THS made only 3-of-13 shots in the first quarter and didn’t fare much better in the next period, making just 4-of-13 attempts.

The Lady Aces, however, were not having the same difficulty. Madi Stevens scored on a putback, Riley Hershey hit a jumper just inside the free throw line, Madeleine Mann made a pair of foul shots and Hershey turned a T-Town miscue into a three-point play.

With 3:28 left in the opening half, Mt. Carmel opened a double-digit cushion, 20-9.

Kelsey Niemerg and Malea Helmink both scored in the final 41 seconds to get the Lady Shoes within 22-15 as the teams headed to the locker room at intermission.

In addition to not being able to make open shots on the perimeter, Teutopolis also struggled against Mt. Carmel’s height advantage on the inside. The presence of Stevens (6’) and Maycee Randall (6’3”) forced numerous shots to be altered.

“It is challenging to shoot over 6-foot and 6-3,” Thompson explained. “We knew what we were going to face, but it’s impossible to replicate that kind of size in practice.

“It was hard enough on offense, but that size also affected us on defense,” Thompson added. “We had to devote extra attention to the big girls inside, but that gave them some open shots from the outside. We left No. 4 (Hershey) a little more open than we wanted to and she made us pay for that.”

The Lady Shoes began to apply full-court pressure in the second half and it provided a few extra possessions. The Lady Aces turned the ball over six times in the third quarter alone, but T-Town was only able to convert one of those into a basket.

That came on a layup by Jersey Gaddis that trimmed the gap to six points, 23-17. But after a basket by Hersey and a three-pointer by Alivia Peach, Mt. Carmel had its 12-point cushion again, 31-19. Heading into the final eight minutes, the Lady Shoes trailed 33-23.

Chloe Probst opened the fourth period with a three-pointer to make it a seven-point margin. It was still a seven-point spread, 35-28, when Anna Probst scored with 2:36 to play. But that was the last shot T-Town made. Niemerg made four free throws in the final two minutes, but the Lady Aces made seven foul shots during that same span to secure the victory.

“Our press caused some problems and we attacked much better the second half,” Thompson said. “But we couldn’t make shots. And if you can’t make shots, you can’t get closer. We had to score and just couldn’t do it.”

Hershey and Randall both tallied 15 points for the Lady Aces, who extended their winning streak to 14 games and improved to 29-4 overall. Randall also grabbed 11 rebounds, helping Mt. Carmel to a 29-25 advantage. They shot 40 percent for the game, making 14-of-35 attempts. They were 3-for-9 from behind the arc and 11-for-17 at the line.

Niemerg was the only T-Town player in double figures, finishing with 10. Helmink and Chloe Probst both had eight.

The Lady Shoes made 13-of-50 shots overall, a 26 percent clip. They were 2-for-21 from long range and 4-for-4 at the line. Helmink finished with 10 rebounds.

Coach Thompson will now say goodbye to her two seniors – Chloe Probst and Mollie Ruholl.

“They are both very good leaders and great role models,” she said. “They worked their tail off in practice. I will miss them tremendously.”

Teutopolis ended its season with a 26-9 record.

“Our girls improved a great deal through the season,” Thompson noted. “People don’t understand the hard work it takes to get to this point. Unfortunately, tonight, we didn’t shoot well. But they have nothing to hang their heads about. We had a really good season.”

Mt. Carmel will now face Kankakee McNamara in the Tolono Unity Super Sectional. Tipoff for that game will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday.