Dieterich vs. Effingham St. Anthony - Championship Game - 89th annual National Trail Conference Tournament

Championship

Dieterich

Effingham St. Anthony

Dieterich (39) - Will 0 0 4-6 4, Keck 1 2 0-0 8, Funneman 0 0 0-2 0, Niemerg 3 0 1-2 7, Bohnhoff 4 0 0-0 8, Westendorf 5 0 2-2 12.
2FG-13 3FG-2, FT-7-12, PF-13.

Effingham St. Anthony (43) – Waldhoff 0 0 1-2 1, Griffith 0 2 0-0 6, W. Fearday 1 1 0-0 5, Link 0 0 0-0 0, Schmidt 5 1 4-4 17, B. Fearday 2 2 4-7 14.
2FG-8, 3FG-6, FT-9-13, PF-11.

Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

St. Anthony rallies for win
Bulldogs overcome poor first half, stun Dieterich late for title game triumph

02/01/2025
BY JACK BULLOCK
ALTAMONT – State ranked and ABV 1A number one Effingham St. Anthony got off to a bad start on Saturday night in the title game of the 89th annual National Trail Conference Tournament.

Bad being a nice word for it.

It was quite horrible.

Most of their problems came about because the Dieterich Movin' Maroons stepped on the floor ready to play.

From the opening moments until the halftime buzzer sounded, head coach Cody Rincker's Bulldogs were outplayed.

Dieterich, a team that the Bulldogs had manhandled 68-40 at home back on December 20th, came out and took the fight right to the defending tournament champs.

The Movin' Maroons broke a 7-7 first quarter tie with a 7-0 run and finished the second quarter by out-gunning St. Anthony 10-2 in the final 5:05 for a shocking 24-12 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs came out flat and were “flat-out” in trouble heading to the locker room.

However whatever was said by Coach Rincker during the break was the wake up call his club needed.

The Bulldogs came out with a much better defensive effort in the final 16 minutes, forcing Coach Brent Bohnhoff's Maroons into 11 third quarter turnovers before putting a blanket over the number-two seed in the final four minutes of the the game.

Although the offense for St. Anthony wasn't a thing of beauty, the defensive stand in the final minutes helped the Bulldogs escape with a 43-39 slug-fest victory in front of a large crowd at Altamont.

“At halftime we just talked about we have to play better. They (Dieterich) if this was a boxing match they came out and punched us in the mouth and put us on the mat a few times,” said Coach Rincker. “We were back on our heels, we weren't aggressive, we were flat. We talked about playing our style at halftime. We were more defensive in the second half.”

St. Anthony held the Maroons without a point in the final 3:59 of the game and managed to score enough in remaining time to take back the lead and take the championship back to the North Side for the second year in-a-row.

The Bulldogs are now 21-2 on the season with their 19th win in succession.

The two players who made the all-tournament team for St. Anthony were the ones who came up big for the Bulldogs in the title game victory.

Ryan Schmidt, a 6-3 senior forward, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Schmidt led his team with 17-points, nine of which came in the first half that helped the Bulldogs stay afloat until his teammates got going.

Senior Brock Fearday added 14-points, six in the final minutes, as the Bulldogs gutted out the win.

Junior guard Keenan Griffith nailed a pair of 3-pointers for St. Anthony in the second and third quarters.

But it was his monumental defensive play in the final seconds that help preserve the triumph.

Dieterich now sits at 18-5 on the season.

Senior forward Lucas Westendorf led the Maroons with 12-points while teammates senior Landon Keck and freshman Bryce Bohnhoff scored eight-points each.

Junior Brock Niemerg scored seven-points for Dieterich.

Keck and Niemerg both came up with big scores in the first quarter.

Niemerg scored on consecutive possessions on drives in the lane and a 3-pointer from Keck gave the Maroons a 7-4 lead.

Schmidt scored all seven of the St. A points in the first quarter and his 3-pointer from the top of the circle tied the score with 1:40 left.

Keck also scored on a drive inside and 1-of-2 free throws by senior Tanner Will with just :00.4 left made it 10-7 Maroons.

“I knew tonight that we would come out and play better ball,” said Coach Bohnhoff, referring to the last time the two teams met. “We have been playing pretty good defense. If we keep playing defense like this we will be dangerous no matter who we play. We have been working on it (offense) all season and we're not quite there yet.”

Four more points to open the second quarter with Will adding two more free throws and a basket in transition by Bohnhoff made it 14-7.

