By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

The first two minutes of the third period proved to be pivotal.

Teutopolis trailed by eight at halftime, but came out with three excellent possessions that produced three good shots.

Unfortunately, none of them fell.

Carbondale responded by scoring the first six points of the second half that sparked a big third quarter, en route to a 65-45 victory over the Shoes in the third place game of the Salem Invitational Tournament.

“We did the right things to start the second half, but we just didn’t make our shots,” THS coach Chet Reeder said. “That really wears at you. That also tied into a letdown at the defensive end that led to some easy baskets by Carbondale.

“I thought we responded well after that, but we just didn’t make enough shots,” Reeder added. “Carbondale is the most physical team we’ll play all season. Their strength and our inability to hit shots resulted in the game getting away from us in the third period.”

Davaris Macklin and James Baltz both scored six points in the third quarter, helping the Terries go on a 20-5 scoring surge and build a commanding 50-27 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

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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.”

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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.

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.