After trailing much of the first half, the Shoes used a three-pointer from Brendan Niebrugge and a three-point play by Caleb Siemer in the final 60 seconds of the third period to give them a slim 34-32 edge heading into the final eight minutes.

Buckets by Siemer and Brendan Niebrugge expanded the Shoes lead to 40-34 three minutes into the fourth period, but the Eagles came soaring back. Ben Meinhart drilled a three, and Evan Schafer made a free throw and a jump shot to knot the score, 40-40, with 2:56 remaining.

Max Niebrugge then made a nice, strong drive to the basket and scored to put THS ahead to stay, 42-40, just 35 seconds later. Over the next two minutes, Siemer contributed in a big way on the defensive end. Three different times, a Newton player appeared headed for an easy basket only to have the shot rejected by T-Town’s 6’5” junior center.

“You don’t think of Caleb as a shot blocker,” Reeder admitted. “He’s not real quick and doesn’t jump real high. But he got in great position for those blocks. Newton was either going to get a layup or Caleb was going to get the blocks. Those were huge plays for us. It kept time running off the clock without letting them score.”

His first block came just seconds after Max Niebrugge’s go-ahead bucket. Dylan Pruemer followed with a short jumper that expanded the lead to four. And after a Newton’s shot missed and went out-of-bounds, the Shoes pulled off a long pass play that resulted in a Pruemer layup that made it 46-40 with 1:06 still showing.

“We work on that play, but I give the kids credit for executing it perfectly,” Reeder noted. “They were fearless and threw it long. They knew what to do.”

Siemer then followed with two more blocked shots, but Meinhart did score with 22 seconds left to make it 46-42. After Brendan Niebrugge made a pair of free throws, Meinhart delivered again, this time from behind the arc, to get the Eagles within 48-45 with five seconds to play.

James Niebrugge was fouled one second later. He missed the front end of the bonus, but a last-second heave from three-quarter court was off-target and the Teutopolis celebration was underway.

“These kids absolutely refused to get beat tonight,” Reeder said. “It wasn’t always pretty, but they found a way.”

Evan Schafer scored six points in the opening period, helping the Eagles take a 10-6 lead. Schafer and Parker Wolf both scored four in the second quarter and Newton was still on top by four points, 24-20, at intermission.

After being held scoreless in the first half, Siemer had a three-point play and scored seven points to help the Shoes outscore Newton 14-8 in the third period and take a 34-32 edge into the final eight minutes.

“Newton is a similar team to us,” Reeder explained. “Neither of us does anything fancy. Both teams play good defense and take good shots on offense. It’s a shame somebody had to lose, but I’m glad it wasn’t us.”

The Eagles, who finished their season at 19-10, got 16 points from Meinhart and 15 from Schafer.

The Shoes also had two players in double figures. Brendan Niebrugge finished with 14 points and Pruemer added 10.

With that nine-game winning streak, T-Town is now 24-7 on the year. The Shoes will now advance to the Flora Sectional. They will face Alton (Marquette), who is 20-12 after beating Greenville 55-24 to capture the Greenville Regional.

The Teutopolis vs. Alton (Marquette) contest will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The other semifinal game will feature Pana and Mt. Carmel. Those two teams will play at 7 p.m. Wednesday with the sectional championship set for 7 p.m. Friday.

“I think we’re playing our best basketball right now,” Reeder said. “We still haven’t put together a full 32 minutes yet, but we’re clicking right now. At this time of year, that’s where you want to be.”