Altamont Wins NTC Tournament Championship

The Altamont Indians are the 2014 National Trail Conference Tournament champions.

Altamont used airtight defense to defeat the St. Anthony Bulldogs 49-38 Saturday night in the tournament championship game. The contest and all of the 13 other games in this week's tournament were heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.  

In the other Saturday games, Dieterich won the third place game over Neoga 58-41, St. Elmo/Brownstown won the consolation championship game over Beecher City 63-37, and South Central scored 36 points in the FOURTH QUARTER to defeat Cowden-Herrick 61-46.

Altamont 49, St. Anthony 38

Altamont took a 5-0 lead, but St. Anthony scored the next five points and the game was tied 5-5 after one quarter.  A back-and-forth second quarter followed with Altamont outscoring the Bulldogs 14-12 to take a 19-17 halftime lead.  The Indians outpointed St. Anthony 11-8 in the third period to lead 30-25 and Altamont finally widened the margin in the fourth quarter, outscoring St. Anthony 19-13 to claim the 11-point win.

Altamont's defense was particularly effective on St. Anthony's inside duo of Alex Hoelscher and John Goeckner, holding them to 10 points combined.  Meanwhile, Altamont was successful inside courtesy principally of Derek Jahraus and Jake Seidel, who combined for 14 points.

The point guards for each team still got their points; Altamont's Garrett Ziegler with 16 points and St. Anthony's Neil Williams with 14 points.

The individual scoring for Altamont, in addition to Ziegler: Justin McGinnis and Derek Jahraus eight each, Cole Borders seven, Jake Seidel six, and Ryan Armstrong and Klaiton Wolff two apiece.

The individual scoring for St. Anthony, in addition to Williams: John Goeckner and Derek Rios six each, Alex Hoelscher four, Andrew Gardewine and Frank Jansen three each, and Zach Gardewine two points.

Altamont made 15 of 42 shots including four of 10 three-pointers, while St. Anthony made 16 of 41 shots including four of 15 three-point tries.  The difference was at the foul line, where Altamont hit 15 of 22 to just two of four for St. Anthony.  Altamont turned the ball over just nine times, compared to 16 times for St. Anthony, and each team grabbed 23 rebounds.  

It's Altamont's first boys conference tournament championship since 1990.  The Indians are 17-2 this season.  St. Anthony is now 15-6.

   --

Dieterich 58, Neoga 41

Dieterich bounced back from an overtime loss to Altamont Friday night to post the win.  Dieterich was up 17-11 after one quarter, 29-17 at halftime, and 43-30 after three quarters before outscoring Neoga 15-11 in the final quarter.

Dieterich made 22 of 40 shots for 55%, hit 10 of 14 foul shots, overcame 19 turnovers, pulled down 28 rebounds and made four of 12 three-pointers.

Neoga made 15 of 54 shots for 28%, made just four of 10 foul shots, turned the ball over 13 times, grabbed 24 rebounds, and made seven of 25 three-pointers.

Scoring for Dieterich: Alex Bohnhoff 14, Travis Niemerg 13, Devin Aherin 12, Tanner Traub nine, and Lance Niemerg and Nick Feldhake five each.

Scoring for Neoga: Jake Baker (who went over 1,000 career points in the contest) 24, Luke Baker six, Corey Kersey five, Jon Atwell four, and Wyatt Krikie two.

Dieterich is now 14-6, while Neoga fell to 9-12 on the season.

   --

St. Elmo/Brownstown 63, Beecher City 37

In a battle of the Eagles, SEB led pretty much start-to-finish.  St. Elmo/Brownstown was up 15-8 after one quarter, 35-18 at halftime and 46-25 after three quarters.

SEB shot 49% from the field, making 24 of 49 shots, adding eight of 13 from the line, turning the ball over just six times, pulling down 23 rebounds and hitting six of 14 three-point attempts.

Beecher City made just 12 of 35 shots for 34%, made just eight of 15 foul shots, turned the ball over 20 times, grabbed 27 rebounds and made four of 12 three-pointers.

Levi Maxey led SEB with 21 points, Malachi Maxey added 12 points and Landon Feezel scored 10 points.  Also for SEB: Jacob Behrends eight, Cole Smithson seven, Kyle Hardimon three and Colten Miller two points.

For Beecher City: Austin Rexroad eight, Brandon Gardner and Andrew Lagerhausen six each, Adam Doty five, Jacob Kenter and Jackson Bales four each, Westen Giles three, and Austin Shelton one poiint.

St. Elmo/Brownstown is now 14-8 on the season, while Beecher City slips back to .500 at 8-8.

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South Central 61, Cowden-Herrick 48

The South Central victory is one of the most remarkable for many reasons.  First, it's their first win of the season after 18 consecutive losses.  Second, Cowden-Herrick led by nine points after three quarters.  Third, South Central had scored just 25 over the first three quarters of the game.  Fourth, it's not like Cowden-Herrick stopped scoring; they still put up 14 points in the period.

Still, 36 points in a quarter?  It happened, principally thanks to Evan Langley, who scored 19 points in the period.

Langley finished with 23 points in the game and 15 rebounds.  Also for South Central: Brett Harmeier 10, Trevor Markley and Noah Powless nine each, Tyler Ross six, and Chase Riley four points.

For Cowden-Herrick: Colton Burrus 18, Colton Evans 11, Colton Sphar 10, Konner Blackerby three, and Carson Lorton, Dylan Barnes, and Noah Sandiford two each.

