By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

They say practice makes perfect.

And Jordan Hardiek proved it Friday night.

T-Town’s junior guard put on quite a shooting display, pumping in 30 points to lead the Wooden Shoes to a whopping 82-44 victory over Mattoon.

But THS coach Chet Reeder was not surprised.

“Jordan made 11,000 shots this summer,” Reeder noted. “Tonight showed you what that did for him. I hope the kids in the stands noticed that. To be a good shooter or a good player, you have to put in the time and work.

“Going into this season, I told Jordan if he was open and had his feet set to shoot it and keep shooting it,” Reeder added. “That’s the confidence I have in him.”

Jordan Hardiek did exactly that. He shot it and then he kept shooting it. And he shot it very well.

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Despite playing a bit shorthanded, the Teutopolis Lady Shoes had no trouble posting a 48-11 victory Tuesday night at St. Thomas More in Champaign.

T-Town built a 16-6 lead after eight minutes and then held the Lady Sabers scoreless in the second period, expanding the gap to 29-6 at intermission.

The Lady Shoes played without Claire Bushur, Lexie Niebrugge and Hope Bueker, who are all injured. But they had no trouble improving to 4-1 on the season.

Olivia Niemerg led the scoring attack with 21 points, while Ciara Roepke added 12. Karsyn Mette had eight rebounds and the Lady Shoes defense forced 30 turnovers.

Teutopolis will play Centralia at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Salem. It will be their final game in the Lady Wildcat Thanksgiving Tournament.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Many teams experience the greatest amount of improvement between the first two games of the season.

Such was the case Tuesday night.

The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes showed improvement in every phase of the game and the result was a 62-51 win over Breese Central on the second night of the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament.

“We improved in every aspect,” said THS coach Chet Reeder. “We especially took a step forward defensively. We applied more ball pressure, we rotated better and we trusted each other as a group. We needed to take that next step defensively and the boys did a good job.”

Breese Central held a slim 4-3 lead just two minutes into the game. But Matthew Deters grabbed a rebound and scored to put the Shoes on top to stay. Jordan Hardiek followed with a short jumper and then a 3-pointer. By the end of the first quarter, T-Town led 15-9.

After Jack Poelker and Matthew Deters scored back-to-back after grabbing offensive rebounds, the Shoes had their first double-digit advantage, 24-13, at the 4:40 mark of the second period. Twice, Breese Central got within nine, but two more baskets by Matthew Deters to close out the first half sent the Shoes to the locker room with a 33-20 edge.

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By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

For 24 minutes Monday night, it was a typical season-opening game.

There were too many turnovers and missed free throws; and too many breakdowns on offense and defense.

But for one eight-minute stretch, the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes looked like they were in mid-season form.

And that was the difference.

T-Town used a strong third quarter performance to rally from a halftime deficit and spark a 62-54 victory over Robinson in the first game of the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament, played at the Enlow Center.

The Shoes trailed 30-25 at halftime, but a 3-pointer by Jordan Hardiek started a 22-8 run that put THS on top to stay.

Seven different players got into the scoring column for THS during that third period. A free throw and 3-pointer by Luke Ungrund put the Shoes on top, 36-32. Evan Addis connected from long range and Matthew Deters scored the final six points of the quarter, giving Teutopolis a 47-38 advantage heading into the final eight minutes.

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