Evan Wermert is knocking on the door of a career milestone.
In Effingham County, reaching the 1,000-point plateau is an accomplishment that not many achieve. But the ones that do are considered among the best to play at their respective school.
Wermert is just one point away from joining that group in Teutopolis.
The senior went into Friday night’s game with 973 career points – just 27 away from the coveted mark. He pumped in 26 points and led the Wooden Shots to a 67-46 victory at Mt. Zion in their final Apollo Conference game of the season.
It looked like Wermert might get what he needed in the opening eight minutes. He drilled three shots from behind the arc and scored 13 points, as the Shoes built an early 20-17 lead. By halftime, they expanded the margin to 38-29, and then began to pull away in the third quarter.
Wermert, along with Max Niebrugge and Jordan Hardiek, knocked down three-pointers, helping T-Town go on a 15-4 scoring surge that increased their advantage to 20-points. Heading into the fourth quarter, T-Town was up 53-33.
Teutopolis had a balanced scoring attack, with four players reaching double figures. Matthew Deters and Evan Addis both had 11 points and Hardiek added 10.
There were several contributors to the victory. Wermert had 7 rebounds and 5 assists, while Hardiek had 4 rebounds and 5 assists, Niebrugge 5 rebounds and 7 assists, Addis five assists and Deters and Caleb Siemer both had 5 rebounds.
The Shoes improved to 14-4 overall and finished 7-4 in the Apollo. They will play their season finale today (Saturday) at home against Newton in the season finale.