Dieterich got three consecutive baskets by Westendorf, including a score off an assist from Niemerg, which was followed by two straight baskets by Bohnhoff.

One on a baseline drive for a reverse lay in and the other one off of a rebound of his own missed shot.

The freshman grabbed his own miss and banked it home at the buzzer while falling to the floor as Dieterich headed to intermission up by 12.

(CONTINUED)

(CONTINUED)

“Our boys showed a lot of heart, a lot of desire, determination and fight. Especially in the second half and that third quarter,” said Coach Rincker. “We battled our way through and we eventually were able to come up with enough plays to get it done.”

As well as the Movin' Maroons played in the first half, things were not quite the same in the third quarter.

Not only did St. Anthony force mistakes but they also made it tough for the Maroons to score.

Dieterich hit just 2-of-5 shots in the third, which allowed St. Anthony to go on a 15-2 scoring run to take a 30-29 lead.

Schmidt scored on consecutive fast breaks off of turnovers and Griffin began the barrage with his second 3-point bomb.

Fearday added five-points, including a long 3-pointer, which was followed by the third transition basket in the quarter (Schmidt) to give St. Anthony the lead with :55 left in the quarter.

A single free throw by Will sent the teams to the final frame tied at 30.

“They (St. Anthony) were making it difficult with their trap. It turned into offense for them because they were causing turnovers,” said Coach Bohnhoff. “That made it even worse.”

After all of the difficulties of the third quarter, Dieterich looked like they were going to get the championship anyway.

Seven-consecutive points to begin the fourth quarter was the start that they needed.

Westendorf (two) and Niemerg (one) hit 3-of-4 free throws.

The second free throw from Niemerg was rebounded by Dieterich and Westendorf ended up tipping in a missed shot for a basket.

A drive by Bohnhoff made it 37-30 with 4:23 to go.

Will Fearday scored five-points for St. Anthony, all coming in the fourth quarter.

The senior guard nailed down a 3-pointer from the left corner and he added a drive to the basket on the baseline for points.

Brock Fearday hit a 3-pointer falling down in between those scores while being fouled.

Although he missed the subsequent free throw, the Bulldogs were within striking range.

Another fast break bucket by Schmidt gave St. Anthony back the lead at 40-39 with just 1:50 remaining.

Dieterich had one final chance in the final seconds.

After Brock Fearday hit just 1-of-2 free throws, Dieterich was down just 41-39 with :25.3 left.

The Maroons worked the ball around to Westendorf on the right wing but Griffith reached in and stripped the ball away and Fearday was sent to the line again with just :13.2 left.

The senior calmly nailed down the game-winning free throws.

“Griffith is our point guard and he's a gutsy player. He doesn't always score a bunch but he's made some big plays for us,” said Coach Rincker.

Dieterich got 3-point attempts by Westendorf and Niemerg in the final seconds but neither found the mark as the Bulldogs held on for the four-point victory.

The Maroons can point to a 3-of-17 shooting result in the fourth quarter.

For the game Dieterich hit on just 15-of-44 overall, 2-of-11 from the 3-point line.

Coach Bohnhoff saw his team win the battle underneath by out-rebounding the Bulldogs 33-19 with 14 offensive rebounds.

The 20 total turnovers, 14 in the second half, were back-breakers.

St. Anthony wasn't much better overall on paper.

They finished up 14-of-39 overall, 6-of-14 from the arc and committed 13-turnovers.

This was the 26th NTC tournament title for the Bulldogs and the sixth for Coach Rincker since he took over the St. Anthony program in 2013-14.

“We never take this tournament for granted,” said Coach Rincker. “It's special.”

Dieterich fell short of their fourth tournament title since joining the league in 2009-10.

“We go through stretches were we execute really well, we move the ball but then we get to where we play too much one-on-one and you can't do that against St. Anthony,” said Coach Bohnhoff.

ALTAMONT 69, NORTH CLAY 60
The host Indians built a big lead in the third quarter and survived a Cardinals' late rally to nab the third place plaque for head coach John Niebrugge.

Altamont is now 11-10 on the season and have won 7-of-10 games in 2025.

The Indians outscored North Clay 29-13 in the third quarter to take a 59-36 lead heading to the final quarter.

But the Cardinals rallied to get close before the Tribe put the game away with free throws at the end.

The Indians were led by 6-1 freshman Cooper McManaway with 19-points.

