The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes used a big second half Tuesday night to post a 54-38 victory at home over St. Joe-Ogden.

The Shoes held a slim 20-18 edge at halftime, but then outscored the Spartans 16-8 in the third quarter and 18-12 in the final eight minutes to come away with the double-digit decision.

Caleb Siemer and Brendan Niebrugge combined to score 38 points for T-Town. Siemer finished with 20 points, to along with six rebounds, and Niebrugge added 18. Max Niebrugge finished with seven assists.

SJO’s Ty Pence, who is being recruited by several Division I schools, was limited to just 11 points.

The Shoes improved to 13-4 on the season. They will face another tough team Saturday afternoon when they host Madison.

It was what you’d expect of a game between two of the state’s top Class 2A basketball teams.

As it turned out, 32 minutes wasn’t enough.

Warrensburg-Latham and Teutopolis battled to the wire Saturday, with the host Cardinals prevailing 66-63 in overtime.

The Shoes jumped out to a 23-12 lead after one quarter of play and still held a double-digit advantage, 37-27, at halftime. But the Cardinals outscored T-Town 14-5 in the third period to get within one, 42-41, and then knotted the game at 56-56 at the end of regulation.

Brendan Niebrugge had a strong game for the Shoes, pumping in a game-high 30 points. That included seven three-pointers. Max Niebrugge scored nine and both James Niebrugge and Caleb Siemer added eight.

The Shoes dipped to 12-4 on the season. They will be back in action Tuesday with a home game against St. Joe-Ogden.

Olivia Durbin knocked down a pair of three-pointers and scored eight fourth-quarter points, and Aubree Wallace made four straight free throws, helping Bethalto Civic Memorial post a 50-45 victory at home Monday night over the Teutopolis Lady Shoes.

The Lady Eagles trailed 31-30 heading into the final eight minutes, but then outscored T-Town 20-14 to improve to 12-3 on the season.

The Lady Shoes, who are now in the toughest part of their schedule, battled hard throughout. They trailed 12-8 after the first period and 23-16 at halftime, but then outscored Civic Memorial 15-7 in the third quarter to go on top, 31-30.

Kaitlyn Schumacher had a big game for THS, turning in a double-double. She scored 15 points and pulled down 15 rebounds. Kaylee Niebrugge also had 15 points and Izzy Hardiek added 12.

The Lady Shoes dropped to 11-5 on the season. They will now compete in the 35^th annual Highland Girls Basketball Tournament. They are seeded fifth overall and open against Collinsville on Saturday. That game is scheduled for 1 p.m. If they win that game, they will face either O’Fallon or Hillsboro at 8:30 p.m. Monday. If they lose, they will play at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

When a team runs its offense properly and it generates high quality shots, the coach is almost always happy and the results are generally positive.

Only part of that was true Thursday night in Teutopolis.

The Lady Shoes looked sharp on offense and repeatedly created shots from three feet or closer. Unfortunately, they didn’t make many of them.

That left head coach Laurie Thompson scratching her head. Rather than posting a win over a very good team, the Lady Shoes were on the losing end of a 50-44 score against Mattoon.

From two-point range, T-Town took 40 shots and the large majority of those were very close to the basket. But only 15 fell through the net. Many teams would shoot 70 percent or even higher from that range. The Lady Shoes were just 37 percent.

“It’s very frustrating,” Thompson, who was still shaking her head in disbelief about 20 minutes after the game, said. “We keep getting the shots we want, but can’t make them. And we’re wide open.

“I don’t know what more we can do and I don’t know how to cure that,” the veteran coach added. “We’re getting the shots we want, but we’re just not finishing. You can’t miss shots like that and beat the good teams. If we do, we’re just going to continue to struggle, especially against the good teams.”

The Green Wave led by as many as nine points in the third period and were still up by eight, 41-33, heading into the final eight minutes.

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