CHAMPAIGN — No team wants to end the season with a loss, especially at the state tournament.
St. Anthony head coach Cody Rincker wouldn’t let his team leave the State Farm Center with their hands hanging, though. Friday’s game against Peoria (Christian) for third place in the Class 1A State Final Tournament was one centered around excellent careers ending and a season to remember.
“These are absolutely great young men,” Rincker said of his five seniors who were sitting to his left and right during the end-of-game press conference. “They’ve been an honor and a privilege to coach, not just because of how they play basketball, their wins, and all of those accolades. They put their best effort into every single thing they do. They’re competitors, no matter what the situation is.
“It was difficult to write their names for the last time in the book.”
Ryan Schmidt, Brock Fearday, Will Fearday, Sam Link and Maddox Wiedman suited up in a Bulldogs uniform for the last time.
Altogether, the group won 104 games in high school, setting a program record.
“It’s been a great last four years,” Brock Fearday said. “I can’t sum it up in one sentence or paragraph.”
Brock Fearday finished his final game with St. Anthony with a double-double for the second-straight game. He had 27 points and 12 rebounds in the 61-51 loss to the Chargers.
Brock has been a four-year contributor for Rincker. He ends his decorated career as the all-time leading scorer in Bulldogs history, surpassing Mike Wente. Brock accomplished that during a sectional semifinal win against Bluford (Webber) last week.
“His model of consistency over the last four years has been amazing,” Rincker said. “That’s why you see him as the all-time leading scorer. That’s why you see him being able to come up with big shots and big plays when they matter the most. He’s got a great competitive spirit.”
St. Anthony was dealing with a pair of key injuries heading into the contest.
Schmidt and Will Fearday both were dealing with ankle injuries.
Rincker said that affected the game plan, especially defensively.
“It hurt our matchups,” Rincker said. “It hurt our ability to guard the way we typically like to guard. You got to credit Jonny [Gannaway] and Miles [Waldhoff] for stepping in and doing what they could. Their energy was great.”
Will Fearday played 13 minutes and scored three points with one rebound, one assist and one steal.
The premier defender for the Bulldogs wasn’t his usual self.
“He slows [teams] down,” said Rincker of Will Fearday’s defense. “He makes it hard, and not having that these last two games was difficult. That’s the way it goes sometimes. We had to overcome it; we just weren’t able to.”
Schmidt suffered his ankle injury in the semifinal loss to Chicago (Hope Academy) after hitting a three-pointer near the St. Anthony bench and landing awkwardly on it.
Nothing was going to keep him from playing in this game.
You were going to have to cut his leg off to make that even a possibility.
“It was my last game wearing this jersey. All the grind, injuries I’ve been through, I wanted to play and keep playing,” Schmidt said. “I just tried to muscle through.”
Schmidt started the game well, scoring eight of his team’s 13 points in the first period.
“They really didn’t face-guard me much, which I was pretty surprised about,” Schmidt said. “I’ve usually been face-guarded all year, but they laid off a little bit.”
St. Anthony led 13-10 at the end of the first and trailed 27-25 at halftime. Peoria (Christian) led by eight points heading into the final frame before a 21-15 fourth sealed the win.
“They got a lead on us and we tried to force turnovers, but we never could and they got layups because we were trying to scramble around,” Brock Fearday said.
Schmidt finished with 12 points, six rebounds and one steal. He shot 4-of-13 from the floor and played 27 minutes.
Chargers head coach Jason Persinger had high praise for Schmidt during the press conference.
“I told Ryan after the game, ‘You’re one of the toughest high school ballplayers I’ve ever seen,’” Persinger said. “For him, the adversity he had to go through this weekend and continue to fight speaks highly of his character.”
Keenan Griffith had four points, four rebounds and one steal. Link had three points, five rebounds and three assists and Waldhoff had two points, two rebounds and two assists.
The Bulldogs end the season with a school-best 32-6 record and another state trophy to add to the case.
“It’s special,” said Rincker on ending the season at the state tournament. “This is why teams work so hard and do all that they do in the summer and before the season — to have an opportunity to play on this stage and showcase their basketball team, school, community, and pride. We recognize those things.
“It may not have shown up on the scoreboard, but I think the way they played and carried themselves, I’m extremely proud of these guys.”
Peoria (Christian) ends the year with a 29-10 record.
“I told our guys before the game, in the locker room, ‘There will be tears today, no matter what happens, but this wasn’t going to be a funeral. This was going to be a celebration. A culmination of all the hard work, not just of us, but of the entire program,’” Persinger said.
Built on tempo, the Chargers enjoy shooting the basketball, especially the three-point shot.
“We try to push it up the court quickly,” Persinger said. “We have a set every time that we try to run called ‘40.’ We try to get easy buckets, but we work tirelessly on shooting the basketball. I’ve always wanted to work our gameplans each season, our structure around our strengths.
“We wanted to maximize our strengths.”
The sharpshooting Chargers tied a record for most three-point field goals made in a Class 1A tournament game with 10. Woodlawn did the same against Carrollton in the 2012 state championship game.
“They’re relentless,” Rincker said. “You couldn’t let them break you down off the dribble — easier said than done — which forces the help and the rotations. Unfortunately, we got too many possessions like that, which allowed them to have open looks.”