Basketball

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Effort.

Coaches – regardless of the sport – talk about that a lot.

And it’s what Chet Reeder talked about at halftime Tuesday night.

“We just didn’t have the effort in that first half,” Reeder said. “Quite frankly, our effort was unacceptable. That’s the message that was conveyed at halftime.”

The Shoes not only heard that message, they took it to heart. They responded with what Reeder said was him team’s best 16 minutes of basketball this season.

T-Town hit 9 of its first 10 shots, forced four turnovers and quickly erased a five-point deficit.

When those 16 minutes were up, the Shoes had outscored Newton 37-12 and posted a 69-49 victory at J.H. Griffin Gymnasium.

“This program has always been defined by good defensive pressure,” Reeder explained. “We didn’t get that in the first half. We gave up 28 points in the paint and 12 transition points. If they want to be a great team, they need to act like it. Great teams don’t defend like that.”

The Teutopolis Lady Shoes jumped out to an early double-digit lead and rolled to a 59-36 win Tuesday night at Altamont.

Kaylee Niebrugge scored 11 points in the first eight minutes, helping the Lady Shoes build a 19-7 lead. It was 31-21 at halftime and 45-28 after three quarters.

Niebrugge finished with a game-high 17 points. T-Town had 13 different girls get into the scoring column.

The Lady Shoes improved to 23-3 on the season. They will travel to Parkland College in Champaign Friday night and play Bloomington Central Catholic.

In a battle of two of the top Class 2A teams in Southern Illinois, the host Pinckneyville Panthers came away with a 50-41 victory Saturday night over the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes.

It was the eighth and final game of the day for the Panther Basketball Showcase, played at Pinckneyville High School.

Caleb Siemer scored six first-quarter points, as the Shoes built a slim 10-9 lead after the opening eight minutes. But the Panthers took a 24-23 lead into the locker room at halftime and led by five, 32-27, after three quarters.

AJ Keith scored nine points in the final eight minutes, helping Pinckneyville outscore T-Town 18-14 to secure the win and improve to 22-3 on the season. Karsen Konkel, who had seven points in the fourth period, led PHS with 13 points and Keith finished with 11.

Siemer was the only THS player in double figures with 11. Brendan Niebrugge scored nine and Garrett Gaddis added eight, all of them in the fourth quarter.

THS dipped to 16-7 on the season. The Shoes will return home Tuesday and face Newton.

This time around, it was the Lady Shoes who rallied for the win.

After letting a couple fourth-quarter leads slip away in recent weeks, the Teutopolis Lady Shoes turned the tables Saturday afternoon.

They outscored Breese Central 12-4 in the final eight minutes to come away with a 46-44 victory at home.

The Lady Knights were on top 40-34 after three quarters. But Emily Konkel scored four points and Courtney Gibson, Kaylee Niebrugge, Estella Mette and Summer Wall each added two, as the Lady Shoes staged a comeback and notched their 22^nd win of the season.

Breese Central led most of the game. The Lady Knights had a 16-11 edge after the first quarter, and then got nine points from Trame Taylor to increase that to 31-24 at halftime.

Taylor finished with 20 points for Breese Central, who dipped to 16-9.

Niebrugge and Konkel led the scoring attack for T-Town, finishing with 21 and 15 points respectively.

The Lady Shoes improved to 22-3 on the season. They will play another home game Monday night, facing Breese Mater Dei, who sports a 17-6 record.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Stopping or at least containing Kaylee Niebrugge is at the top of every coach’s scouting report when playing the Teutopolis Lady Shoes.

It certainly was for Jeff Schafer Friday night.

“We tried to limit her; even double-teamed her at times,” the EHS coach said. “We tried to make their other players shoot the ball. But they stepped up and did a nice job.”

Niebrugge still did her job, notching yet another double-double, and her sidekick Emily Konkel also scored in double figures.

But it was those “other” players – Courtney Gibson, Summer Wall, Estella Mette and Molly Ruholl – that made a big difference.

Those four combined for 19 points, helping the Lady Shoes post a 53-35 victory at home over the Lady Hearts on Senior Night.