Six-four junior Kade Milleville scored 18-points and 6-1 senior senior Ben Roedl added 15.

Junior Cody Zimdars helped lead the comeback by scoring 12 of his 23-points in the final quarter to lead all scorers.

Six-three junior Carter Walden contributed 11-points for Coach Josh Zink's team that saw their overall mark drop to 14-9.

Milleville hit 3-of-4 fourth quarter charity tosses to complete the win.

The Indians were 11-of-15 from the foul line and North Clay hit 12-of-15.

Milleville scored seven of his points in the first quarter for Altamont and McManaway added a conventional three-point play as the Indians led 18-12 after one period.

Walden hit both of the team's 3-pointers, one in each of the first two quarters for North Clay.

But 3-pointers from McManaway and sophomore Parker Bell led to a 30-23 Altamont advantage at halftime.

Six different players scored for the Indians in their third quarter ambush, with sophomore Zane Miller scoring all six of his points on a conventional three-point play and a 3-pointer while McManaway, Milleville and Bell added more long distance baskets for a 23-point lead heading to the final quarter.

Coach Zink's club responded with a big fourth quarter that fell short of the mark.

Zimdars got assistance from both junior Mason Byers and sophomore Lucas Griffy.

Each scored nine-points in the game and four-points apiece in the final eight minutes.

SOUTH CENTRAL 51, WINDSOR/STEWARDSON-STRASBURG 50
The Cougars edged the Hatchets in the consolation championship of the 89th annual event as they hit 12-of-18 free throws in a foul plagued fourth quarter to improve to 15-7 on the season for head coach Blake Doehring.

South Central was topped by 6-2 senior Seth Bergmann with 16-points.

Senior Callaway Smith added 11-points for the club, including 4-of-4 free throws in the final frame.

Westin Neilson, a 6-foot sophomore, tossed in nine-points for the Cougars, including a couple of big 3-pointers in the second quarter as they took a 23-22 halftime lead.

Seniors Brody Markley and Kage Hiestand added five-points each, with Hiestand adding to the totals with 3-of-4 foul shots in the fourth.

The Hatchets were paced by senior Jackson Gurgel with 16-points while sophomore Brody Bible scored 13.

Aiden Sayers, a 6-1 junior, closed with 10-points for Coach Shane Smith's squad who fell to 13-12 overall.

ST. ELMO/BROWNSTOWN 52, NEOGA 39
The Eagles cruised to a seventh place finish with a big first half to beat the Indians on Saturday.

Senior guard Lowell Wilhour paced the 11-11 squad with 13-points.

Sophomore Benji Lowe added 10-points for SEB and head coach Greg Feezel.

Neoga got 11-points from senior Carter Young and nine-points from senior Luke Keller.

St. Elmo/Brownstown led 23-11 at halftime and held off Neoga.

Coach Andrew Snow and his Indians fell to 4-19 on the season.

Seventh Place	1	2	3	4	-	F
St. Elmo/Brownstown	10	13	13	16	-	52
Neoga	05	06	15	13	-	39
St. Elmo/Brownstown (52) - J. Wilhour 0 0 0-0 0, Sanders 0 0 0-0 0, Doty 0 0 0-0 0. Plum 0 3 0-0 9, L. Wilhour 6 0 1-2 13, Powell 2 0 0-0 4, G. Wilhour 0 2 2-2 8, Lowe 1 2 2-2 10, Monnet 3 0 2-2 8. 2FG-12, 3FG-7, FT-6-13, PF-14.
Neoga (39) – Young 4 1 0-2 11, Hakman 0 1 0-0 3, Haarman 0 0 2-4 2, Porter 0 0 0-0 0, Titus 2 0 0-0 4, Bryant 1 0 0-0 2, B. Ray 0 0 0-0 0, G. Ray 0 1 2-6 5, Keller 2 1 2-4 9, White 0 1 0-0 3. 2FG-9, 3FG-5, FT-6-16, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None. Technical Fouls – None.
The 89th annual NTC All-tournament Team MVP Ryan Schmidt and Brock Fearday of St. Anthony; Landon Keck, Brock Niemerg and Lucas Westendorf of Dieterich; Ben Roedl and Kade Milleville of Altamont; Mason Byers and Cody Zimdars of North Clay; Westin Nielson of South Central; Jackson Gurgel of Windsor/Stewardson-Starsburg; Graidon Wilhour of St. Elmo/Brownstown.