Basketball

The Teutopolis Lady Shoes let a lead slip away in the fourth period and ended up dropping a 68-62 overtime decision to O’Fallon on Saturday in the third place game of the Scott Credit Union Tournament, played in Highland.

T-Town led most of the game.

Lexie Niebrugge made three 3-pointers in the first quarter, helping the Lady Shoes take a 21-13 lead. Niebrugge scored 10 more points in the second period and THS went to the locker room with a 36-26 advantage at halftime.

Teutopolis was still on top, 45-38, entering the fourth quarter. But O’Fallon then outscored the Lady Shoes 21-14 to tie the score at 59-59 and force the overtime.

In the extra period, Hope Bueker hit a 3-pointer, but that was the only points the Lady Shoes scored. O’Fallon tallied nine points to come away with the win and capture third place.

Niebrugge finished as the game’s leading scorer with 22 points. Olivia Niemerg scored 15, while Ciara Roepke and Bueker both added 11.

The Lady Shoes finished 2-2 in tournament play and are now 16-7 for the season.

They will play three times next week – Tuesday at home against Altamont; Thursday at home against Mattoon; and Friday at Effingham.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

It wasn’t pretty, but Chet Reeder said “we’ll take it.”

The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes had the proverbial “lid on the basket,” especially in the first half. But they overcame that low-scoring half, hit some key shots in the second half and played tough defense throughout.

The result was a 42-35 win over Thornton Fractional North in the final opening-round game Thursday night of the 69th annual Salem Invitational Tournament.

That victory moved THS into the semifinals, where it will face Effingham at 8 p.m. tonight (Friday).

“This was a good win for us,” Reeder noted. “They don’t have a great record (now 7-14), but they play a lot of big schools.

“They have size, length and athleticism,” Reeder added. “They came out in that zone and they can cover a lot of area.”

The Teutopolis Lady Shoes have reached the semifinals of the Scott Credit Union Girls Basketball Tournament in Highland.

They accomplished that by posting a 52-41 victory Monday night over Belleville West.

After a slow start and falling behind 10-9 after eight minutes, the Lady Shoes went on a 17-8 scoring surge to build a 26-18 lead at halftime. It was still an eight-point margin, 37-29, heading into the final quarter. T-Town then outscored Belleville West 15-11 to seal the win.

Lexie Niebrugge connected on three shots from behind the arc and scored 19 points to lead the THS scoring attack. Sophomore Kaitlyn Schumacher had her best scoring game of the season, pumping in 11 points. Niebrugge and Schumacher also led the team with six rebounds.

The Lady Shoes improved to 16-5 on the season. They will now face a 21-2 Civic Memorial team in the semifinals. That game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday in Highland.

These two teams met just eight days ago in Bethalto. The Lady Eagles, who are ranked No. 4 in the Class 3A poll, defeated T-Town 44-35.

For the second time this season, the Teutopolis Lady Shoes played a strong game against Civic Memorial, but came up short.

The Lady Shoes led early, but the Lady Eagles pulled ahead in the second half and finished with a 42-34 victory Wednesday night in a semifinal game of the Scott Credit Union Girls Basketball Tournament in Highland.

T-Town led 7-5 after the opening eight minutes and was just down two points at halftime, 17-15. But Civic Memorial outscored the Lady Shoes 13-8 in the third period to open a 30-23 advantage and then made 8-of-11 free throws in the fourth quarter to secure the eight-point decision.

Anna Hall scored 20 points through three quarters and finished with a game-high 22 to lead the Lady Eagles. Kourtland Tyus was 5-for-6 from the foul stripe in the final period and had 10 points for the game.

Olivia Niemerg led Teutopolis with 11 points and Ciara Roepke added nine. Lexie Niebrugge led the Lady Shoes with eight rebounds, but was held to just one point. The THS defense forced Civic Memorial into 15 turnovers.

The Lady Eagles, the No. 2 ranked team in Class 3A, improved to 22-2 on the season, while the Lady Shoes dipped to 16-6. T-Town is ranked 8th in the Class 2A poll.

The other semifinal game is tonight between O’Fallon and Highland. The winner will play Civic Memorial at 2:30 p.m. Saturday for the tournament championship. The loser will face T-Town in the third place game Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Teutopolis Lady Shoes opened tournament play in impressive fashion Saturday, posting a 55-28 victory over Triad.

It was a first-round game in the 34th annual Scott Credit Union Girls Basketball Tournament in Highland.

The Lady Shoes will play again today (Monday). They will face Belleville West at 8:30 p.m.

T-Town built a 15-10 lead after the first eight minutes and then broke it open in the second quarter. The Lady Shoes outscored Triad 13-1 to take a 28-11 lead to the locker room at halftime.

It was more of the same in the third period. The THS girls went on a 17-4 scoring run in the third quarter to extend their advantage to 45-15.

The Lady Shoes had three players in double figures. Lexie Niebrugge and Olivia Niemerg both scored 14 points and Ciara Roepke added 11. Niebrugge also had a team-high six rebounds and Roepke came up with five steals.

Teutopolis improved to 15-5 on the season.