01-26-08
BY JACK BULLOCK
ALTAMONT - The St. Elmo Eagles staged two grandiose upsets in the first two rounds of the 73rd Annual National Trail Conference Tournament with victories over number three seed Neoga and number two seed Teutopolis.

However Effingham St. Anthony – the tournament's top seed – would have no part of being a footnote in St. Elmo's improbable Cinderella run.

Backed by balanced scoring with nine St. Anthony players inking the scorebook and five important free throws from seniors Kyle McHugh and Anthony Hecht – Coach Matt Britton saw his club hold off St. Elmo 51-47 in front of a capacity crowd at Altamont Saturday night.

John Steppe topped the Bulldogs with 12 points with Hecht adding nine as this program won its 19th NTC Tournament title – second only to Teutopolis' 30 championships.

T-Town had won the last five NTC Tourney titles.

The Bulldogs (15-6) had to overcome an incredible performance from Colton Booher of St. Elmo.

This 6-foot-4 senior swingman scored 22 points and nearly carried his team to the championship.

But it was St. Anthony's ability to take advantage of its free throw opportunities that spelled the difference late in the title tilt.

With both teams in the super bonus for all of the final quarter – St. Elmo only got to the foul line four times (making 2-of-4) while St. Anthony hit 5-of-8 in the final eight minutes which included McHugh's four in a row in the final :43 of the contest.

“I am proud of the kids effort tonight,” said Coach Britton – who tasted victory in his first NTC title game as head coach of the Bulldogs. “We continued to battle even down eight points at the half. St. Elmo's kids really played their hearts out. Booher is a load out there. But our seniors really stepped up tonight for us.”

St. Elmo (15-7) made the first big run of the game to end the first quarter.

Trailing 9-7 following a 3-pointer by Steppe – the Eagles scored the game's next ten points.

Wade Nevergall canned a pair of key 3-pointers in the first half and his first one tickled the nets to begin the 10-0 sprint.

Booher converted a fast break score to keep the run going.

David Cameron added a shot in the paint which was followed by another 3-pointer – this time by Booher who drilled home a shot from the right wing with :22 left in the first quarter making it 17-9 Eagles.

Nevergall came off of a screen and found the mark on his second made 3-pointer to give St. Elmo a 22-14 lead with 5:20 remaining in the second quarter.

Booher scored twice more in the second quarter – including a baseline drive for a dunk on a pretty inbounds play in which he took a return pass after throwing the ball in. He took the ball to the basket for a two-handed jam and a 26-20 lead.

Cameron added a pair of free throws with :36.6 remaining to give St. Elmo a 28-20 advantage at the break.

It was the Bulldogs who got off to a good start in the second half.

Steppe and Hecht combined for a quick 6-0 run that forced a St. Elmo timeout.

Hecht hit a pair of shots on a rebound of a McHugh miss and also on an inbound pass that resulted in an easy lay in with 4:24 left.

Booher hit his final 3-pointer of the game with 3:04 remaining in the quarter. His shot from the right side gave the Eagles a 33-28 lead.

However at this point St. Anthony changed the momentum and the game with its biggest move of the night.

A 12-2 scoring march with five different Bulldogs getting points turned the game around.

Steppe, Hecht, Blake Koerner, Danny Winkler and Taylor Worman combined for those 12 markers.

When Steppe came off of a screen and ripped home a 3-pointer from the left wing – the Bulldogs had the lead for the first time since the opening quarter at 36-35.

Hecht's steal and fast break lay up and two free throws by Koerner finished the scoring spree and gave St. A a 40-35 lead.

Cameron responded with a pair of free throws to close out the third quarter scoring.

St. Elmo cut the lead to one point three different times in the fourth quarter but never regained the lead.

Booher – who had 13 points in the first half – finally was contained by the St. Anthony defense in the final quarter.

Booher's last bucket on a baseline drive with 1:34 remaining brought the Eagles within 46-45.

“We rotated Anthony (Hecht) and Blake (Koerner) on him (Booher) and they did a better job of staying in his bubble in the second half,” added Britton.

Richard Waterman scored the final St. Elmo points on a drive to the basket with :22.8 remaining.

McHugh – who had already made two of his fourth quarter free throws - added two more with :20.9 left.

Trailing 50-47 Booher got a good look at the basket for a 3-pointer from the top of the arc but the attempt hit the back of the iron and was grabbed by Hecht who was immediately fouled by Waterman – who fouled out with :04.2.

