St. Anthony Falls To Tough Chicago Hope At Class 1A State Tournament

St. Anthony's bench before the game between the Bulldogs and Chicago Hope.     Dustin White photo

CHAMPAIGN -- Things did not go the way Effingham St. Anthony wanted in the opening game at the Class 1A State Boys Basketball Tournament Thursday.

The Bulldogs ran into a tough Chicago Hope Academy squad and fell 56-50.

It was a rough go as Chicago Hope held down the Bulldogs in scoring while putting together a 7-0 opening quarter run and pushing that to 22-10 at halftime.

The Eagles put on a tough defensive display and also hit offensively Tyjuan Hunter connected on a three-pointer to start things rolling and then hit a rebound layup in that opening quarter.

Meanwhile, St. Anthony was being smothered defensively, taking only seven shots and missing all seven.

Things got a little better in the second quarter as the Bulldogs finally got rolling offensively. Chicago Hope pushed its lead to 9-0 before Keenan Griffith scored for the Bulldogs on a free throw. Ryan Schmidt then got on a roll, connecting on two baskets and three free throws for seven points in the period and Brock Fearday hit two of two at the line.

Chicago Hope still held a 22-10 halftime lead but at least St. Anthony started finding the net.

The Eagles came out to push across two more baskets and to lead 26-10 in the third period. Schmidt connected on three baskets in the quarter while Griffith hit a basket and a free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play. St. Anthony pulled within 28-17 on a steal and layup by Schmidt. B. Fearday also connected on a basket and Myles Waldhoff hit two free throws.

Chicago Hope kept the pressure on and continued to outscore St. Anthony in the third quarter by a 19-15 count  Tyjuan Hunter continued his scoring with three baskets and a free throw for seven points while Malik Meridy tallied five and Jaiden Simmons four.

Then Schmidt got hurt with a little over three minutes left in the quarter and exited the contest.

The Bulldogs then continued on pounding on the door. B. Fearday missed a jumper to start the final quarter but came back to put in four from three-point range and two regular baskets along with a free throw for 19 of his team's 25 points. Samuel Link hit a three-pointer and Waldhoff a basket.

St. Anthony outscored the Eagles 25-10 in the final period but couldn't overcome the big lead.

B. Fearday finished with 24 points on eight field goals, four from three-point range and four of five at the line. Also in double figures was Schmidt with 14 points.

B. Fearday led in rebounds with 15 and had three blocked shots. Griffith led in steals with four.

Hope Academy was led by Hunter with 17 points and Meridy with 14. Jaiden Simmons and TJ Hueston added eight each. The Eagles knocked in eight three-pointers, four by Meridy.

In the second game, Lanark Eastland defeated Peoria Christian, 55-35.

St. Anthony will now take on Peoria Christian at 9:30 a.m. Friday for third place while Chicago Hope meets Lanark Eastland at 1 p.m. Saturday for the champoinship.

Class 1A State Tournament

ST. ANTHONY (50)

Griffith 1-3 -- 5, W. Fearday 0-0 -- 0, Link 1-0 -- 3, Schmidt 5-3 -- 14, B. Fearday 8-4 -- 24, Waldhoff 1-2 -- 4, Gannaway 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 16 FG, 12 FT.

HOPE ACADEMY (56)

Hunter 6-3 -- 17, Simmons 4-0 -- 8, McGinnis 1-2 -- 4, Hale 0-2 -- 2, Meridy 5-0 -- 14, Hueston 3-2 -- 8, Williams 0-0 -- 0, Mabry 0-1 -- 1, Elem 0-0 -- 0, Jones 0-0 -- 0, Turner 1-0 -- 2. TOTALS 20 FG, 8 FT.

St. Anthony                      0    10    15    25    --    50

Hope Academy                7    15    19    15    --    56

3-point FG -- St. Anthony 6 (B. Fearday 4, Schmdit 1, Link 1), Hope Academy 8 (Meridy 4, Hunter 2, Hueston 2).