Bulldogs Move Into Sectional Final, Set Season Record For Most Wins

BY DUSTIN WHITE

ARCOLA — St. Anthony High School snagged a sectional final berth and a girls basketball program record for wins in a season Tuesday at Arcola High School, surviving the host Purple Riders 45-34 in the semifinal round of the Class 1A Arcola Sectional.

In a game heard on 979 XFM, the top-seeded Bulldogs (28-4) forced 26 Arcola turnovers and also dominated the boards by a 36-24 margin to earn a spot in Thursday night’s sectional final against Decatur St. Teresa, which outlasted top-seeded Salt Fork 38-32 earlier Tuesday evening. 

St. Anthony pushed its lead to as many as 12 points in the third quarter, but Arcola opened the fourth period with a 5-0 run to narrow the gap to 34-30. That’s as close as it got thanks to a pair of Ady Rios free throws and a dagger of a three-pointer from the wing by Nancy Ruholl to widen the margin back to 39-30 in a hurry. It was Ruholl’s only bucket of the fourth quarter, but it gave her 19 points and swung the momentum squarely back in the Bulldogs’ favor for good.

Arcola, a No. 3 seed whose season closed at 21-10, held an early 5-0 advantage but turned it over a dozen times in the opening quarter. St. Anthony didn’t shoot well in the opening quarter but did hit six of six free throws and led 16-12 by the time the opening stanza concluded. Arcola’s Kacie Sisk, a senior averaging 23 points per game and the owner of her program's career scoring record, piled up eight first-quarter points to keep her Purple Riders in the game.

The second period was a different story for Sisk, however, as the Northsiders kept her out of the scoring column, pushed their lead to as many as seven, and settled for a 23-17 halftime advantage.

Sisk found a way to make an impact in the second half, but also fouled out of the game with about 3:30 to go in the fourth quarter. She finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Ruholl picked up a fourth personal late in the third quarter and sat the rest of the frame, but played the entirety of the final period without being disqualified.

Addi Nuxoll had a double-double for the Bulldogs with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Addie Lauritzen struggled from the field — most of the Bulldogs did on a 16-for-60 shooting night — but collected a dozen boards and did her usual good work creating havoc at the top of St. Anthony’s 1-2-2 defensive looks. 

The previous high-water mark for victories in an St. Anthony girls basketball season was set just two seasons ago in a 27-6 campaign. This year’s Bulldogs have still lost just one game to a Class 1A opponent; that team, Okawville, was eliminated by Carrollton Tuesday at the Raymond-Lincolnwood Sectional where Brownstown/St. Elmo’s season also came to an end at the hands of Hardin Calhoun.

So it’ll be a battle of the Bulldogs Thursday at 6:30 p.m. as the top team in the state according to the latest Associated Press polling will take on second-seeded St. Teresa. St. Anthony will be looking to secure the program’s first sectional hardware in its fourth straight year playing at the sectional level and ninth sectional appearance overall.

Class 1A Arcola Sectional

Semifinal

ST. ANTHONY (45)

Gannaway 4-0 — 8, Rios 2-2 — 6, Ruholl 5-6 — 19, Nuxoll 4-2 — 10, Lauritzen 1-0 — 2, Faber 0-0 — 0, A. Kollman 0-0 — 0. TOTALS 16-for-60 FG, 10-for-19 FT.

ARCOLA (34)

Leal 0-0 — 0, E. Simpson 0-1 — 1, Ramirez 3-0 — 6, Sisk 8-2 — 22, A. Simpson 2-0 — 4, McGeehon 0-0 — 0, Gauna 0-1 — 1. TOTALS 13-for-37 FG, 4-for-10 FT. 

St. Anthony      16    7    11    11    --    45

Arcola              12    5      8      9    --    34

3-Point FG — St. Anthony 3 (Ruholl 3), Arcola 4 (Sisk 4).

Rebounds — St. Anthony 36 (Lauritzen 12, Nuxoll 11), Arcola 24 (Sisk 13, Ramirez 5). Turnovers — St. Anthony 12, Arcola 26. Fouled Out — Arcola 1 (Sisk).