Garrett Gaddis, contained for much of the game, scored eight points in the final four minutes Thursday night, helping the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes pull away down the stretch for a 46-35 victory over Pleasant Plains in an opening-round game of the 10^th annual Effingham-Teutopolis Christmas Classic.

The Cardinals used a diamond-and-one defense in an attempt to contain Gaddis, who entered the game with a 17-point scoring average. And it worked – for 28 minutes.

“Garrett got a little frustrated and that’s on me,” THS coach Chet Reeder said. “We haven’t worked on that style of defense, so we weren’t prepared for it. That’s my fault.

“But give credit to these kids,” Reeder added. “They hung in the entire game. This is a tough and gritty group. It wasn’t pretty, but they found a way to win this basketball game.”

Pleasant Plains, despite coming in with a 3-7 record, kept the game close until the final minutes. The Cardinals held a narrow 11-10 lead after the first quarter. The Shoes made a run late in the first half and managed to take a 24-22 advantage into the locker room at intermission.

T-Town built the lead to seven points heading into the final period and after a bucket by Joey Niebrugge had its biggest lead of the contest, 36-27. But Pleasant Plains scored six straight points to narrow the gap to 36-33 at the 4:54 mark.

About a minute later, Gaddis then delivered the biggest shot of the game, a three-pointer, to give the Shoes a little breathing room at 39-33.

“That was a huge shot,” Reeder said. “Then his free throws sealed the deal for us.”

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By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

As the final seconds ticked off the first half clock, a quick glance at the Teutopolis bench told the story.

Head coach Laurie Thompson was not happy.

“I was mad,” she admitted. “They weren’t doing what we talked about. That team couldn’t guard us and keep us from going to the basket. Why were we throwing shots up from the outside and not attacking the basket?”

That message was conveyed – and received – at halftime.

The Lady Shoes didn’t have a three-point attempt in the second half. But they sure attacked that basket. They made a few shots and spent quite a bit of time at the free throw line.

The end result was a 26-12 scoring edge in the final 16 minutes that expanded a three-point lead at halftime into a 52-35 victory over Marion Thursday morning in an opening-round game of the Coles County Holiday Tournament.

“You have to take what a team is giving you,” Thompson said. “We threw up three of four shots from the outside that weren’t even close and stopped attacking. They have to be able to read defenses better than that. That was my message at halftime.”

A little over three minutes into the second half, a slim 26-23 lead reached double digits. Chloe Probst, Mollie Ruholl and Malea Helmink each hit short jumpers and Kelsey Niemerg made a pair of free throws to complete an 8-0 run and stretch the advantage to 34-23 at the 4:42 mark.

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It was a close game the entire way.

But in the end, Galesburg was able to escape with a 58-53 win in overtime Thursday afternoon at the Coles County Holiday Tournament.

T-Town posted a 52-35 win over Marion earlier in the morning, but couldn’t follow that up with another victory. The Lady Shoes finished 1-1 in Pool B play.

The Lady Silver Streaks held a slim 8-7 edge after the opening eight minutes. But Kelsey Niemerg scored eight points in the second quarter, helping THS take a 24-23 advantage to the locker room at intermission.

Galesburg held a 37-34 lead heading into the final period, but Mollie Ruholl scored seven points and Niemerg knocked down a pair of shots from long range, helping the Lady Shoes knot the score, 51-51, at the end of regulation.

But Teutopolis managed only a basket by Chloe Probst in the four-minute extra session and the Lady Silver Streaks came away with the win.

Niemerg finished with a team-high 21 points to pace T-Town, while Summer Wall and Ruholl both scored nine.

The Lady Shoes, now 9-4 on the season, will play two games Friday. They will face St. Anthony, who finished in second place in Pool A, at 11:30 a.m. at Mattoon High School.

The winner of that game will play for fifth place at 4:30 p.m. at Mattoon High School. The loser will play for seventh place. That game will also be at 4:30 p.m., but at Charleston High School.

The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes had their four-game winning streak snapped Wednesday night after dropping a 47-33 road decision to a strong Mt. Vernon team.

The host Rams opened a 13-10 lead after the opening eight minutes and extended it throughout. They led 25-19 at halftime and 38-26 heading into the fourth quarter.

Navontae Nesbit and Cale Maurer shared scoring honors, both finishing with 15 points. The Rams improved to 9-2 on the season.

T-Town had three players in double figures. Garrett Gaddis and Tyler Pruemer both scored 11 points and Joey Niebrugge added 10.

The Shoes are now 7-3 overall. They will return to action Thursday, Dec. 28, in the Effingham-Teutopolis Christmas Classic. They will face Pleasant Plains at 7:30 p.m. The game will be played at Teutopolis High School. Pleasant Plains is coached by former Wooden Shoes standout, Kyle Weber.