“That third quarter killed us; absolutely killed us,” Farmer said. “We played a pretty good zone in the first half, but I figured Chet would make adjustments at halftime, so we came out in man-to-man in the third period. But they adjusted well to that, too, plus they got the ball to their big kid and hit some shots. But I liked how we kept battling.”
After Siemer grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to open the fourth quarter, Teutopolis had its biggest lead of the game, 39-22. But the Hearts refused to quit and made the game interesting.
Pals started a 10-2 burst with a three-point play off an offensive rebound. Volpi then scored the Hearts next seven points to get the hosts within 41-32 at the 2:57 mark. Max Niebrugge hit two free throws, but Volpi responded with a long three and it was an eight-point game, 43-35, with 1:02 to left.
But Siemer made a free throw and Logan Roepke broke free for a layup and the Shoes secured the win.
“I am over-the-top proud of these guys,” Reeder said. “This was a testament to how hard they practice. They are ready to play at all times.”
And they’ve had to be. Leading scorer Brendan Niebrugge has missed the last two games due to an ankle injury. Starter James Niebrugge was a late scratch Tuesday night due to illness. And in the second half, Kayden Althoff went down with a leg injury and missed the rest of the game. (As of the time this story was written, the extent of his injury is unknown. He was scheduled for an MRI at 11 a.m. Wednesday.)
The first half was close throughout. The Hearts took advantage of early T-Town miscues, got four quick points from Andrew Splechter and jumped to a 6-0 lead. But Joey Ruholl came off the Shoes bench, knocked down a pair of threes and added another bucket to account for all eight of his team’s points and help forge an 8-8 tie.
Splechter connected from long range to give the Hearts their final lead of the game, 18-15, midway through the second period. Dylan Pruemer then responded with a three – his second of the period – to start what proved to be a 22-4 run over the next 11½ minutes, extending through the third period. Siemer added two late buckets, including one just ahead of the buzzer, to send the Shoes to the locker room with a 22-18 edge at intermission.
“We were kind of passive in that first half,” Reeder said. “Everybody seemed to be waiting for the next guy to make a play. Finally, in that third quarter, we started being more aggressive and got the tempo to where we wanted it. We wanted it to be a track meet, but give Obie’s kids credit. They got back on defense and were able to slow our pace down.”
The Hearts were led in scoring by Volpi, who had a game-high 18 points – 10 of those in the fourth period. Splechter and Pals both had seven. The Hearts shot 37 percent overall, connecting on 14-of-38 shots. They were 4-for-16 from behind the arc and 5-of-8 from the foul line. Dalton Fox led the team with nine rebounds and EHS had 15 turnovers.
“The kids run our system well; real well. But they need to branch off a little and find ways to score,” Farmer said. “Jett did that tonight. He’s quick, athletic and aggressive – and used those things tonight to score. Plus, he hit some shots. I thought he played well.”
The Shoes were led by Siemer, who finished with 14 points. Ruholl scored eight, while both Max Niebrugge and Pruemer chipped in with six. The Shoes were 17-for-41 from the floor, a 41 percent clip. They made 6-of-17 three-point shots and were 6-for-11 from the charity stripe. Ruholl led the team with seven rebounds and the Shoes turned the ball over 12 times.
“I love this group,” Reeder said. “They work so hard every single day. That’s why the next guy is always ready. I could’ve put in our 13th guy and he would have known what to do.”
The Hearts, who are now 2-6, will return to Apollo Conference play Thursday night with a home game against Charleston. Their game Saturday has been cancelled due to COVID issues in Lincoln. That game has been rescheduled for Monday, Jan. 31, at Effingham.
The Shoes improved to 7-1 on the season. They will play Friday night at Fairfield and then participate in the Eureka Shootout on Saturday. T-Town will play Peoria Christian at 1:30 p.m.
