Altamont used a fast start to grab momentum early and rolled to a 51-32 win over St. Anthony to win their second straight National Trail Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday night. The Indians came out hot from the opening tip, as Dillan Elam would hit a couple baskets, Jared Hammer and Eric Kollman would each have one apiece and Avery Jahraus would hit two free throws for a 10-0 lead before St. Anthony would manage to get just their first basket of the game with 1:17 left in the first quarter to make it 10-2 and would make a free throw to cut the Altamont to 10-3 to end the quarter. After St. Anthony would cut the lead to 11-5 at the beginning of the second quarter, Jahraus would drain a three-pointer and Hammer would hit his second basket as the Indians pushed their lead back up to ten, 16-6. Elam would then be fouled and make a free throw and Jahraus would be fouled on the following Indian possession and shoot the bonus, making two more free throws as Altamont would lead 19-6. St. Anthony would hit two free throws themselves and then hit a three-pointer to cut the Altamont lead down to 19-11 as the first half came to a close. St. Anthony would start off the third quarter with a pair of baskets to cut the Altamont lead to 19-15 before an Altamont 11-0 run punctuated by a three from Eli Miller and a forced turnover ending with a three-point play by Hammer on the fast break basket and ensuing free throw to push the Indians lead back up to 30-15. After a Bulldog basket and pair of free throws, Altamont put together a 7-0 run to go up 37-19 before St. Anthony closed it to 37-22 to end the third quarter. The Indians would then go 6 of 8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and add another four field goals to outscore St. Anthony 14-10 over the last eight minutes to roll on to the 51-32 win. The win marks the 14th straight win for Altamont as well as back-to-back championships over St. Anthony. Altamont moves to 19-3 on the season and after playing at home for most of the month of January, they will play the next four games on the road beginning with a trip to Flora on Tuesday. They will also have a rematch with St. Anthony coming up in just over 2 weeks for the regular season NTC standings.
Altamont Scoring:
Dillan Elam – 11 points
Avery Jahraus – 11 points
Jared Hammer – 8 points
Logan Cornett – 6 points
Eric Kollman – 6 points
Eli Miller – 5 points
Kienon Eirhart – 2 points
Kaidyn Miller – 2 points
