EFFINGHAM — The start of the game may not have been the greatest, but the ending was for the Altamont girls basketball team.
Behind a 43-point night from Illinois State pledge Grace Nelson, the Lady Indians (5-2, 3-0 National Trail Conference) were able to upend St. Anthony, 78-67, at the Enlow Center on Monday night.
“Our kids did a super job of making enough plays,” Altamont head coach Craig Carr said. “Grace, I can’t say enough about her; 43 tonight and we needed most of them, but her teammates do a super job of finding her, especially in the open floor and it’s fun to watch.”
The Bulldogs (7-2, 2-1 National Trail Conference) started the game with a one-point lead, 18-17, after the first quarter.
Ava Faber opened the scoring with a three-pointer.
Lady Indian Kylie Osteen then hit a short midrange shot from the baseline to cut the deficit to one point, 3-2.
Nelson followed with a layup to give Altamont a 4-3 advantage.
Adysen Rios then hit a three-pointer with 4:38 left before Addi Nuxoll made a layup with 4:26 to go to put the Bulldogs ahead, 8-4.
A Nelson layup then made it 8-6.
The Lady Indians followed that by going on a 7-0 run to take a 13-9 lead with 1:47 left. Claire Boehm hit a midrange shot and a three-pointer during the run.
St. Anthony then made it 13-11 before Peyton Osteen made a midrange shot to push the lead back to four, 15-11.
Addie Lauritzen then followed with a midrange shot to tie the game with under one minute left.
Nelson then drew a foul and converted both of her free throws to put Altamont back in front 17-15.
Stacie Vonderheide then hit a layup to tie the game at 17 before Rios hit one of her two free throws to end the quarter.
The Lady Indians would then erupt in the second quarter, outscoring St. Anthony, 27-12, in the period.
Nelson scored 13 points in the frame. She then added 12 in the third and 12 in the fourth.
With 5:14 left in the third, Nelson achieved a career milestone, scoring her 2,000th and 2,0001st points of her illustrious career on a transition layup. Boehm was charged with the assist.
Though it was Nelson’s night, others also contributed to the victory.
Boehm finished with 12 points.
“The bigger games, she’s going to play big,” Carr said. “She has no fear from the three-point line and we need to work on time-and-score situations, but that’s on me.”
Kaylee Lurkins finished with 10 points.
“Glad to have her back,” Carr said. “She had a nasty ankle sprain less than one week ago and came back quick because she’s a tough kid. We need her; she’s a diamond in the rough.”
Peyton Osteen had nine points.
“Peyton played a great game,” Carr said. “She really fought underneath for rebounds as an undersized kid and played with a ton of heart. Those seniors are carrying us right now.”
Peyton’s sister, Kylie, had two points and Skylie Klein also had two.
As for the Bulldogs, Vonderheide led the way with 30 points.
Aubrey Denning pitched in 11 points off the bench.
“She did an awesome job tonight,” St. Anthony head coach Aaron Rios said. “I’m very proud of her as a freshman and coming off the bench.”
Adysen Rios had 10 points. Faber had eight and Lauritzen and Nuxoll each had four.
Nancy Ruholl did not play due to a concussion suffered during the Stewardson-Strasburg game last week. There was no timetable on her return at press time.
“When you take a good player like Nancy out of the lineup and our sequence of what we’re doing; we’re trying to figure ourselves out,” Rios said.