By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

It was a typical opening night performance.

Some good things.

Some bad.

But when the final horn sounded, the Teutopolis Lady Shoes had a season-opening 68-41 victory at home over Newton.

T-Town used its pressure defense to grab an early lead, saw its two guards turn in solid performances and had an opportunity to get players into a varsity contest for the very first time.

“Overall, I’m happy with how we played,” said THS coach Laurie Thompson. “We had some kids out there with no varsity experience whatsoever. It was nice to see them just go out and play.”

In the early minutes of the game, the Lady Shoes pressure defense proved difficult for Newton to handle. T-Town forced nine turnovers in the opening eight minutes and converted seven of those into points.

Claire Bushur scored the first five points of the season to give THS a quick lead and one it never relinquished. Bushur had seven points in the opening quarter and Olivia Niemerg hit a three at the buzzer, as Teutopolis jumped out to a 20-9 lead.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

What defines a successful program?

How about more than 1,000 wins in school history, 15 trips to the state tournament and five state championships?

How about 119 wins over four years and three trips to the state tournament?

That’s exactly the success the Teutopolis Lady Shoes have enjoyed the past four seasons.

But what happens when these good players graduate?

In many high schools, it means the end of a nice run.

In Teutopolis, it simply means another opportunity to reload.

It means another set of girls is ready to step up and continue the tradition.

There’s no such thing as rebuilding in T-Town. That’s a word that’s never used.

Take this year for example.