Izzy Hardiek hit a free throw and drilled a three to pull THS within four, 41-37. Kaitlyn Schumacher then hit a short jumped to make it 41-39 with 3:53 to play. The Lady Shoes got the ball back and had a good chance to tie the game, but missed two short jumpers near the basket.

It took 6½ minutes into the final quarter before Mattoon’s standout senior Mallory Ramage finally scored to put the guests back up by four. Schumacher then hit the front end of a bonus, but missed the second. Hardiek grabbed the rebound, however, and got fouled. She made both charity tosses and Teutopolis was within a single point, 43-42, with 2:31 still to play.

On its next possession, the Lady Shoes had a chance to take the lead, but missed a wide open layup.

The final 90 seconds belonged to Ramage. She hit a short jumper to make it 45-42, then made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 37 seconds to seal the win.

“Mattoon has a nice team,” Thompson said. “Ramage is a very good player, but I thought we did okay on her. We figured she’d get her 20 or so. But they also have other outside shooters, plus they’re scrappy and play hard. They’re a quality team, but I thought we could have won this game. I was excited about this game because they are a good team.”

The Green Wave grabbed an early 8-6 lead, but T-Town rattled off eight straight points – four by Schumacher and Kaylee Niebrugge – to go up 14-8. But Ramage connected on two long shots from well behind the arc to knot the score at 14-14 after the opening eight minutes.

The Lady Shoes missed their first seven shots of the second period and Mattoon took advantage. Ramage scored five points and Chloe Pruitt added a pair of jumpers to put the Green Wave on top 26-19. At halftime, it was a 27-23 advantage.

“I thought we played scared that first half,” Thompson noted. “We had three straight possessions with unforced turnovers. And then we missed some wide open shots.  Nobody seemed to want the ball. I thought we were lucky to only be down four.”

Pruitt scored six more points in the third quarter and Lily Ghere knocked down a three from the corner, helping the Green Wave build their biggest lead of the game, 40-31, six minutes into the second half. It was an eight-point margin when the period ended.

Ramage led all scorers with 25 points and Pruitt added 16 for Mattoon, which improved to 16-1 on the season. They hit 38 percent of their shots, connecting on 17-of-45 attempts. They were 3-for-13 from three-point range and 13-for-16 at the foul line.

The Lady Shoes had three players in double figures. Hardiek led the way with 14 points, while Schumacher and Niebrugge both scored 13. Both Hardiek and Niebrugge finished with double-double performances, pulling down 11 and 10 rebounds respectively. That help T-Town to a 32-21 rebounding edge.

Teutopolis was 17-for-48 overall, a 35 percent shooting clip. They were 2-for-7 from long range and 8-for-16 at the charity stripe. They finished with 11 turnovers.

“We ran our high-low offense real well tonight,” Thompson explained. “We got the ball inside a lot, but just couldn’t score. They have to get it into their head they can make those shots. If we do, we’re going to be a heckuva ball team.”

The Lady Shoes dropped to 11-4 on the season. They will return to action Saturday at home against a good Mt. Vernon team.