Maxey named all-tourney for St. Elmo at NTCs

St. Elmo junior Levi Maxey was the only area player named to the all-tournament team at the 78th annual National Trail Conference Tournament on Saturday after leading the Eagles to a sixth-place finish at Altamont High School.

Brownstown placed eighth in the event, and South Central was eliminated in the consolation semifinals.

Top-seeded Dieterich beat No. 2 Altamont, 68-54, for the championship, its first ever, and third-seeded Stew-Stras took third, with a 68-58 win against No. 4 Cowden-Herrick..

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In the fifth-place game on Saturday, No. 5 St. Elmo was defeated by sixth-seeded St. Anthony, 64-50, despite making 10 3-pointers in the game.

Senior Connor Beasley had five of those shots as part of his game-high 19 points, and junior Levi Maxey added 11 points, including three 3s.

The Eagles (11-10) fell behind early in the game, and were never able to come back, falling behind by seven at halftime before allowing 20 points in the third period to take a 16-point deficit to the final eight minutes.

Saturday, Jan. 26
St. Anthony 64
St. Elmo 50
SE: 11-12-11-16—50
SA: 15-15-20-14—64
Points: Beasley, 19; L. Maxey, 11; Cole Smithson, 6; Ben Davis, 5; Reece Wells, 4; Garrett Bartels, 3.
Record: 11-10

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In the seventh-place game, No. 7 Brownstown allowed 43 points in the second half of Saturday’s 69-53 loss to ninth-seeded Beecher City.

Senior Matt Sefton had a game-high 25 points for the Bombers (8-11), and junior Jacob Behrends scored 15.

Brownstown turned a one-point deficit into a two-point lead in the second quarter, getting nine points from Sefton in taking a 27-26 halftime lead.

But the defense struggled in the second half, allowing the Eagles to outscore the Bombers, 43-26, over those 16 minutes.

Saturday, Jan. 26
Beecher City 69
Brownstown 53
BC: 15-11-20-23—69
B: 13-14-11-15—53
Points: M. Sefton, 25; Behrends, 15; Austin Hunter, 9; Curt Frailey, 3; Dustin Lawson, 2.
Record: 8-11

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In the consolation semifinals on Friday, South Central lost to St. Anthony, 56-23.

Senior Rudy Hablewitz paced the offense with 13 points, but the Cougars (5-15) scored no more than eight points in any period, while allowing at least 11 points in each.

Freshman Brett Harmeier and senior Fischer Tharp each had four points for South Central, which went 1-2 in its inaugural NTC Tournament.

Friday, Jan. 25
St. Anthony 56
South Central 23
SC: 8-3-8-4—23
SA: 11-16-11-18—56
Points: Hablewitz, 13; Harmeier, 4; Tharp, 4; Austin Schwarm, 2.
Record: 5-15

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In the other consolation semifinal game, St. Elmo knocked off Neoga, 49-36, last Thursday.

Junior Levi Maxey had 18 points in the game, and senior Connor Beasley added 15. Additionally, senior Garrett Bartels added eight and Reece Wells seven for the Eagles (11-9).

No. 8 Neoga scored just 10 points in the first half to give the fifth-seeded Eagles a 24-10 lead, which grew to 31-13 after three periods.

Thursday, Jan. 24
St. Elmo 49
Neoga 36
N: 3-7-3-23—36
S: 16-8-7-18—49
Points: L. Maxey, 18; Beasley, 15; Bartels, 8; Wells, 7; Ben Davis, 1.
Record: 11-9

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ALTAMONT – South Central coach Rick Simmons said controlling the tempo of the game was the key to upsetting Altamont last Wednesday.

For most of the game, it appeared the 10th-seeded Cougars were going to do just that in the quarterfinals of the National Trail Conference Tournament, but a handful of mistakes and missed free throws in the fourth quarter proved costly in a 38-30 loss.

“We rushed some shots,” Simmons said, “but all in all, I’m pleased with the effort and that they followed what we wanted to do.”

The Cougars (5-14) had led by as many as seven points in the third quarter after taking a one-point deficit to halftime, but Altamont scored on three fast breaks in the final two minutes of that period to take a 22-21 lead into the final eight minutes.

Two of those fast breaks came off of turnovers, and South Central missed three field goals and two free throws in the same stretch.

“Our purpose in the third quarter was to stretch it out, and we did by getting up by seven,” Simmons said. “But we gave it away at the end of the third quarter with a couple of quick shots that we didn’t need to let them regain the lead.”

Senior Fischer Tharp made a pair of free throws to open the fourth quarter, and the Cougars quickly found themselves in the bonus, but made only half of their free-throw attempts in the period.

A 9-1 run for Altamont in the middle of the fourth quarter sealed the win for the No. 2 Indians (14-5), dashing South Central’s hopes for a second upset in the tournament after it knocked off No. 7 Brownstown, 60-47, in the first round.

“We would have liked to have won, but if you can’t win, you want to play a really good game,” Simmons said. “For once, our score was in the 30s, but so was theirs.”

The Cougars harassed the Indians on defense in the first half, slowing down Altamont’s typically fast-paced offense and holding it to just three points in the first quarter.

A steal and layup from senior Rudy Hablewitz at the buzzer gave the Cougars an 8-3 lead, but the Indians would slowly creep back into the game in the second period.

Altamont made field goals on its first two possessions of the quarter to pull within one, but Tharp would score five straight points in 56 seconds to give South Central a 13-7 lead with 4:46 remaining in the first half.

Freshman Brett Harmeier committed a pair of intentional fouls in the final 1:31 of the period, however, and Altamont turned those into five points and a one-point lead.

The Cougars went to the locker room with long faces, but when they returned to the court for the second half, it was clear that they had put the situation behind them.

“I cannot say enough good things about the way our guys played and their character,” Simmons said. “To come out in the third quarter and take it to them was a great thing to see.”

Wednesday, Jan. 23
Altamont 38
South Central 30
S: 8-5-8-9—30
A: 3-11-8-16—38
Points: Tharp, 14; Hablewitz, 7; Noah Powless, 6; Joel Rose, 2; Harmeier, 1.
Rebounds: Powless, 7; Tharp, 7; Hablewitz, 5; Team, 5; Harmeier, 4; Rose, 4; Austin Schwarm, 2; Chase Riley, 1.
Assists: Schwarm, 2; Tharp, 1.
Steals: Hablewitz, 2; Schwarm, 1; Tharp, 1.
Blocks: Hablewitz, 1.
Record: 5-14