Hecht iced the game – and NTC championship by hitting the first of two free throws.

'Kyle McHugh hit probably the four biggest free throws of his life right there at the end and Anthony (Hecht) stepped up and made a huge one at the end as well. It was just a great all-around effort,” said Britton. “John (Steppe) really stepped up and hit some big shots for us tonight against an awfully good St. Elmo team. They're going to have success going forward this season. I wouldn't be surprised to see them make a nice tournament run.”

Amazingly enough the overall stats of the two teams mirrored each other and were as close as the final outcome.

St. Elmo finished 18-of-39 from the field with 5-of-15 from behind the arc.

The Bulldogs were also 18-of-39 and 5-of-11 from 3-point land.

Each team hauled down an identical 21 rebounds (15 defensive and six offensive) in a closely played contest.

It was the foul line that turned out to be the difference.

St. A was 10-of-18 from the stripe while St. Elmo was just 6-of-9.

“We were right there at the end and that is what you ask for is a chance at the end,” said St. Elmo coach Greg Feezel. “I'm not placing blame anywhere – these kids played hard and a break or two here or there and we get a win.”

Following Booher's 22 points was Cameron with 11 and Nevergall and Waterman with six apiece.

After Steppe and Hecht – the Bulldogs got eight points from Koerner and seven from McHugh.

“I was thinking that this week the two best teams made it to the championship game,” added Feezel whose club beat Teutopolis in the semifinals on Friday night. It was the first time St. Elmo had topped the 'Shoes since 1988 – Feezel's senior year playing for the Eagles. “Overall throughout the season maybe we aren't there but this week I thought we played as well as anybody. Good teams go to the line and make the shots and tonight St. Anthony did that.”

St. Elmo (47) - Morrison 0 0 0-0 0, Waterman 3 0 0-2 6, Cameron 2 1 4-4 11, Booher 7 2 2-3 22, Nevergall 0 2 0-0 6, Fritcher 1 0 0-0 2, Hill 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-5, FT-6-9, PF-19.
St. Anthony (51) - McHugh 0 1 4-4 7, Koerner 3 0 2-2 8, Winkler 0 0 2-4 2, Worman 0 2 0-0 6, Hecht 4 0 1-2 9, Steppe 3 2 0-0 12, Baker 0 0 1-2 1, Fearday 2 0 0-0 4, Schmidt 1 0 0-4 2.
2FG-13, 3FG-5, FT-10-18, PF-13.
Fouled Out - Waterman - St. Elmo.
Technical Fouls - None.

TEUTOPOLIS 62, STEWARDSON-STRASBURG 48
In the third place contest – the Wooden Shoes rebounded from a tough semifinal defeat to take home the third place plaque with a win over the Comets.

T-Town (13-8) broke away from Stew-Stras with an 18-0 run at the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third to give head coach Andy Fehrenbacher's club the victory.

The Wooden Shoes used their staple (defense and rebounding) in the run by forcing Stew-Stras into ten empty offensive trips.

Tony Zerrusen exploded for 21 points in the game including 11 in the fourth quarter as Teutopolis nailed down the win.

Brain Haskenherm added 11 in the afternoon tilt for T-Town.

“We showed a lot of character today coming back from a tough loss to St. Elmo last night and play well,” said Fehrenbacher. “We definitely wanted to be playing in tonight's game (championship) but you can't sit around and feel sorry for yourself. You just have to dust yourself off and get back on the horse.”

Stewardson-Strasburg (14-7) received 17 points from Phil Wetherell in defeat.

The Comets – after a slow start – picked things up in the early part of the second quarter.

A 3-pointer from Steven Thomas followed by two free throws from Travis Ballinger and a bank shot in the lane by Jon Hoene gave S-S a 26-22 advantage.

But in just a few short minutes the Comets were in trouble.

T-Town used six different players in its 18-0 salvo with Zerrusen, Jeremy Niebrugge and Josh Pals scoring four points each.

Haskenherm triggered the run with a fast break bucket to even the score at 26-apiece.

Niebrugge scored back-to-back buckets on a rebound stick back and a fast break score on a pass from Zerrusen.

When Brock Sandschafer put back an offensive rebound – the Shoes were dancing at 40-26.

Teutopolis didn't shoot the ball well (19-of-45) but more than made up for their inaccuracy by pounding the offensive glass for 17 second chances.

They outrebounded the Comets 34-22 overall and forced Stew-Stras into 19 turnovers.

