“Sometimes, you have a little luck on your side,” T-Town coach Chet Reeder admitted. “That was certainly the case the past two games. But you then have to take advantage of those opportunities. Our guys stayed in the moment and made the big plays when they had to. I’m so proud of them.”
It’s amazing how similar both the sectional semifinal and final games were. On both nights, the Shoes were on the brink of season-ending defeats.
In the semifinals, Monticello only needed to make a couple free throws in the final minute to advance. Instead, the Sages made just 1-of-6, the Shoes got a last-second putback from Gavin Addis and then earned the win in overtime.
Friday night, the Cardinals had a two-point lead, forced a Teutopolis turnover and had a breakaway opportunity for a two-possession advantage with less than a minute to play.
Instead, Brayden Hickey went for the dunk. He didn’t have great control of the ball, resulting in it first rattling and then rolling around the rim. At the same time, Hickey was hanging onto the rim, which resulted in basket interference being called.
The basket was not allowed, and Teutopolis was awarded the ball.
Then on its final possession – again, just like Tuesday night – the Shoes took advantage of the opportunity granted them. Alex Kremer took the ball a little beyond the key, made a strong drive to the basket and scored with seven seconds to play to knot the score at 29-29.
“It was a designed play for me,” noted Alex, one of the team’s captains. “Coach always says if you’re going to do something hard, do it 100 percent. I saw an opening down the lane, took it and made the layup.”
“We called that play during the timeout,” Reeder added. “They (Warrensburg-Latham) came out in a 1-2-2, which we weren’t expecting. But we got the ball to Alex and he drove it in. The kids executed the play perfectly.”
The Cardinals got off a three-point attempt before the buzzer, but it was off-target and the game headed to OT.
After the two teams traded baskets to open the four-minute extra session, Kaiden Gardner scored to put Warrensburg-Latham up by two. But with 1:54 left, Drew Hoene hit a big-time three from the corner to put the Shoes ahead for good.
Three nights earlier, it was Kremer who hit his first shot of the game to put THS on top for good in the overtime period.
Friday night, it was Hoene’s turn. After missing all four of his previous attempts, the senior drilled the shot from long range to make it 34-33.
“My dad always tells me to never remember my other shots,” Drew explained. “My teammates trust me to shoot, so I’m going to keep on shooting.”
Many times, you hear a player talk about making a crucial shot and describe it like, “it felt good all the way.”
According to Drew, one of four team captains, this was not one of those.
“This one did not feel good at all,” he admitted. “It felt like it shifted in my hand. When I let it go, I thought it was going long. I did not expect it to go in, so I was a little surprised when it did. But happy, too.”
The final 114 seconds were excruciating for everyone – players, coaches and fans. Like Tuesday night, both teams had difficulty scoring and the free throw shooting was dreadful once again. The Shoes went 3-for-8 from the line during OT and the Cardinals were just 2-for-5.
After one of those free throws by Brennon Bonds, Warrensburg-Latham trailed by a single point, 35-34, with 59 seconds still remaining. Henry Thompson was fouled 14 seconds later and made both of this foul shots to give the Shoes a three-point advantage.
During the final 45 seconds, both Thompson and Mick Niebrugge missed a pair of free throws for Teutopolis, but the Cardinals failed to capitalize, turning the ball over twice.
Nathan Southern got a decent look for a potential game-tying three pointer that missed. Alex Hardin grabbed the rebound and was fouled with two seconds still showing. He made the first foul shot, but missed the second. The scramble for the ball resulted in it going out-of-bounds, but with possession to the Wooden Shoes.
They in-bounded the ball to Gavin Addis on the sideline and he dribbled out the final two ticks, setting off the celebration. For the fifth time in the last seven years, the Shoes are headed to the Carbondale Super Sectional.
“We stay in the game and never give up, just the way coach taught us,” said Niebrugge, one of six seniors on the team. “We believe in each other. I can’t wait to get to Carbondale and do it with this group of seniors.”
“It feels great to be one of the final eight teams in the state,” added Henry, another of the team captains. “Last year was the 100th season of T-Town basketball, this year was the program’s 2,000th win and now getting back to the super sectional. Those are all incredible achievements and we all did it together.”
But it didn’t come easy.
For fans that like defense, the game was a masterpiece.
For those that prefer offense, it was a long night. For a while, it looked like the first team to score 30 points would win. But after the first 32 minutes, neither team had reached that level yet.
Thompson hit a pair of shots from behind the arc and Jason Kreke added a late basket, giving the Shoes a slim 12-10 lead after the opening eight minutes.
Three-pointers by Southern and Drew Czajkowski put the Cardinals on top early in the second period. When Hardin hit another three, Warrensburg-Latham owned its biggest lead of the game, 19-13. But Niebrugge hit a short jumper and Hoene added a pair of foul shots after grabbing an offensive rebound to help T-Town close to within 19-17 at intermission.
“This is exactly the type of game we needed it to be. Low scoring and ugly,” Reeder said. “I figured we might struggle to score. Their match-up zone – and the style they play it – is tough.
“Our defense was tremendous, too,” Reeder added. “They like to get in transition and get to the paint. But we wanted to make it difficult for them to do that. Our whole concept was to have bodies in the paint and stop them.”
The Shoes made only 1-of-6 shots in the third period, but the Cardinals made just two. A bucket by Landyn Thoele tied the game at 21-21, but THS didn’t score in the final 3:25. Warrensburg-Latham got a foul shot from Hardin and Gardner and a bucket by Bonds to carry a 25-21 lead into the final quarter and setting the stage for a second straight incredible finish.
“These kids are resilient,” Reeder said. “This is the third straight game they could have just said it’s not our night. But they refuse to let it end.
“These kids are winners. They expect to play well and win,” Reeder continued. “That’s worth a lot. They don’t expect anything to be given to them. They just make it happen.”
Hickey scored 10 points to lead the Cardinals, who had their 15-game winning streak snapped and ended their season at 30-5.
Kremer led all scorers with 12 points.
As a team, the Shoes shot 37 percent overall, connecting on 11-of-30 attempts. They were 3-for-15 from long range and 12-for-25 at the foul line.
Teutopolis, now 24-10, will advance to the Carbondale Super Sectional for the third straight year. The Shoes will face Belleville Althoff at the Banterra Center on the campus of Southern Illinois University. The Crusaders, 29-5, defeated Breese Central, 56-44, to win the Carterville Sectional.
“Our goal was to get back where we did last year,” Drew said. “We didn’t want to break the streak.”
“The way we love each other and bond together is an important piece to our success,” Alex added. “Coach always tells us this is our moment. It’s what we’re built for.”
“We never take this for granted,” Coach Reeder continued. “We’re blessed to be making our fifth trip in seven years. I love these guys and I’m so proud to be the head coach of this program.”
And who knows?
Maybe the Good Lord will be in Carbondale on Monday night.
Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
