The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes used a big third quarter Saturday to break a halftime tie, en route to a 65-53 win at home over Taylorville.

The Tornados jumped out to a 15-10 lead after the first eight minutes, but the Shoes came back to tie the game 31-31 at intermission. T-Town then went on a 22-11 scoring run in the third period to open a double digit lead.

Evan Wermert and Jordan Hardiek combined to knock down eight 3-pointers and score 41 points to help the Shoes improve to 15-7 on the season. Wermert made three from behind the arc and went 8-of-9 from the foul line to finish with 25 points, while Jordan Hardiek connected on five from long range and ended with 16 points.

Brock Deters pulled down 10 rebounds, helping the Shoes to a 32-23 rebounding advantage.

Taylorville’s Jace Bergschneider scored 21 points.

“This may have been our best offensive game, as far as executing what we do best,” THS coach Chet Reeder said. “And Luke (Ungrund) and Mitch (Hardiek) did an incredible job on Bergschneider. Even though he had 21 points, every shot was heavily contested and he had to work for everything he got.”

T-Town will play Tuesday at Newton.

The Teutopolis Junior High seventh grade boys are headed to the sectional. The Wooden Shoes posted a 45-23 victory over Lawrenceville Parkview to capture the championship of the Teutopolis Class 7-3A Regional. The Shoes also defeated Jasper County 54-11 in the semifinals. TJHS, now 17-7 on the season, will face Tuscola East Prairie (16-9) in the Cumberland Sectional. That game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 5.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

There were some “what ifs” floating around after Friday night’s game.

For those sitting on the Effingham side, they were thinking “what if we had made those three wide open layups in the first quarter?”

But for those wearing the Teutopolis blue and gold, they were wondering “what if we played consistently for an entire game?”

Both valid questions.

The Effingham Lady Hearts jumped out to a five-point lead and could have stretch it to double digits if they had made those three early layups.

The Teutopolis Lady Shoes then went on a big scoring run, led by double digits several times and had opportunities to put the game away, only to experience some scoring challenges of their own which allowed the Lady Hearts to close the gap.

In the end, the T-Town lead was simply too much to overcome. And when the Lady Shoes closed the contest on a 9-2 scoring surge, they had secured a 47-32 victory at Effingham.

“We go three to four minutes without scoring,” THS coach Laurie Thompson noted. “Then we get up 13, 14 points and go through another stretch where we don’t score again and let them back in it. We have got to get that corrected.

“It’s frustrating for both the girls and the coaching staff,” Thompson added. “But we’re not going to back down from this challenge. We’re going to get it figured out.”

The first quarter was a perfect example of what Thompson was referring to.

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The Teutopolis Lady Shoes outscored Mattoon 21-6 in the middle two quarters Thursday night and then had to hang on for a 38-33 victory at home.

The game was tied 11-11 after the opening eight minutes. The Lady Shoes then outscored the Lady Green Wave 7-2 in the second period and 14-4 in the third quarter to build a 32-17 advantage heading into the final period.

Mattoon then went on a surge, outscoring T-Town 16-6 to narrow the gap considerably. The Lady Shoes had only one basket in the final eight minutes and were 4-of-7 from the foul line, but it was enough to secure the victory.

Lexie Niebrugge led THS with 15 points and six rebounds.

The Lady Shoes, now 19-7, will be back in action tonight (Friday). They will travel across the creek to play Effingham.