“This means so much to the kids and the community,” a happy, relieved and emotional THS coach Chet Reeder said after the game. “It’s no secret. We’ve struggle here. These kids worked so hard to get back here and flip the script. I’m incredibly proud of them.”
But there were some anxious moments, especially beginning in the fourth quarter.
The Shoes entered that final period with a nine-point lead, 32-23. But as shots continued to miss and that lead evaporate, things got tense.
“In the huddle before the fourth quarter, I told the guys that things were about to get hard, but to embrace the hard,” Reeder said. “We didn’t play good basketball in that fourth quarter. We couldn’t make layups, we couldn’t catch the ball and we didn’t rebound.
“The basketball gods were definitely testing us,” the THS coach added. “But the kids never quit.”
The Panthers got a three-point play by Hunter Smith to open the fourth period, which sparked a 9-0 run. When Kellen Scott grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw and scored, it tied the game, 32-32, with 3:42 remaining.
Two minutes later, Brendan Niebrugge got open underneath and received a pass from Caleb Siemer for a bucket that put the Shoes on top 34-32. It was the first basket for THS after missing its first five shots of the quarter and turning the ball over twice.
Two free throws by Pinckneyville’s Karsen Konkel knotted the game at 34-34 at the 1:16 mark.
The Panthers had a chance to win it at the end of regulation. Smith missed a jumper inside and Reid Harris grabbed the rebound. But on his follow-up attempt, Siemer came through with a blocked shot that sent the game into the four-minute overtime period.
“We didn’t want to stop attacking in that fourth quarter,” Reeder said. “But Pinckneyville did a good job of defending. We also got some stops, but then we didn’t rebound. It’s a testament to Pinckneyville. They never stopped fighting.”
Smith put the Panthers ahead with a pair of foul shots 44 seconds into the extra session. The Shoes ran off almost a minute on their next possession, but turned the ball over.
James Niebrugge, however, got a turnover of his own, drove the ball down the floor, scored, was fouled and completed the three-point play to put the Shoes on top to stay, 39-37.
After a Pinckneyville turnover, Brendan Niebrugge was fouled and made a pair of free throws to increase the lead to 39-35 with 1:37 left.
The final 90 seconds were pressure-packed.
Konkel hit two free throws for the Panthers and Mitch Koester added a foul shot for Teutopolis and Siemer hit one more to make it a four-point spread again, 41-37, with only 23 seconds showing. But A.J. Keith drilled a long three-pointer for Pinckneyville to close the gap to 41-40 with nine seconds left.
Garrett Gaddis was fouled two seconds later. He made one of two foul shots and the Panthers got the ball to midcourt before calling a timeout with just 1.9 seconds remaining.
“For their last play, we figured they would try to lob the ball to Konkel inside,” Reeder said. “If they did that, I told Jimmer to go get it and he did exactly that. Winners make big plays and we did that at the end.”
The lob pass never touched Konkel’s hands, the horn sounded an instant later and the T-Town players, coaches, cheerleaders, parents and fans erupted.
“There was crying, laughing and pure joy,” Reeder said. “These kids are so deserving. This has been on their mind ever since they left this court last year. They worked and worked and worked. I’m so, so proud of them.”
“What an intense and exciting game,” Caleb Siemer said with a huge smile on his face. “It was a great atmosphere and a battle between two good programs.
“When they came back, it took all of us trusting each other and giving us a chance to win this game,” the senior added. “It’s great this happened for us. God Bless!”
A year ago, the Shoes didn’t score a point in the first quarter, shot a frigid 17 percent overall and dropped a 44-18 decision to Nashville on this same floor.
Two-and-a-half minutes into Monday night’s game, T-Town fans might have been worried about déjà vu. The Shoes committed five turnovers before they even got their first shot off. But at the 5:30 mark, James Niebrugge hit a foul shot to get them on the scoreboard.
“When James made that free throw, I had sigh of relief,” Reeder admitted. “At least, we wouldn’t get shutout in the first quarter this year.”
James Niebrugge added another jumper and Brendan Niebrugge scored six points, including a long three, helping the Shoes take a 9-8 lead after the opening eight minutes.
They never trailed again until the start of the overtime period.
Joey Niebrugge scored six straight points and Brendan Niebrugge added another shot from behind the arc, as T-Town built its first eight-point lead, 18-10, midway through the second period. The Panthers scored the final five points to get within 20-17 at halftime.
“Our game was pressuring them,” Reeder said. “I thought our guards could really put pressure on their guards and they did a tremendous job of that. Our guards forced their offense out so far, they couldn’t find Konkel down low, even when he was open. I thought that, plus our rebounding, was the key tonight.”
Early in the second half, it looked like THS might pull away. James Niebrugge hit a short jumper just 12 seconds into the third quarter and Brendan Niebrugge followed with back-to-back threes, completing the 8-0 scoring spurt and expanding the Shoes lead to double-digits, 28-17, at the 4:46 mark.
When Siemer grabbed an offensive rebound and scored near the end of the period, it gave Teutopolis that nine-point cushion, 32-23.
“We knew this would be a grind-it-out type of game,” Reeder said. “We knew it would be a game of execution and adjustments. It wasn’t pretty at times, but we were fortunate to get a couple good bounces tonight.”
For the Panthers, who ended their season at 28-7, Konkel was their only player to reach double figures with 10 points. They shot just 29 percent, connecting on 12-of-41 attempts. They were 4-for-12 from long range and 12-for-20 at the foul line.
Brendan Niebrugge finished with a game-high 19 points to pace the Shoes scoring attack, while James Niebrugge added 12. They made 14-of-38 shots overall, a 37 percent clip. They were 4-for-9 from three-point range and 10-for-16 at the line. They also held a 29-23 rebounding edge, with Siemer pulling down 13.
“We lost to Pinckneyville by nine earlier, but we didn’t play our best game,” said James Niebrugge, who along with Siemer and Brendan Niebrugge, are the team captains. “We wanted to show what we are capable of.”
“We’ve had a chip on our shoulder ever since last year,” Siemer added. “Plus, we wanted to represent the other teams that have come down here and lost.”
“We knew very few people picked us to win tonight,” Brendan Niebrugge noted. “That talk fueled us.”
“We all heard some of the talk,” Reeder acknowledged. “Some people thought we had an easy time getting here and didn’t belong. I think we proved tonight we did belong.”
The Shoes, now 28-7, will now face Chicago DePaul College Prep (21-12) in the first Class 2A semifinal game at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the State Farm Center in Champaign. The Rams advanced to the state tournament with a 50-46 win over Chicago Perspectives/Leadership Coop to claim the Joliet Super Sectional.
Thursday’s 4:15 p.m. game will pit Taylor Ridge (Rockridge) (28-4) against Bloomington Central Catholic (25-11). Taylor Ridge defeated Rockford Lutheran 60-59 to win the Sterling Super Sectional, while Bloomington CC beat Pontiac 67-53 at the Springfield Super Sectional.
The two losing teams Thursday afternoon will meet in the third place game at 8:45 p.m. Thursday. The two winners will play for the state championship at 12:45 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s a great feeling being the group that got us back and get that tradition going again,” Siemer said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun to play at state.”