The Comets were 19-of-40 overall but had just four offensive rebounds and none in the first half.

Stew-Stras played without leading scorer Ben Giertz who sprained an ankle in Thursday night's loss to St. Anthony but head coach Mike Walker didn't dwell on his absence.

“No excuses. Ben is a great player but he wasn't with us today,” said Walker. “When ever a player goes down we look for the others to step up and play well. The guys on the floor know what we are trying to run and we just couldn't execute it. Did it (not having Giertz) make a difference? I'm sure it makes a difference but we aren't going to use that as an excuse. That is not the proper attitude to have.”

Teutopolis (62) - Gillespie 0 1 1-4 4, Niebrugge 2 0 0-4 4, Brummer 0 0 0-0 0, Zerrusen 4 3 4-6 21, Deters 3 0 3-4 9, Haskenherm 3 1 2-2 11, Schumacher 0 0 0-0 0, Pals 0 0 6-6 6, Giles 0 0 0-0 0, Bothwell 0 0 0-0 0, Runde 1 0 3-4 5, Sandschafer 1 0 0-0 2, Michels 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-5, FT-19-30, PF-16.
Stewardson-Strasburg (48) - Ballinger 1 0 2-2 4, Thomas 0 3 0-0 9, Musson 0 0 0-0 0, Carlson 0 0 0-0 0, Huey 1 0 0-0 2, Widdersheim 0 0 0-0 0, Becker 0 0 0-0 0, Wetherell 8 0 1-1 17, Hoene 2 0 0-0 4, Tabbert 3 0 3-11 9, Collins 0 0 0-0 0, Rincker 1 0 1-1 3.
2FG-16, 3FG-3, FT-7-15, PF-21.
Fouled Out - Rincker - Stewardson-Strasburg.
Technical Fouls - Rincker - Stewardson-Strasburg.

ALTAMONT 49, NEOGA 42
For the third year in a row the Altamont Indians are the consolation champions of the NTC Tournament.

With 5-foot-7 junior guard Landon Duckwitz leading the way with 20 points and Kieffer McCarron adding 19 – the Tribe bested Neoga for their second straight win after a Tuesday night loss to Stewardson-Strasburg.

Duckwitz did his part by being all over the floor grabbing rebounds and making big plays.

He also canned 5-of-6 free throws in the final quarter to help secure the Indians (19-4) victory.

Neoga (14-8) got 13 points from senior reserve Eric Jansen and 10 points from Alex Walk.

Head coach Doug Hill watched his club come roaring back after trailing for most of the contest with a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter.

McCarron hit a pair of 3-pointers in the crusade and when Bryce Beccue scored on a back door cut to the basket with 4:16 remaining – Altamont led 39-38.

Duckwitz grabbed a long rebound and sprinted to the other end of the floor for a fast break score and later added a pair of free throws to close the run at 43-38 at the 2:16 mark.

Neoga committed four crucial fourth quarter turnovers and Altamont took advantage of the situation by hitting five of nine shots from the field in the final eight minutes.

Altamont committed just six turnovers in the contest compared to Neoga who had 15 violations.

Neoga (42) - Hoene 4 0 1-1 9, Jansen 2 3 0-0 13, Russell 0 0 0-0 0, Meyer 2 0 0-0 4, Probst 1 0 4-4 6, D. Robinson 0 0 0-0 0, A. Robinson 0 0 0-2 0, T. Walk 0 0 0-0 0, A. Walk 5 0 0-2 10
2FG-14, 3FG-3, FT-5-9, PF-15.
Altamont (49) - Duckwitz 7 0 6-9 20, Durbin 0 1 2-2 5, Beccue 1 0 0-0 2, McCarron 6 2 1-2 19, Braasch 0 0 0-0 0, J. Heiden 0 0 0-0 0, C. Heiden 0 1 0-1 3.
2FG-14, 3FG-4, FT-9-14, PF-12.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

The National Trail Conference named 12 players to its All-Tournament Team.
Colton Booher of St. Elmo became the first player in its 73-year history to be named to the All-Tourney team four-consecutive years.
Others named to the team include Blake Koerner, John Steppe and Anthony Hecht of St. Anthony; Wade Nevergall of St. Elmo; Brian Haskenherm and Tony Zerrusen of Teutopolis; Phil Wetherell of Stewardson-Strasburg; Landon Duckwitz and Kieffer McCarron of Altamont; Alex Walk of Neoga and Jared Laue of Beecher City.