Bulldogs Lose Home Finale to Sullivan

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St. Clair could not maintain its fast start and dropped a home boys basketball contest Friday against Sullivan.

The Bulldogs (9-18, 2-5) led 16-11 after one quarter, but were outscored by the Eagles 43-16 over the middle two periods in a 67-45 Four Rivers Conference contest at St. Clair High School.

It was senior night for St. Clair and the regular season finale for both teams. It also was Lee McKinney coaches versus cancer night.

“We started slow, but played well the second and third quarters,” said Sullivan Head Coach Dino McKinney. “It’s always good to get a road victory in this conference. It was a great atmosphere and a packed house for the game.”

Sullivan (17-8, 5-2) finished in a tie for second place in the FRC standings with Hermann and St. James.

“Like all year, we went into a bubble during a small amount of time that really hurt us,” said St. Clair Head Coach Greg Dunigan. “Sullivan is very deep and hard to defend at times.”

Neyko Dominguez led St. Clair in the scoring column with 15 points.

Adam Brott finished the game with 13 points.

Will Rolley chipped in with six points. Evan Murphy added four points. Justin Nunn scored three points. Evan Powell and Reno Jones both had two points.

Austin Gotway and Ben Feddersen also played.

Justin Biermann led Sullivan with 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Patrick Moody added 14 points and four rebounds. He was 4-5 from three-point range.

Blake Fuchs finished with 10 points. Uriah Heady had nine points.

Austin Coleman collected six points and five assists. Adam Weiland had four points and five rebounds. Ryan Juergens scored three points. J.C. Beckett and Brett Lindemann both had two points. Adam Tiefenbrunn and Marcus Mallory also played.

Sullivan shot 60 percent from the field, including 9-15 from three-point range. The Eagles were 8-13 from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs were 7-11.

Sullivan held leads of 32-22 at halftime and 54-32 after three quarters.

“We had a good first quarter. We attacked the basket and our defense was good. Biermann and Moody had no points in the first quarter,” Dunigan said. “Then we forgot who we did not want to beat us and we didn’t guard those two over the next two quarters. They scored 29 points combined and we just didn’t put the ball in the hole.”

St. Clair cut Sullivan’s lead to six points at one point, but saw the Eagles go on a run to increase their advantage.

St. Clair and Sullivan both play this week in the Class 4 District 9 Tournament at Union High School.

The fifth-seeded Bulldogs defeated fourth-seeded Union Tuesday in a first-round contest, 47-39.

St. Clair takes on top-seeded Borgia in the semifinals Thursday at 6 p.m.

Second-seeded Sullivan received a first-round bye and meets Salem in the semifinals Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Salem was a 51-28 winner Tuesday over Owensville.

The district championship game is scheduled for Friday at 7:30 p.m.