A year ago, Gaddis, who was a sophomore, was one of the final players to be added to the varsity roster. As a result, he was assigned a high jersey number. In his case, No. 52.
Even though just a sophomore, the young sharpshooter was always ready to put up a shot. That was his role.
His role was much the same this year as the first or second player off the bench the entire season. But for some reason, he hasn’t always been as aggressive in seeking his shot.
Such was the case at practice Thursday when Coach Reeder stopped things when Gaddis passed up a wide open three.
“He’s been off and on all season,” Reeder explained. “When he passed up that good shot in practice, I just stopped things and said, ‘We need No. 52.’”
Ask and you shall receive.
Gaddis entered the game midway through the opening period. He knocked down his first shot, which is always a good sign for a shooter, and continued his hot hand throughout the game.
He made 8-of-10 shots overall, including 6-of-7 from long range.
“I’m so proud of Garrett,” Reeder said. “On one of the biggest stages, he stepped up and proved he belonged. He was great tonight. He was our MVP. Without him, we would have been in trouble.”
Gaddis especially responded in the third period – the time the Shoes needed him most. Landon Sanders had just knocked down a three, giving the Indians a double-digit lead, 37-26, at the 5:47 mark.
Gaddis then drilled two straight three-pointers, followed by a bucket from James Niebrugge to cut the margin to just three, 37-34.
But Gaddis wasn’t finished. He came up with a steal, drove in for a contested layup, was fouled and completed the three-point play to knot the score at 41-41. He later made yet another three, giving him 12 points for the quarter, and the Shoes were within a single point, 46-45, heading into the final eight minutes.
“We knew they would play a zone and I knew I had to come out ready to shoot the ball,” Gaddis said. “The ball felt good coming off my hand. And it’s always a good thing when you see that first one go in.
“We just let our offense flow and stuck to our strengths,” Gaddis added. “My teammates trusted me, which is a good feeling. They got me the ball when I was open and my shot was working. It’s also a good feeling to come through in the toughest spots.”
Gaddis then connected on his final three just 41 seconds into the fourth quarter to give the Shoes a 48-46 lead – a lead they never relinquished.
Joey Niebrugge scored four straight points for THS and James Niebrugge then added five of his own, converting a Lawrenceville turnover into a three-point play, followed by another scoring drive to the bucket, and then Caleb Siemer knocked down a pair of free throws to cap the 14-4 surge and give T-Town a nine-point cushion, 59-50, with only 1:27 to play.
“We figured they would play the defense they did,” Reeder said. “We figured they would try to take Brendan (Niebrugge) away and plug up the middle on Caleb. We were prepared for that, even though it certainly didn’t look like we were. We were way too passive and timid and weren’t attacking the soft spots in their zone.
“I finally told them to disregard everything we had worked on,” Reeder added. “We made some wrinkles to our offense, the kids adjusted and it worked. That helped us turn it around.”
T-Town’s defensive pressure also stepped up and that helped the comeback, as well.
“That pressure put them in spots they didn’t want to be in,” the THS coach noted. “We forced a couple turnovers, got some stops and really played well down the stretch.”
For 2½ quarters, however, things didn’t look so good. The Indians used their long-range shooting, a defense that forced 10 turnovers through three quarters and a rebounding edge -- despite being a shorter team – to take the lead midway through the second period and then threatened to pull away in the early minutes of the second half.
In each of the first three quarters, Lawrenceville connected on a trio of shots from behind the arc. The Indians led by as many as seven in the second period and were on top, 30-24, at intermission.
To open the second half, Parker Hardiman hit a short jumper and Maddox Pargin drained a three from the corner to give the Indians their first double-digit lead of the game at 34-24. The three by Sanders then made it an 11-point gap before the Shoes began their comeback.
After Lawrenceville went up by 11, Reeder called a timeout.
“I reminded the guys to just be where your feet are,” he recalled. “We couldn’t worry about the time or the score. We just needed to get some stops and begin chipping away.”
He also noted the valuable role the team’s three captains – Brendan Niebrugge, James Niebrugge and Caleb Siemer – played during that stretch.
“They just kept with the same message,” Reeder said. “Those three guys are so important to this team. They are one of the reasons we didn’t fall apart.”
“Our captains really stepped up,” Gaddis added. “They kept us focused and believing. They showed great leadership.”
Brendan Niebrugge, the team’s leading scorer, was the focus of Lawrenceville’s defensive effort, and was limited to only two shots from the floor and a single point – a third-quarter free throw. But he didn’t force things on offense and continued to show leadership to his teammates.
“Even when we were down 11, we weren’t going to give up,” Brendan said. “We’ve been down before and battled back. We knew we could do it again. We just continued to trust each other and feed off that.”
“We wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page,” James noted. “We knew we needed to kick it into gear, but I believed in my teammates and I believed we could still pull it out.”
“We wanted to keep everyone calm and collected,” Caleb added. “We needed to stay confident. We also needed to get a couple stops and just trust each other.”
For the Indians, who saw their season end at 26-9, Leyton Ivers scored 20 points and Bryant Jenkins added 14. They shot 40 percent from the floor, connecting on 19-of-47 shots. They were 9-for-24 from three-point range and 7-for-9 from the line.
The Shoes had four players in double figures. In addition to the 23 from Gaddis, both Joey and James Niebrugge had 13 and Siemer added 11. THS shot 50 percent overall, making 19-of-38 attempts. They were 6-for-11 from long range and 17-for-22 at the foul line. They also came back to hold a 29-21 rebounding edge. Siemer completed his double-double by pulling down 10 boards.
In addition to Gaddis’ big game, Joey and James Niebrugge also stepped up in a big way. With Brendan Niebrugge limited to the one point and Siemer kept in check most of the game, Joey and James combined to score 26 points and pull down 11 rebounds.
“It was a little frustrating for me at first,” Siemer admitted. “They guarded both Brendan and I real tight. But that opened things up for Garrett and James and Joey had big nights, too. They really came through.”
“James and Joey were so good tonight,” Brendan noted. “And Garrett was awesome. He hit some huge shots for us. It was great having No. 52 back.”
The Shoes, who improved to 27-7, will now advance to the Carbondale Super Sectional. They will face Pinckneyville at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Banterra Center on the Southern Illinois University campus.
T-Town traveled to Pinckneyille back on January 28 and faced the home team in the Panthers Basketball Showcase. It was a close game throughout, with Pinckneyville posting a 50-41 victory.
This will be the 8th trip to the super sectional for Teutopolis in the last 12 years. The Shoes will be trying to break an 0-7 streak during that time and make a return trip to the state tournament for the first time since 2007.
“It’s always a good feeling to go back to the super sectional,” Caleb admitted. “We’ll go back to practice a couple days and we’ll be prepared for Pinckneyville.”
“I’m incredibly proud of this team,” Reeder said. “We’ve had some tremendous efforts and won some big games this season. We’re just going to go play the best basketball we can Monday night and we’ll see what happens.”
