Senior guard Olivia Niemerg and former T-Town standout Morgan Mette celebrate following the Lady Shoes 43-29 victory in the sectional championship game Thursday night. Niemerg led the team with 17 points and was all smiles after getting a hug and congratulations from Mette. ET Sports Report photo by Steve Raymond.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Since January 2, Laurie Thompson has been yearning for a chance to visit Paris.

No, she doesn’t want to board a plane and fly 4,200 miles.

She wants to climb on a bus and ride 60 miles up the road.

Well, now she has her wish. Her six-week wait is about to end.

For the third time this season, her Teutopolis Lady Shoes will have a chance to knock a talented Paris team from the ranks of the unbeaten and end their dream season.

And the matchup was made possible when T-Town and the Lady Tigers both posted wins Monday night in semifinal contests in the Paris Class 2A Sectional.

Teutopolis posted a 43-22 victory over Tolono Unity and Paris blasted St. Joseph-Ogden 62-35. So it will be a clash between the Lady Shoes, who will enter with a 24-8 record, and the Lady Tigers, who are a perfect 34-0, including two wins over THS.

But before that game could happen, the Lady Shoes had to take care of business against the Lady Rockets, who won the Maroa-Forsythe Regional and featured a standout player in senior Elyce Knudsen.

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It took four extra minutes Tuesday night, but the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes didn’t mind.

The hosts went on a 12-2 scoring surge to notch their 20th win of the season, a 61-51 overtime decision over Mattoon.

“Mattoon played a great game and their zone gave us fits at times,” THS coach Chet Reeder said. “We were way too careless with the ball and turned it over 16 times. Evan Wermert took the game over on offense and our rebounding helped us get a win against a very tough Mattoon team.”

It was a close game throughout. T-Town led 13-9 after eight minutes and 26-24 at halftime. It was still just a two-point spread, 42-40, heading into the fourth period. The Green Wave forced the overtime by knotting the score at 49-49. The Shoes then outscored Mattoon 12-2 in the extra session.

Wermert had a fantastic game. He accounted for nearly half of the team’s points, finishing with 28. That included six 3-pointers. He also led the team with nine rebounds. Jordan Hardiek had nine points, five assists and three steals.

The Shoes, now 20-9 on the season, will wrap up their regular season Friday at Woodlawn. The Cardinals are 26-3 and just outside the top 10 in the Class 1A poll.

The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes outscored St. Joseph-Ogden 30-14 in the middle two quarters Monday night, en route to a 61-45 victory at home.

The Spartans held a slim 14-13 lead after the opening minutes, but the Shoes then outscored their guests 13-7 in the second period and 17-7 in the third quarter to open 43-28 advantage.

Luke Ungrund pumped in 20 points to lead all scorers. Evan Wermert turned in a strong game narrowly missing a triple-double. Wermert had 14 points and 10 rebounds and also dished out eight assists.

“Our defense was great again tonight, too,” THS coach Chet Reeder said. “We forced St. Joe to take difficult shots all night. Mitch Hardiek held their leading scorer to just five points.”

The Shoes improved to 19-9 and will return to action tonight (Tuesday). It will be Senior Night at J.H. Griffin Gymnasium and T-Town will host Mattoon.