18 of 22 at the line.

Zimdars led the way with 23 points on eight of 12 from the field and seven of seven at the line. He also had five rebounds. Walden added 19 points and Weidner 12. Weidner and Walden pulled down seven rebounds each.

WSS was led by Gurgel with 23 points on six field goals and nine free throws.

In the seventh-place contest, South Central edged Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City, 45-42.

The two teams were knotted at 9-9 after the opening quarter. South Central had an 11-10 second quarter to move into a 20-19 halftime lead. Jacob Smith connected for five points and Westin Nielson hit a three-pointer.

CHBC tied the score at 33-33 in the third quarter. Clayton Wojcik knocked in six points.

Max Magnus led the Cougars with eight. and J. Smith had five.

In the final quarter, Nielson scored 10 points for the Cougars as they had a 12-9 lead for the victory.

Nielson led the way with 16 points on six field goals, four of those three-pointers. J .Smith added 14 and Magnus 10.

CHBC was led by Wojcik with 12 points on six of 10 from the field. Wyatt Rueff added nine.

Named to the All-Tournament Team were Clayton Wojcik (Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City), Jackson Gurgel (Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg), Cody Zimdars (North Clay), Kade Milleville (Altamont), Cade Schaub (St. Elmo/Brownstown), Landen Keck (Dieterich), Kaleb Gephart (Dieterich), Collin Westendorf (St. Anthony), Brock Fearday (St. Anthony), Kaidyn Miller (Altamont), Lucas Westendorf (Dieterich) and Ryan Schmidt (St. Anthony).

NTC Tournament

Championship Game

DIETERICH (60)

Will 2-2 -- 7, Keck 4-4 -- 14, Wente 0-0 -- 0, Iffert 0-0 -- 0, Funneman 4-2 -- 10, Br. Niemerg 1-0 -- 3, Westendorf 5-1 -- 11, Gephart 5-2 -- 15, Jo. Holste 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 21  FG, 11 FT.

ST. ANTHONY (70)

Ruholl 1-1 -- 3, Link 0-0 -- 0, Westendorf 2-4 -- 9, Brent 0-0 -- 0, Schmidt 12-8 -- 36, Hatton 4-0 -- 8, Koenig 2-1 -- 5, B. Fearday 4-1 -- 9. TOTALS 25 FG, 15 FT.

Dieterich                   15    13    15    17    --    60

St. Anthony              16    18    14    22    --    70

3-point FG -- DIeterich 7 (Gephart 3, Keck 2, Will 1, Br. Niemerg 1), St. Anthony 5 (Schmidt 4, Wesendorf 1)

Third Place Game

ALTAMONT (54)

Jahraus 3-0 -- 8, Davis 0-0 -- 0, E. Miller 3-4 -- 11, Milleville 6-5 -- 22, McManaway 3-2 -- 8, K. Miller 2-0 -- 4, Roedl 0-1 -- 1. TOTALS 17 FG, 15 FT.

SEB (44)

Maxey 4-1 -- 10, C. Maxey 5-1 -- 13, Schaub 4-1 -- 10, Mason 2-5 -- 9, Atwood 1-0 -- 2, Wilhour 0-0 -- 0, Plum 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 16 FG, 8 FT.

Altamont           10    13    15    16    --    54

SEB                   15    10      5    14    --    44

3-point FG -- Altamont 4 (C. Maxey 2, J. Maxey 1, Schaub 1), St. Elmo/Brownstown 4 (C. Maxey 2, J. Maxey 1, Schaub 1).

Consolation Championship

WSS (49)

Manhart 2-0 -- 6, Sayers 2-0 -- 4, Gurgel 6-9 -- 23, Gracey 2-0 -- 5, Hendrickson 4-0 -- 8, Rincker 0-1 -- 1, Bridges 0-0 -- 0, Verdeyen 1-0 -- 2. TOTALS 17 FG, 10 FT.

NORTH CLAY (66)

Zimdars 8-7 -- 23, Kuenstler 1-0 -- 2, Hosselton 1-0 -- 2, Weidner 3-5 -- 12, Walden 7-4 -- 19, Griffy 0-2 -- 2, Byers 3-0 -- 6, Wolfe 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 23 FG, 18 FT.

WSS                         11    15    10    13    --    49

North Clay              17    20      9    20    --    66

3-point FG -- Windsor/Stew-Stras 6 (Manhart 3, Gurgel 1, Gracey 1), North Clay 2 (Wiedner 1, Walden 1), 

Seventh Place

SOUTH CENTRAL (45)

Hiestand 1-0 -- 2, Magnus 3-4 -- 10, Smith 0-1 -- 1, Bergmann 0-2 -- 2, Smith 6-0 -- 14, Nielson 6-0 -- 16, Jones 0 -- 0 -- 0, Bursott 0 -- 0 -- 0. TOTALS 16 FG, 7 FT.

CHBC (42)

Evans 2-0 -- 6, Wojcik 6-0 -- 12, Calame 1-0 -- 3, Radloff 3-0 -- 6, Lorton 1-4 -- 6, Rueff 4-1 -- 9, Cosart 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 17 FG, 5 FT.

South Central             9    11    13    12    --    45

CHBC                          9    10    14     9    --    42

3-point FG -- South Central 6 (Nielson 4, Smith 1)., Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City 3 (Evans 2, Calame 1).

Members of the All-Tournament Team were, left to right, Kaidyn Miller (Altamont), Kade Milleville (Altamont), Cody Zimdars (North Clay), Jackson Gurgel (Windsor/Stew-Stras), Clayton Wojcik (Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City), Landon Keck (Dieterich), Cade Schaub (St. Elmo/Brownstown), Caleb Gephart (Dieterich), Collin Westendorf (St. Anthony), Brock Fearday (St. Anthony), Lucas Westendorf (Dieterich), Ryan Schmidt (St. Anthony), also named the Todd Arnold Most Valuable Player.