Basketball

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Teutopolis has been consistent in each of its first three games.

Consistently good at the beginning.

Consistently not so good later in the game.

It was another Jekyll & Hyde performance Friday afternoon. The Shoes raced to a 23-point halftime lead and then saw their lead dwindle throughout the final two quarters before settling for a 63-55 victory over Mattoon.

T-Town improved to 3-0 in the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament and will seek its first-ever championship Saturday night when it faces Breese Central at 7:30 p.m. The Cougars are also 3-0 in tourney play. They are the defending champs and will be looking for their seventh tournament title.

In all three games of the tournament, the Shoes have followed a similar pattern. Play “lights out” in the opening quarter, build a sizeable lead and then start turning the ball over, missing shots and not playing as tough on defense.

Friday was a repeat performance.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

On opening night, the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes got 14 minutes of excellent basketball.

About 24 hours later, they turned in a strong 22-minute performance.

“Now I have to find a way for them to maintain that intensity all four quarters,” said THS coach Chet Reeder.

The Shoes owned a seemingly comfortable 20-point lead with a little under three minutes to play in the third quarter Tuesday night. But just like the night before, turnovers started to mount and shots quit falling.

But unlike Monday night, the opponent mounted a comeback and threatened to make it a close game.

Teutopolis responded by making crucial free throws down the stretch, however, to come away with a 48-36 decision Tuesday night over Highland in their second game of the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament.

“When you’re running a new system, things can come and go quickly, especially early in the season,” Reeder explained. “We were up 20, but then lost our intensity and things snowballed from there. We had some turnovers and we gave up offensive rebounds after missed free throws, which is just like a turnover. We have to maintain our intensity the whole game.”

With 2:41 left in the third period, the Shoes owned a 38-18 lead. And then suddenly, everything changed. They didn’t make another field goal the rest of the game, getting just 10 free throws in the final 10-plus minutes.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

For the first 14 minutes, the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes looked like they were in midseason form.

Their defense was stifling, forcing turnover after turnover.

And their offense was clicking, turning many of those miscues into baskets.

The final 18 minutes, however, much more resembled a season-opener – too many mistakes, turnovers and fouls.

Fortunately, those opening minutes resulted in a 22-point bulge, helping the Shoes roll to a 68-49 victory Monday night over Rantoul in the opening game of the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament.

“At the beginning, we were relentless on both ends of the floor,” THS coach Chet Reeder said. “Our effort and energy were really good.

“After that, I was disappointed, especially the second half,” Reeder added. “We didn’t have that killer instinct. We were just out there.”

Those first 14 minutes were impressive, though.

From the opening tip, it was apparent Rantoul had difficulty handling the Shoes tight man-to-man defense they deployed the length of the floor. The Eagles turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter and the Shoes converted six of those into scores.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Make shots.

When you ask Laurie Thompson about the keys to success for the 2022-23 season, you get a quick response.

“We need kids to hit shots,” the veteran coach said. “We might hit three in a row and then go into a drought. You can’t shoot 20 to 25 percent and expect to beat the good teams. But that’s what we’ve been doing so far.”

The Lady Shoes are off to a 3-1 start, but it has been a struggle on the offensive end. After opening with 60 points against Mt. Vernon, T-Town has had scoring games of 44, 46 and then 28. In the final game of the Centralia Tournament, the Lady Shoes failed to make a basket in the fourth quarter, settling for just three free throws, and as a result, absorbing their first loss of the season.

“We’re getting and taking good shots,” Thompson noted. “We’re just not making them. If those shots start to fall, we’re going to start to click.”

Thompson is entering her 17^th season as the Teutopolis girls head coach. She sports a 418-114 overall record entering the season.

Last year’s team finished 21-8 and won the school’s 12^th regional title in a row. But gone from that team is Katelyn Schumacher, Izzy Hardiek, Grace Tegeler and Zoe Cremens – and with it about 60 percent of the scoring.

The Teutopolis Lady Shoes experienced a cold shooting performance Saturday, and as a result, dropped a 31-28 decision to Highland in the final game of the Centralia Tournament.

T-Town made just 9-of-38 shots overall, a cool 24 percent. The Lady Shoes were 3-for-12 from three-point range and just 6-for-26 from inside the arc. They also turned the ball over 12 times.

The game was close throughout. It was tied 9-9 after the first period and THS trailed 14-13 at halftime. It was still a one-point deficit, 26-25, heading into the final eight minutes. The Lady Shoes managed just three free throws in the fourth quarter.

Kaylee Niebrugge was the only T-Town player to reach double figures, finishing with 11 points. Courtney Gibson had six.

In their first game Saturday, the Lady Shoes used a 15-4 scoring run in the fourth quarter to pull away from Centralia and post a 46-32 victory.

THS held a slim 31-28 edge heading into the final eight minutes. Emily Konkel scored six points and Chloe Probst and Niebrugge both added four to help the Lady Shoes increase their lead down the stretch.

Niebrugge finished with a game-high 14 points and Konkel added 10. Niebrugge also had six steals in the game, helping the Lady Shoes create 23 turnovers.

T-Town is now 3-1 on the season. The Lady Shoes will return to action on Thursday, Dec. 1, with a game at Benton.