What a difference 24 hours can make.

Just one day after allowing Mallory Ramage to score 30 points, not shooting very well and dropping a six-point deficit, the Teutopolis Lady Shoes turned the tables on Mattoon.

Thursday night, the Lady Shoes shot better, got a double-double from Lexie Niebrugge and had balanced scoring. The result was a 55-43 win at home in an Apollo Conference rematch.

The two teams were supposed to meet earlier in the season, but that first meeting got cancelled and rescheduled for Wednesday night. That’s what caused the quick turnaround and why they played on back-to-back nights.

Like Wednesday night, T-Town led after the opening eight minutes, 12-3. But this time, they maintained the lead throughout. By halftime, the lead was double digits, 32-21. The Lady Green Wave got within 39-32 after the third quarter, but the Lady Shoes got five points from both Grace Tegeler and Kaitlyn Schumacher in the final period to secure the victory.

Lexie Niebrugge finished with 15 points and also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for THS. Tegeler also cracked double figures with 10 points, while Zoe Cremens finished with nine and both Izzy Hardiek and Emily Konkel scored eight.

Ramage was held to 17 points.

The Lady Shoes improved to 8-3 overall and 6-3 in the Apollo Conference. They will travel to Taylorville on Saturday.

Mallory Ramage proved to be too much.

Mattoon’s junior standout poured in 30 points Tuesday night, leading the Lady Green Wave to a 47-41 Apollo Conference victory at home over Teutopolis.

The Lady Shoes got six first-quarter points from Kaylee Niebrugge and a three-pointer from Lexie Niebrugge and had a slim 11-9 lead after the opening eight minutes. But Ramage scored eight points in the second quarter, helping Mattoon outscore T-Town 12-6 and take a 21-17 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

Ramage then scored 16 second-half points to help Mattoon maintain its lead throughout.

The free throw line might have made the difference. The Lady Shoes made just 8-of-16 foul shots and were just 1-for-6 in the fourth quarter.

Lexie Niebrugge led THS with 14 points, while Grace Tegeler and Kaylee Niebrugge both scored nine. Kaylee Niebrugge also pulled down six rebounds.

The Lady Shoes dropped to 7-3 overall and 5-3 in the Apollo Conference. They will play Mattoon again on Thursday, this time at home; and then travel to Taylorville on Saturday.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Questionable shot selection and turnovers.

Those are two things you simply can’t have against a team like Lincoln.

Unfortunately, the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes had too many of both Tuesday night.

And the end result was a 49-34 setback at home.

“Against good teams like Lincoln, you have to be sharp and crisp for 32 minutes,” THS coach Chet Reeder said. “We weren’t that team tonight.”

The game was tight until midway through the third quarter. Caleb Siemer came off the bench and scored six straight points to keep T-Town within 22-17. But that’s also when Lincoln’s Landon Hullinger broke out, knocking down a pair of three-pointers and ending the period with an alley-oop dunk that put the Railsplitters on top 33-21.

“At the defensive end, we challenged their shots pretty much the entire game,” Reeder noted. “But in that third period, we lost Hullinger a couple times and he scored each time.”

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By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

The Teutopolis Lady Shoes had just completed a 19-point victory Monday, but it was a frustrated Laurie Thompson that sat in the coach’s office a few minutes later.

Yes, she was pleased her team got the win that kept them alive in the Apollo Conference race.

But when asked to evaluate her team’s play, the veteran coach struggled to find something positive to mention. She had just seen her team turn in another poor defensive effort, give up too many offensive rebounds and miss a lot of shots from point blank range.

“It’s frustrating because we’re not getting better,” Thompson admitted. “We keep working on these things and I believe we can get better. These girls are very coachable. But we’re not showing it during the games.”

It was a 14-2 scoring run in the second quarter that put the Lady Shoes in control and sparked them to a 66-47 victory over Lincoln.

The Lady Railers’ talented freshman Kloe Froebe had just completed a three-point play – after grabbing an offensive rebound; one of seven baskets Lincoln scored off an offensive rebound – to pull the guests within 19-18 with 6:21 to play in the first half.

But Kaylee Niebrugge hit a free throw just eight seconds later to spark a run of 14 unanswered points. Lexie Niebrugge then connected on a three, followed by baskets by Kaitlyn Schumacher and Emily Konkel to make it 27-18. Kaylee Niebrugge then scored again and Lexie Niebrugge and Grace Tegeler turned back-to-back turnovers by Lincoln into four more quick points to increase the lead to 33-18.

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