The number one seed this year is St. Anthony a spot that St. A is very familiar with. They come in at 18-4 and 6-0 in the conference and are #1 in the AP and Nesto Hoops Rankings. St. A comes in as the top Dawgs once again this year and after coming up short the past two seasons against Altamont, the Dawgs are hungry to bring back the trophy back to the Enlow Center. Coach Rinker and St. A are number one in so many places for a reason, the Bulldogs are deep. Brock Fearday is usual leading the Dawgs in scoring. Senior Collin Westendorf, Junior Ryan Schmidt, Senior Max Koenig, Senior Nick Ruholl and Sam Link any one of them could be right behind Fearday in the scoring column night in and night out . St. Anthony has kind of had a quite last couple of years (as far as St. Anthony standards) falling to Tuscola in the sectional the past two seasons. On their resume St. Anthony started out 2-2 in the thanksgiving tournament but have gone 16-2 since. With some nice wins against St. Elmo, Newton, Dieterich, Olney, and Mattoon. Point blank is, it’s going to take nearly a flawless performance to knock off the Bulldogs before/on Championship Saturday. May the odds be ever in your favor.
The back to back, reigning, defending, undisputed, tournament champions Altamont Indians come in as the two seed this year. Altamont comes in with a 12-4 and 3-0 in the conference. Altamont winners of the last six in row including a recent narrow escape at Dieterich by two. The Indians have yet to face St. A or St. Elmo this year. Altamont is not as deep as last year but as always play a tough schedule. Their losses are to a couple of 2A schools Newton and Carlyle, a last second shot against Casey and to AP #3 Goreville in the semis of the Sesser Holiday Tournament. The Walking Double Double Kaidyn Miller brings energy and effort to every contest and is the gasoline that makes Altamont go. Dillan Elam has missed a couple of games with an injury but with the extended layoff (with not one but two cancellations this past week it will be 12 11 days since the Indians have hit the court in a live game when Altamont opens up the first round on Wednesday Tuesday) . Eli Miller can cause issues defensively for opposing perimeter guards. “KD” Kaden Davis is a knock down three point shooter and has improved his all around game since beginning of the season. Alec Jahraus can get hot from beyond the arc like his older brothers. Kade Milleville can come off the bench and has filled in nicely when Elam has missed games. Milleville has really come on pulling down rebounds for a guard. Could a rematch in the semis with Dieterich be the only thing stopping the Indians from playing for a three peat.
The three seed Dieterich comes in at 14-5 and 4-2 in the conference and if not for a heartbreaking miss timed timeout against Altamont, the Maroons could have been the two seed in the tournament . Coach Bohnhoff has the group playing well and are no drop off from 1-5 in the starting lineup. Caleb Gephart a senior has had some highlight reel dunks and just recently notched his 1,000 career point. Junior Lucas Westendorf at the beginning of this month also notched his 1,000 career point, so those are the two the teams going to have to contend with. Junior Landon Keck has also been a welcomed addition to the team this year after moving and transferring in from Cisne. Tanner Will rounds out the starting five and is capable of putting up double figures. If your going to pick anyone to lift up the trophy on Saturday other than St. A or Altamont, the Maroons just might be that team.
The four seed is St Elmo / Brownstown and just like the girls squad this is a team that no one is talking about and they should. The Eagles are also soaring under the radar at 17-3 and 3-1 in the conference. The Eagles lost to St. Anthony just having the 3rd quarter due them in causing a lopsided score. There other two losses come from a close loss to Afton Missouri and Christ Our Rock. SEB is a veteran led crew for Coach Feezel: Senior Adam Atwood, Cade Schaub, Collin and Josiah Maxey and Brody Mason are the crew that stuffs the state sheet for SEB. What would the Eagles do in a rematch against St. A in the semis? We may not have to wait to long to find out.
The five seed is the North Clay Cardinals. North Clay comes in at 6-12 and 1-4 in the conference. Man the Cardinals are having a tough go of it this season. When I saw them play earlier this definitely was not their best. Coming into the season the Cardinals were trying to replace the scoring and production from all stater Logan Fleener, Alex Boose and crew. Cody Zimdars came on to the scene last year as a freshman and senior Ethan Kuenstler were contributors to last years team. It was another 20 win season for Coach Zink and North Clay. Other than that the Cardinals turned to a group asked for bigger and expanded roles this season. Senior Jessie Weidner and sophomore Carder Walden are two guys that have stepped up and filled those roles.
The six seed is South Central. The Cougars are 11-10 and 2-3 in the conference. South Central is another team that has been looking for more consistency this season. The Cougars are coming in losing seven out of their last ten. They kind of were in the same boat as North Clay, Coach Doehring and company were trying to replace Aiden Dodson. Who did so much for the team the last couple seasons. SC only has a average of 42.2 point per game. Senior Max Magnus and Junior Brody Markley have been the two main scorers night in and night out. Seth Bergman, Kage Hiestand, and the two Smiths Jacob and Callaway make contributions for the Cougars as well. Westin Neilson the freshman has shown flashes this season as well.
