Basketball

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Revenge.

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs enjoyed the sweet taste of that on Friday when they beat Effingham to avenge a loss to the Lady Hearts just eight days prior.

On Saturday – just 24 hours later – it was the Teutopolis Lady Shoes’ turn to experience the satisfaction of a revenge win.

But this time, St. Anthony was on the bitter end of that result.

The Lady Shoes combined a strong defensive effort and a balanced scoring attack to post a 50-35 win over the Lady Bulldogs in a semifinal game of the Coles County Girls Holiday Basketball Tournament.

Both St. Anthony and T-Town had gone 2-0 to win their respective pools and reach the semifinals.

The Lady Shoes were scheduled to play for the overall tournament championship later Saturday night, while the Lady Bulldogs were slated to play in the third place game.

“Our girls didn’t like that loss,” THS coach Laurie Thompson admitted, referring to the 62-49 setback the Lady Shoes absorbed December 16 at St. Anthony – the first time the Lady Bulldogs had ever beaten the T-Town girls. “Sometimes, a loss can make a team respond in one way or another. I thought our team responded the right way.

“They came out more driven and more focused this time,” Thompson added. “I thought they handled the situation very well.”

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

It was supposed to be Lincoln Way East and Champaign Centennial in the championship game.

The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes and St. Anthony Bulldogs had other plans, however.

The Wooden Shoes had already derailed Centennial Friday afternoon.

And while the Bulldogs were knocking off LWE Friday night, the Shoes were also securing their spot in the finals by defeating Pleasant Plains, 38-29, in a slow-paced, defense-dominated game at J.H. Griffin Gymnasium.

That sets up the championship between these long-time cross-creek rivals. It will be a full and loud Effingham Gymnasium on Saturday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The Wooden Shoes will be making their seventh appearance in the final game of the Christmas Classic and looking for their fifth championship. They also won titles in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2018 and have an overall 35-8 record in 11 seasons.

The Bulldogs will be making their first-ever appearance in the championship contest. Since joining the tournament field in 2018, they have compiled a record of 12-7.

In the early going, it appeared as if Pleasant Plains had the upper hand. Coached by former T-Town standout Kyle Weber, the Cardinals employed a defensive and offensive game plan that called for a slow pace.

The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes overcame a slow start to come from behind and record a 52-49 victory over Champaign Centennial in a second-round game Friday afternoon at J.H. Griffin Gymnasium.

That victory advanced the Wooden Shoes into a semifinal game with Pleasant Plains. That was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The Chargers owned an 18-9 lead after the opening eight minutes. But the Shoes then outscored Centennial 28-17 over the next two periods to take a slim 37-35 edge into the fourth quarter.

Mick Niebrugge led T-Town with 15 points, while Alex Kremer added 12. Tyrek Patterson scored 12 for Champaign Centennial.

The Shoes improved to 8-3 on the season.

The winner of the Teutopolis-Pleasant Plains game will play for the tournament championship at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The loser will be in the third place contest at 6 p.m. Saturday. Both of those games will be played at Effingham High School.

The Teutopolis Lady Shoes registered a blowout win and then a nailbiter to advance to the championship game of the Coles County Girls Holiday Basketball Tournament.

The Lady Shoes started Friday with a 65-26 laugher over Champaign Central and then withstood a fourth quarterback comeback to nip Marion, 56-55.

As a result, T-Town was the winner of Pool B.

And will now advance to face the winner of Pool A – which was St. Anthony.

Those two will square off at 1 p.m. Saturday at Charleston High School.

The winner of that contest will then play for the overall tournament championship at 6 p.m. Saturday – also at Charleston High School.

The loser will play for third place. That game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Mattoon High School.

The game against Champaign Central was close for one quarter. The Lady Shoes held a slim 11-8 edge and then exploded in the second period. Chloe Probst knocked down a pair of three-pointers and scored 12 points in the quarter, helping T-Town go on a 21-6 run and expand its lead to 32-14 at halftime.

The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes opened play in the Effingham-Teutopolis Christmas Classic in impressive fashion Thursday night, posting a 63-32 victory over Charleston.

The Shoes will play Champaign Centennial at 1:30 p.m. Friday at J.H. Griffin Gymnasium.

T-Town bolted to an 11-2 lead after the opening eight minutes and were never threatened. The lead was 30-16 at halftime and 47-27 after three quarters.

There was quite a contrast in shooting between the two teams. Teutopolis shot 487 percent from the floor, making 25-of-52 attempts, while the Trojans connected on just 13-of-56 shots, an icy 23 percent effort. The Shoes also held a dominating 38-16 advantage on the boards.

Tyler Oakley was Charleston’s only player in double figures with 14 points.

T-Town had three players in double figures. Landyn Thoele scored 11 points, while Mick Niebrugge and Gavin Addis both had 10. Niebrugge also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

The Shoes improved to 7-3 on the season.

The winner of the Teutopolis-Centennial game will play again at 7:30 p.m. Friday at THS, while the loser will return to action at 6 p.m. at Effingham High School. Their opponents will either be Pleasant Plains or Mattoon.

Here are the results of the other games played Thursday.

Mattoon 64; Lawrenceville 54

The Mattoon Green Wave featured a balanced scoring attack and used a strong second half to pull away and post a 64-54 victory over Lawrenceville in an opening-round game played at Teutopolis High School.

The game was tied 27-27 at intermission, but Mattoon outscored the Indians 37-27 in the second half.

The Green Wave had four players in double figures – Madden Johnson 15, Lincoln Hayes 13, Tyler Haacke 11 and Cole Larson 10. Maddox Pargin led the Indians with 15 points.