South Central shot 19 of 48 from the field for 40% including 12 of 15 for 80% in the fourth quarter, adding 19 of 31 foul shots, 14 turnovers, 32 rebounds and four of 15 three-point shots.

Cowden-Herrick made 19 of 46 shots for 41% including two of 13 three-pointers, made eight of 12 foul shots, turned the ball over 16 times and grabbed 22 rebounds.

Cowden-Herrick is now 3-14 on the season.

   --

All-Conference Tournament Team members, in no particular order, are:

John Goeckner of St. Anthony

Brandon Helmuth of Stewardson-Strasburg

Garrett Ziegler of Altamont

Devin Aherin of Dieterich

Tristan Warner of Windsor

Jacob Behrends of St. Elmo/Brownstown

Alex Bohnhoff of Dieterich

Jake Baker of Neoga

Levi Maxey of St. Elmo/Brownstown

Cole Borders of Altamont

Neil Williams of St. Anthony

Derek Jahraus of Altamont

In addition to great crowds that grew as the week progresses, thanks to so many who listened or viewed the games online at www.979xfm.com.  Our numbers indicate more 13,000 watched over the course of the week.

NTC Tournament

Championship Game

ALTAMONT (49)

Mcginnis 2-3 4-5 8, Ziegler 4-12 6-6 16, Borders 2-3 2-4 7, Jahraus 2-7 3-4 8, Seidel 3-5 0-3 6, Jackman 0-2 0-0 0, Goeckner 0-1 0-0 0, Armstrong 1-4 0-0 2, Wolff 1-3 0-0 2. TOTALS 15-40 FG, 15-22 FT.

ST. ANTHONY (38)

Williams 5-12 1-1 14, Gibsonn 0-1 0-0 0, Hoelscher 2-6 0-0 4, Z. Gardewine 1-2 0-0 2, Goeckner 3-7 0-0 6, A. Gardewine 1-5 1-2 3, Jansen 1-3 0-0 3, Rios 3-4 0-1 6, Hartke 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 16-42 FG, 2-4 FT.

Altamont               5     14    11    19    --    49

St. Anthony           5    12       8    13    --    38

3-point FG -- Altamont 4 (Ziegler 2, Borders 1, Jahraus 1), St. Anthony 4 (Williams 3, Jansen 1).

Third Place Game

DIETERICH (58)

Poe 0-0 -- 0, Traub 3-0 -- 9, Bohnhoff 4-6 -- 14, Feldhake 2-0 -- 5, L. Niemerg 2-1 -- 5,  Aherin 5-2 -- 12, T. Niemerg 6-1 -- 13. TOTALS 22 FG, 10 FT.

NEOGA (41)

L. Baker 2-0 -- 6, Rankin 0-0 -- 0, Kersey 2-1 -- 5,  Cole 0-0 -- 0, Krikie 1-0 -- 2, Alashire 0-0 -- 0, J. Baker 8-3 -- 24, Atwell 2-0 -- 4, Moore 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 15 FG, 4 FT.

Dieterich          17    12    14    15    --    58

Neoga               11      6    13    11    --    41

3-point FG -- Dieterich 4 (Traub 3, Feldhake 1), Neoga 7 (L. Baker 2, J. Baker 5)

Consolation Championship

ST. ELMO/BROWNSTOWN (63)

Neeley 0-0 -- 0, Miller 1-0 -- 2, M. Maxey 4-3 -- 12, Bauer 0-0 -- 0, Frailey 0-0 -- 0, L. Maxey 8-3 -- 21, Behrends 3-1 -- 8,  Noll 0-0 -- 0, Flowers 0-0 -- 0, Smithson 3-0 -- 7, Feezel 4-0 -- 10, Pasley 0-0 -- 0, Austin 0-0 -- 0, Hardimon 1-1 -- 3. TOTALS 24 FG, 8 FT.

BEECHER CITY (37)

Gardner 2-0 -- 6, Giles 1-0 -- 3, Doty 2-1 -- 5, Bales 2-0 -- 4, Laugerhauser 1-4 -- 6, Rexroad 3-2 -- 8, Kenter 1-1 -- 4, Kemme 0-0 -- 0, Shelton 0-1 -- 1, Gasparini 0-0 -- 0, Randall 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 12 FG, 9 FT.

St. Elmo/Brownstown         15    20    11    17    --     63

Beecher City                            8    10       7    12    --    37

3-point FG -- St. Elmo/Brownstown 7 (M. Maxey 1, L. Maxey 2, Behrends 1, Smithson 1, Feezel 2), Beecher City 4 (Gardner 2, Giles 1, Kenter 1).

Seventh-Place Game

COWDEN-HERRICK (48)

Blackerby 1-1 -- 3, Sphar 4-2 -- 10, Lorton 1-0 -- 2, Burrus 7-3 -- 18, Sandiford 1-0 -- 2, Nohren 0-0 -- 0, Barnes 1-0 -- 2,  Evans 4-2 -- 11. TOTALS 19 FG, 8 FT.

SOUTH CENTRAL (61)

Harmeier 3-1 -- 10, Hanken 0-0 -- 0, Markley 2-4 -- 9, Langley 8-7 -- 23, Riley 2-0 -- 4, Arnold 0-0 -- 0, Ross 2-2 -- 6, Powless 2-5 -- 9. TOTALS 19 FG, 19 FT.

Cowden-Herrick          18    4    12    14    --    48

South Central                  3    7    15    36    --    61

3-point FG -- Cowden-Herrick 2 (Burrus 1, Evans 1), South Central 4 (Harmeier 3, Markley 1).