Chicago Hope Academy vs. Effingham St. Anthony - 1A State Semfinals

1A State Semifinals

Chicago Hope Academy

Effingham St. Anthony

Chicago Hope Academy (56) - Hunter 4 3 3-8 17, Simmons 4 0 0-0 8, McGinnis 1 0 2-4 4, Hale 0 0 2-2 2, Meridy 1 4 0-0 14, Mabry 0 0 1-2 1, Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Turner 1 0 0-0 2, Jones 0 0 0-0 0, Hueston 1 2 0-0 8, Elem 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-12/3FG-8/FT-8-16/PF-14.

Effingham St. Anthony (50) - Griffith 1 0 3-5 5, W. Fearday 0 0 0-0 0, Link 0 1 0-0 3, Schmidt 3 1 3-5 12, B. Fearday 5 4 4-5 26, Waldhoff 1 0 2-2 4, Gannaway 0 0 0-0 0, Gonzalez 0 0 0-0 0, Vonderheide 0 0 0-0 0, Bierman 0 0 0-0 0, Wiedman 0 0 0-0 0, Looman 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-10/3FG-6/FT-12-17/PF-14.

Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Bad start dooms Bulldogs
Hope Academy advances to title game, 56-50; St. Anthony falls to third place game

03/13/2025
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHAMPAIGN – The St. Anthony Bulldogs couldn't have had a worse beginning to their Thursday morning semifinal contest against Chicago Hope Academy at the 1A state tournament in Champaign.

As it turned out, the horrible beginning proved to be too much of a problem to overcome as a furious late game rally fell short.

Chicago Hope did enough late in the contest to advance to the 1A state title game with a 56-50 victory.

The Eagles led by as many as 23-points in the fourth quarter, and withstood a 21-4 run by St. A, to close out the semifinal win to advance to its first state championship game after two different semifinal losses in their previous two trips to the finals.

The devastating defeat sends the Bulldogs into the third place game Friday morning against Peoria Christian, who lost its semifinal contest to Lanark-Eastland in the second game on Thursday.

Brock Fearday helped lead the late rally for St. Anthony as the senior scored 26-points and pulled down 15-rebounds.

Senior Ryan Schmidt, who was hobbled in the second half with an ankle injury, ended up with 12-points.

Those were the only two double-digit scorers for the now 32-5 squad.

“It was just one of those days where we couldn't get anything inside, which didn't open up anything outside,” said Coach Rincker. “We wanted to move the basketball, move the defense, shift it around. I thought Hope did a great job attacking us when we got the ball into the corners and we didn't have passing lanes that we could see to get the ball into the middle.”

Chicago Hope and head coach Ronnie Fields reach the title game after losing in the semifinals a year ago.

Junior guard Tyjuan Hunter put on a show for the folks at the State Farm Center.

The 5-7 point guard not only led the Eagles in scoring with 17-points but also handed out 10-assists in posting a double-double.

The Eagles were credited with seven steals, which were part of the 16 St. Anthony turnovers.

Malik Meridy, a senior forward, nailed down four 3-pointers and finished with 14-points as the Eagles head into the Saturday title game clash at 27-7.

Two other Hope players; junior Jaiden Simmons and reserve junior TJ Hueston, finished with eight-points apiece.

The key stat, the one that led to the Bulldogs' demise, was first half shooting.

St. Anthony misfired on its first 11 field goal attempts before Schmidt converted on a fast break with 1:51 left in the first half.

Having gone 14-plus minutes without a made field goal, the Bulldogs were fortunate to only be down 16-4.

“Defensively we wanted to know where #45 and #35 (Fearday, Schmidt) were at at all times,” said Coach Fields. “We wanted to take away their drives and take away their catch and shoot. The kids understand the process.”

St. Anthony looked like they were going to be back on track after four free throws, two each from Schmidt and Fearday and a Schmidt score from the baseline in the second quarter.

(CONTINUED)

“We got some decent looks (early) but they didn't go down for us,” said Coach Rincker. “Obviously in the first eight or ten minutes of the game we put ourselves in a hole but we were only down nine, which is three shots for us to tie it up. But that's not the way the game started to go.”

Hope delivered a pair of momentum shifting scores to close the half.

A 3-pointer by Meridy from the left corner with :26 left was followed by a turnover by St. Anthony that turned into a three-quarter court prayer of a shot from Hunter that banked in at the buzzer.

This pushed the Hope Academy lead to 22-10 at the half.

As poorly as the offense was in the first half (2-of-14, nine turnovers) the Bulldogs were down just a dozen.

“They did a really good job of keeping us out of the paint,” said Coach Rincker. “And I thought the two big shots at the end of the half were really big momentum shifts for them,” said Coach Rincker. “The three hurt and the 90-footer that banked in were tough pills to swallow. If we could have kept it at six or nine we could've gotten back to our original game plan. But down 12 at halftime was tough.”

Hunter repeatedly found his teammates for scores in the third quarter, finding Simmons on a pair of drives to the basket ending in lob assists for two-handed slam dunks.

Hunter also set up Meridy for another 3-point bomb from the left corner and another inside assist to reserve junior Christian Turner.

A bucket on a drive up the middle by Hunter floated home for a 41-25 spread entering the fourth quarter.

Although the final score looked presentable, Hope put the game away with Hueston nailing down consecutive 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the final frame.

Hunter finished in transition off another St. Anthony turnover and Meridy hit his final 3-pointer as the lead reached 52-29 with 3:42 left.

The 21-4 scoring streak was headed by Fearday who scored the final 11-points for the Bulldogs, with three 3-pointers included, spurred on by six Eagles' turnovers.

Hope, however, hit four of its final 10 free throws, which turned out to be just enough, to close the deal and move on to a championship game on Saturday.

“We didn't come up here to sub out with three minutes to go. So we're going to play to the final horn or until it was impossible for us to comeback,” said Coach Rincker. “We weren't going to quit.”

The numbers didn't add up for St. Anthony on Thursday.

The club hit just 30.8 percent from the floor overall (16-of-52) and just 6-of-28 (21.4 percent) from the 3-point line.

Hope was slightly better (40 percent) at 20-of-50 total, 8-of-24 from long range.

“For me, and what I tell these guys it is about what we do,” said Coach Fields. “As long as we understand our keys. Being in these situations I have to keep these guys calm in the moment. They do a great job following our keys (to success).”