The seven seed is Windsor / Stew Stras. The Hatchets are 10-12 2-4 in the conference. Coach Smith and Windsor ar trying to replace some talent that graduated the last couple seasons. The two Wittenbergs Jordan and Austin graduated from last year but W/SS is very upperclassman heavy. Some that just maybe have seen the varsity floor much coming into the year Jackson Gurgel one of those seniors is the number one option for the Hatchets Nathaniel Gracey, Colten Bridges, Conner Manhart, and Brody Hendrickson fill out the cast for Stew Stras.
The eight seed is Cowden Herrick / Beecher City. The Bobcats are 9-11 and 2-3 in the conference. Cowden has already equaled their win total from a year ago and returned a lot from the team last year. So its good to see that translating to more wins for Coach Thompson and company. Seniors Clayton Wojcik and Gage Lorton, along with juniors AJ Radloff and Kaidyn Calame are the names you hear a lot of for the Bobcats.
The nine seed is Neoga. The Indians are 5-14 0-6 in conference coming into the tourney. The season has been a struggle for Coach Snow and the Indians so far. They do have a nice one point win last month against Arcola, who is the top seed in the Lincoln Prairie Conference Tournament. So that shows me that on any given night Neoga could put it altogether. Senior Trey Sheehan has been looked at as one of the main scoring threats for Neoga. Juniors Luke Keller and Landon Tttus are usually up there in the box score as well. Could a strong run in the conference tournament turn things around for Neoga? Time will tell.
Tuesday January 22nd
8 Seed Cowden Herrick / Beecher City over .9 Seed Neoga
I think that this could be one of those years CHBC could make it out of night one with the W.
2 Seed Altamont over 7 Seed Windsor / Stew Stras
These two teams haven’t matched up yet this year and it has been awhile since Altamont played a live game. But I think that could mean it has given time for the Indians to rest and heal up.
3 Seed Dieterich over 6 Seed South Central
Maroons already won the previous matchup this season about two weeks ago. I don’t see much changing here
Wednesday January 24th
1 Seed St. Anthony over 8 Seed Cowden Herrick / Beecher City
CHBC is improved but not quite on the level with St. Anthony at this point. St. Anthony already put up 81 points in their previous matchup question is do they get there again?
4 Seed St. Elmo / Brownstown over. 5 Seed North Clay
Looking forward to see SEB in action. I know the Cardinals will preform better than when I saw them last but not quite enough to beat the battle of the birds.
Thursday January 25th
7 Seed Windsor / Stew Stras over 9 Seed Neoga
Windsor only won by six in their matchup at the beginning of the month so I wouldn’t be surprised if the game was close again.
8 Seed Cowden Herrick / Beecher City over 5 Seed North Clay
CHBC lost the previous match up at the beginning of the month but what’s a tournament without a couple of upsets or two.
1 Seed St. Anthony over 4 Seed St. Elmo / Brownstown
One bad quarter prevented SEB to pull off the upset back in their matchup in December. I would suspect this game to be closer this time around but St. Anthony still comes out on top
Friday January 26th
7 Seed Windsor / Stew Stras over. 6 Seed South Central
South Central won this seasons previous matchup a couple of weeks ago. So I’ll go the opposite way this time around.
3 Seed Dieterich over 2 Seed Altamont
Alright so this one was tough for me, The Maroons almost won their previous encounter but both teams play a lot better on their home floors. Even though the tournament is in Altamont house. These predictions just wouldn’t be fun if everything goes chalk.
Saturday January 27th
7th Place Game
5 Seed North Clay over 6 Seed South Central
Always tough to be in the first game on championship Saturday, so it really will be who ever comes out ready to play. It really is a toss up.
Consolation Championship Game
7 Seed Windsor / Stew Stras over 8 Seed Cowden Herrick / Beecher City
3rd Place Game
2 Seed Altamont over 4 Seed St. Elmo / Brownstown
Not the spot either one of these teams want to be in on Saturday. I have Altamont pulling it out in a close one.
Championship Game
1 Seed St. Anthony over 3 Seed Dieterich
I know I previously stated about not wanting things to go chalk but as I have also previously stated the Bulldogs are number one for a reason. In the previous matchup Dieterich led after one quarter then the Dawgs pulled away from there. The game always comes down to who can handle the pressure of atmosphere of the championship game. No matter who plays in the final the gym is always packed and the place to be. If the Maroons can hang around and be within striking distance in the fourth they might be able to shock the world.
Every year the National Trail Conference always delivers and one of my favorite times of the year.
See you in Altamont!!
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