01-15-08
BY JACK BULLOCK
EFFINGHAM - The St. Anthony Bulldogs didn't know what to expect from top scorer John Steppe when they squared off against Newton on Tuesday night at the Enlow Center.

Steppe – who had been ill with the flu and had missed several days of school while recovering – told his coach Matt Britton that he was going to try playing.

Steppe 'stepped up' and delivered a gutsy performance in leading his club to a hard-fought 56-50 non-conference home win.

This 6-foot-3 junior forward scored 16 points including a game-changing conventional three-point play in the fourth quarter that gave his team the lead for good after eight lead changes in the first three quarters plus.

His one-handed score on a drive in the lane and subsequent free throw while being fouled by Nick Mammoser put his club up 43-42 at the 5:55 mark.

Then he and his teammates made 5-of-7 free throws in the final thirty seconds to improve to 11-6 on the season.

“John (Steppe) probably played his best game of the year tonight for us,” said St. Anthony head coach Matt Britton. “He has been under the weather the last couple of days and we didn't really know what he was going to be able to give us tonight. He came in and played smart and did some nice things tonight.”

Newton had chances to win the game but missed some key shots in the final minutes which forced a parade to the foul line.

Coach Doug Mammoser saw his club fall to 11-6 on the season by losing yet another close call.

Eric Schackmann put home 17 points to lead all scorers for Newton with junior Scott Mammoser adding 12.

Perhaps the real difference in the contest was the ability of the Bulldogs to exploit Newton's attempt at a zone defense early.

Allowing St. Anthony to get some early offensive looks from behind the arc – Newton and Coach M gambled that the Bulldogs wouldn't be able to 'dial up' enough 3-pointers to win the game.

As it turned out St. Anthony – a 26 percent shooting team from long range for the season – connected on 8-of-18 from beyond the arc (44 percent) including three consecutive shots to open the game.

“It (three-point shooting) isn't exactly our strong point but the kids were confident and stepped up and made shots tonight,” Britton explained. “It was very important for us to loosen up their zone.”

Taylor Worman – one of the players that Coach Mammoser wanted to leave open for St. Anthony – drained a pair of 3-pointers in the opening minutes to get the Bulldogs an early edge.

His first one from the left corner evened the score at 3-3 and his second one gave the lead to St. Anthony for the first time with 3:43 remaining at 6-5.

“We were counting on them (St. Anthony) not being able to shoot the three and they hit them early,” said Newton head coach Doug Mammoser. “We kind of bring that out of people (good shooting) right now. If we pack it in they shoot it and if we come after them they go around us.”

Schackmann opened up with a seven-point first quarter for Newton. This 6-foot-3 senior forward - who recently joined the 1,000-point club – canned an early 3-pointer from the left wing and also scored twice in close on an offensive rebound and driving bank shot.

A pair of scores by Scott Mammoser and Justin Swingler evened the scoring at 11-each at the first horn.

Five of the games' lead changes occurred in the second quarter.

Four points in succession on a pair of buckets gave Newton the lead in the opening two minutes with both Nick Mammoser and Jake Pilman hitting shots. Pilman's rebound basket gave Newton a 15-11 edge.

Steppe – who started the game on the bench – hit his first of three 3-pointers on the night from the top of the arc with 4:41 before halftime to give St. Anthony one of the lead changes at 16-15.

Blake Koerner got into the act from the outside for St. Anthony as he became the fourth different Bulldog to connect from 20-feet out.

In fact he hit a pair of shots from deep with his second one giving his club back the lead at 22-20.

Following a Nick Mammoser score – the Bulldogs went to the half with a 24-22 lead when Kyle McHugh threw in an off-balanced driving lay in just before the buzzer.

Newton's Scott Mammoser had a big third quarter effort leading the Eagles with eight points.

His drive and pull up jumper from the right wing tied the game at 28 with 6:09 left.

After an 8-2 St. Anthony run which included a conventional three-point play by Koerner - S. Mammoser hit a pair of shots with the last one coming on a back door cut and pass from Swingler that trimmed the Newton deficit to 38-36.

