St. Anthony Season Comes To End With Tough Loss To St. Teresa

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Published on February 28 2025 5:50 am
Last Updated on February 28 2025 6:58 am

BY DUSTIN WHITE

ARCOLA --  St. Anthony High School held as much as an eight-point lead during the third quarter of Thursday’s Class 1A Arcola girls basketball sectional championship, but the first super-sectional appearance in program history will have to wait as Decatur St. Teresa outscored St. Anthony 16-5 down the stretch to claim a 45-40 victory.

St. Teresa senior Lucy Corley knocked down 12 of 14 fourth quarter free throws and tallied 14 of her game-high 31 points in that final stanza, putting her team on her back and dragging them to Monday’s Blue Ridge Super-Sectional against Cissna Park.

Corley ended the night 17-for-20 at the foul line and also led St. Teresa (22-7) with eight rebounds.

St. Anthony got a bulk of its scoring from the two players who’ve led their offensive output all year long; junior Nancy Ruholl led with 15 while senior Ady Rios was close behind at 12. Another senior, Addi Nuxoll, chipped in a half-dozen to go with seven rebounds, matching Ruholl for a team high in that category.

Each team carved out slim first-quarter leads in what ended up being a 12-11 period in second-seeded St. Teresa’s favor. St. Anthony barely scored for most of the second quarter but put on a quick burst of six straight points just before the halftime buzzer to tie things up at 21 heading into intermission.

Neither team was able to hit a three-pointer all night as St. Anthony was 0-for-7 and St. Teresa was 0-for-10. St. Teresa’s Zakyrie Mayes hit a long two with just the tip of a toe on the line while Ruholl got a nice look from distance out of a set play down 43-40 that was halfway down before popping out, but that was as close as either team came to converting a triple.

Despite the disappointment of a fourth straight sectional appearance ending without the hardware, this year’s St. Anthony team finishes 28-5 and holds the program record for victories in a season. St. Teresa was just the second Class 1A opponent to beat them all year long. 

Ruholl closes out her junior year as the all-team leading scorer in St. Anthony basketball history — girls or boys — with more than 1,750 career points already to her name, while a rock-solid senior class of Rios, Nuxoll, Ava Faber, Katie Kollman, and Kallie Kabbes say goodbye to the program.

"I want thank our five seniors, Addi Nuxoll, Ava Faber, Katie Kollman, Kallie Kabbes and Adysen Rios for four awesome years in our program," said St. Anthony Coach Aaron Rios. "We coached most of them for almost a decade.

 "We wish them and their families the best as they finish up their senior year and march into the next chapter of their lives.
 
"Nancy Ruholl was a do-it-all kid this year for us and I hope she gets voted to the 1st team All State this year. She is such an amazing basketball player but an even better human being and so coachable. She will continue to lead the Sisterhood as she steps into her senior year.
 
"It was an awesome ride. I am so proud of “The Sisterhood.” That will live on forever. Although we fell short of making history last night, the entire team has already won in life! 
 
"I want to thank Coach Stacey Rios and Coach Ashley Dryden. They are the strategy behind our program and the heartbeat of our coaching staff. They both are so great to work with and all of our kids love them.
 
"Last but not least, thank you to AD Kevin Palmer and Principal Greg Fearday for giving me this opportunity six years ago. Six years ago I was told by a coach that we would never win at St. Anthony. Well I think we have done okay in that department the last four years. Three conference regular season titles, two conference tournament titles, four straight regionals and two Sweet 16 appearances. With a school record of 28-5 this season.
 
"Stacey and I always did this to try to make an impact in kids lives. We always told them if they learn one thing we teach them that they can apply in their own lives then we have won as coaches."
 

Class 1A Arcola Sectional

Championship

ST. TERESA (45)

S. Corley 2-0 -- 4, Eller 3-0 -- 6, L. Corley 7-17  --  31, Wherley 0-0  --  0, Mayes 2-0  --  4, Ratcliff 0-0  --  0, Harper 0-0  --  0. TOTALS 14-for-34 FG, 17-for-20 FT.

ST. ANTHONY (40)

Gannaway 1-1  --  3, Rios 6-0  --  12, Ruholl 5-5  --  15, Nuxoll 2-2  --  6, Lauritzen 2-0  --  4, Faber 0-0  --  0, A. Kollman 0-0  --  0. TOTALS 16-for-49 FG, 8-for-12 FT.

St. Teresa             12      9    10    14   --  45

St. Anthony          11    10     12     7  --  40

3-Point FG — None.

Rebounds — St. Anthony 31 (Ruholl 7, Nuxoll 7, Lauritzen 5), St. Teresa 25 (L. Corley 8, Eller 5, Mayes 5). Turnovers — St. Anthony 16, St. Teresa 17. Fouled Out — St. Anthony 1 (Nuxoll).