“We played well that second half,” St. Anthony coach Aaron Rios noted. “I thought we showed the kind of grit this team has. They (Teutopolis) are a tough team, but I thought we showed who we are tonight, too. I was proud of our kids. They competed to the end.”

The Lady Bulldogs had a couple chances to narrow the gap even further, but were unable to convert on the offensive end. And when they did score, Kaylee Niebrugge responded twice and Emily Konkel another time to never let it dip below an eight-point spread.

Chloe Probst hit a pair of free throws, Courtney Gibson added a foul shot and Niebrugge hit a jumper inside, helping the Lady Shoes build the lead back to 13 points, 46-33, just 1:29 left.

In the final 16 minutes, T-Town made just 8-of-24 shots and turned the ball over 13 times.

“We’ve been pressed a little this year, but some of our turnovers were unforced,” Thompson said. “I thought we got a little tired, then we became turnover prone and didn’t run our offense at all. We also made several weak passes and those normally become turnovers. That has to improve for us.”

Early on, the Lady Shoes were in total control. Their tough man-to-man defense made it difficult for St. Anthony to get into a flow offensively. The Lady Bulldogs turned it over 14 times in the opening half, connected on only 3-of-18 shots and went a eight full minutes between scores.

When Vonderheide hit a jumper at the 5:43 mark of the opening quarter, SAHS trailed 5-2. That was the only shot the hosts made in the first eight minutes. Niebrugge and Summer Wall both converted turnovers into baskets and Konkel knocked down a pair of foul shots to make it an 11-2 game by the end of the period.

Courtney Gibson connected on her second three-pointer to open the second period and give THS its first double-digit lead, 14-2. Lucy Fearday finally ended the St. Anthony scoring drought with a bucket at the 5:47 mark of the second period.

But with Niebrugge scoring eight points and the Lady Bulldogs continuing to turn the ball over, the Lady Shoes built a 24-9 advantage by halftime.

“We hadn’t turned the ball over more than 13 times all season,” Rios noted. “We knew they’d come out and smother us and we didn’t handle it very well. Plus, they slowed us down and didn’t let us get out and run like we wanted to.”

“We started the game with great focus,” Thompson added. “We wanted to make sure we kept Fearday in check and play good man-to-man on everybody else. Lucy is a strong player inside and has some nice moves. I thought we did a good job with that.

“Then we got up 18 in the second half and just went into a lull,” Thompson added. “We have to stop doing that, too.”

Niebrugge turned in an outstanding performance, scoring a game-high 22 points and completing the double-double with 10 rebounds.

“The difference was they executed in the paint and we didn’t,” Rios said, in reference to Niebrugge’s strong game. “That was the game right there.”

“We do depend on Kaylee,” Thompson admitted. “She brings the ball up the floor, she scores and she rebounds. We’re trying to get her some help, but the other girls are going to need to step up so we can spread the scoring out more.

“Kaylee is also a very smart player,” the THS coach added. “When you put her intelligence and her ability together, you get a very good player. And that’s what she is.”

Konkel also reached double figures with 11 points and Gibson finished with seven. The Lady Shoes shot 38 percent from the floor, connecting on 18-of-48 shots. They were 2-for-8 from behind the arc and 8-for-12 from the line. They turned the ball over 21 times, but held a commanding 33-22 edge on the boards.

Ruholl and Fearday led St. Anthony in scoring with 12 and 11 points respectively. The Lady Bulldogs made 33 percent of their shots, converting 14-of-42 attempts. They were 2-for-8 from long range and 7-for-14 from the free throw line. They turned the ball over 23 times.

For the Lady Bulldogs it was their first loss of the season after opening with 10 straight wins. They will be back in action Thursday, traveling across town to play Effingham.

The Lady Shoes improved to 7-1 on the season. They will play Thursday at Newton and then return home Saturday to face Richland County (Olney).