Schackmann – who hadn't scored since midway through the second quarter – ended the third stanza points with a driving reverse lay in to even things at 40-apiece heading to the final eight minutes.

“You have to account for Schackmann every time down the floor because he is such a good player inside and out,” said Britton. “We rotated several different kids on him and I felt like we were able to keep a fresh body on him and covered him late in the game.”

Steppe's conventional three-point play – mentioned before – triggered a 9-3 run that gave St. Anthony the lead back for good.

However Newton had chances in the late going.

Nick Mammoser hit a 3-pointer with 2:16 to go to get his team within three points.

Schackmann could have tied the game when he was fouled while shooting a shot from behind the arc by St. Anthony's Anthony Hecht.

Awarded three free throws – Schackmann converted just the last two.

Newton trailed 51-50 at this point.

The Eagles wouldn't score again as they fell for the fourth time in succession.

“We just didn't finish our possessions tonight,” said Coach Mammoser. “They shot the shots we wanted them to shoot tonight and they got some offensive boards tonight. They (St. Anthony) used their athleticism well. I thought we were aggressive offensively tonight – much better than we have been.”

Steppe, McHugh and Worman all hit free throws in the final moments to seal the victory for the Bulldogs.

Newton had a pair of crucial turnovers in the final quarter – including an inbounds violation with :30 left at 53-50.

“We knew that Newton was going to make some shots because they are such a good shooting team and they really got hot in the third quarter,” added Britton. “We talked at halftime about the hustle points because we thought we got 'out-hustled' in the first half. I think it showed in the fourth quarter. Our kids were aggressive and we got some important stick backs. I could go right down the line – our kids played hard.”

The Bulldogs finished 19-of-44 from the field overall but the showing from downtown was a big reason that they came away with a big non-conference triumph.

Hitting 10-of-13 free throw attempts didn't hurt the cause.

After Steppe's 16 points Koerner was next on the list with 11 points. Worman and McHugh added nine and seven points respectively.

Newton put together a 21-of-47 effort but while St. A was hitting a good percentage from 3-point land the Eagles struggled at 4-of-15.

Schackmann and S. Mammoser were the only two Eagles in double figures.

St. Anthony won the rebound battle at 25-21 and the game featured just 13 total turnovers with seven of them committed the Bulldogs.

“We are in a stretch here where we have played with some people. We won some games early and now we are not winning those games,” added Mammoser whose club has dropped its last four games by a total of 22 points. “We just have to keep going.”

St. Anthony returns to action in the National Trail Conference this Friday with a key matchup at Stewardson-Strasburg – the ABV preseason NTC pick and then it is on to the National Trail Conference Tournament.

“This will be a very difficult game for us to play at their place,” added Britton. “I have really enjoyed the other coaches in the NTC so far this year. There are a lot of classy guys here and this is such a great small school conference. It (the tournament) is going to be fun. For the first time in a while there are going to be six of seven teams that have a legitimate shot of winning it or taking home hardware.”

Newton (50) - S. Mammoser 6 0 0-0 12, Trout 0 0 0-0 0, French 1 0 2-2 4, Swingler 3 0 0-1 6, N. Mammoser 2 1 0-0 7, Hahn 1 0 0-0 2, Will 0 0 0-0 0, Pilman 1 0 0-0 2, Schackmann 3 3 2-3 17.
2FG-17, 3FG-4, FT-4-6, PF-14.
Effingham St. Anthony (34) - McHugh 1 1 2-2 7, Koerner 2 2 1-1 11, Worman 1 2 1-2 9, Hecht 2 0 1-2 5, Steppe 2 3 3-4 16, Baker 0 0 0-0 0, Fearday 2 0 0-0 4, Schmidt 1 0 2-2 4.
2FG-11, 3FG-8, FT-10-13, PF-12.
Fouled Out - Hahn - Newton.
Technical Fouls - None.