Dieterich and Altamont Advance to Semi-Finals of the NTC Tournament

The seeds held on the final night of the quarter finals of the NTC Tourament as Dieterich defeated St. Elmo/Brownstown 61-41 in the opening contest while Altamont held off South Central 48-39 closing game Wednesday night.

The Movin Maroons jumped out to a 14-7 first quarter lead by taking advantage of six turnovers by the Eagles in the opening period. However, St. Elmo/Brownstown kept themselves in the game going six of seven from three point range in the second quarter and seven of nine from long range in the first half overall. 

Both teams shot incredibly well from the field in the first half as Dieterich actually had a better shooting percentage from the field at 69% while St. Elmo/Brownstown was at 64% with teams heading into the locker rooms with a 29-25 advantage for the Movin Maroons.

The hot shooting cooled, especialy for the Eagles, in the third quarter as they went two of fourteen from the field compared to seven of fourteen shooting for Dieterich. After three quarters the Movin Maroons had pushed their advantage, outscoring the Eagles 20-6 for a 19 point lead heading into the final period. Dieterich maintained their lead throughout the fourth quarter and outscored St. Elmo/Brownstown by one for the 61-41 final score.

Dieterich was led in scoring by Lucas Westendorf's 19. Fellow senior Landon Keck added 15, while freshman Bryce Bohnhoff came of the bench with 13.  Tanner will finished with 7 points, Brock Niemerg had 4, and Jaxson Funneman finished out the scoring with a free throw.

The Eagles were led by sophomore Benji Lowe who came off the bench with 11 points. Lowell Wilhour and Graidon Wilhour each had nine points. Gavin Sanders and Vadim Plum finished with 3 each, while Trenton Monnet, Keelan Speagle, and Lucas Powell added two points apiece.

Dieterich finshed the night shooting 55% (23/42) from the field, 25% (2/8) from beyond the three point arc, and 68% (13/19) from the free throw line.

St. Elmo/Brownstown finished at 42% (16/38) from the floor, 38% (9/24) from three point range, and 50% (1/2) at the charity stripe. 

Dieterich out rebounded St. Elmo/Brownstown 24-16, and committed just 5 turnovers to the Eagles 12.

In the second game of the night Altamont picked up a 48-39 victory over South Central.

After scoring the first two points of the game in the first minute, South Central was only able to add a free throw in the final minute of the period as Altamont built a 9-3 lead after the first period.

The offense for both teams picked up in the second as Altamont built the lead to as many as 11 before the Cougars went on a run at the end of the half as Westin Nielson hit a three point shot with three seconds on the clock to pull South Central within three, 23-20 at halftime.

Altamont started the second half with an 8-0 run to build the lead back to 11 before the Cougars got on the board and cut into the lead and made it 38-30 by the end of the quarter.

The Indians pushed the lead to as many as 13 in the fourth quarter, but saw the lead cut to just four points before doing just enough at the free throw line, going 5/10 in the quarter to secure the nine point victory.

Altamont out rebounded South Central 29-22, but had 15 turnovers while South Central committed 13. The Indains shot 41% from the field (16/39), 58.8% (10/17) at the free throw line, and 33% (6/18) from the three point arc. The cougars finished shooting 33% (15/45) from the floor, at the line they were 57% (4/7) and 19% (4/21) from beyond the 3 point arc.

Kade Milleville had a solid all around game for the Indians finshing with 18 points, Ben Roedl had 9 points and 8 rebounds, Zaine Miller had 8 first half points, while Cooper McManaway had 7 and Alex Walker added 6 points in the second half for Altamont.

South Central was led by sophomore Westin Nielson's 19 points, Callaway Smith, Seth Bergman, and Brody Markley all finished with 6 points, and Treven Sidwell added 2 for the Cougars

St. Elmo/Brownstown will play the opening game tonight at 5pm against Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City with the winner moving on to the consolation semi-final against South Central Friday night and the loser eliminated from the tournament.

Dieterich and Altamont advance to the semi-finals and  will play each other in the second game Friday night.