Lady Shoes Finish Second in Class 2A Tournament

The Teutopolis Lady Shoes ended up finishing second in the Class 2A Girls State Basketball Tournament Saturday night, falling to Byron in the title game 53-44. The game was heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com. 

The Shoes fell behind 5-0 out of the gate and trailed at one point by 12 before mounting a second quarter comeback and pull within two, 23-21 at halftime. T-Town took its first lead early in the third quarter, but quickly fell behind again, trailing 30-26 after three quarters. Byron started to pull away, leading by 10 with under two minutes to play, but the Lady Shoes had a little left in the tank, pulling within six a couple of times. Unlike Friday night, though, when T-Town fouled to try to get the ball back, Byron's players made their foul shots and posted the nine-point win. Byron outscored T-Town 23-18 in the final period.

The Shoes had a rough shooting night, making just 13 of 49 shots for 26.5% including three of 12 threes. T-Town made 15 of 19 foul shots, but committed 15 turnovers while grabbing 33 rebounds. Byron shot 39% from the field, 14 of 36, including four of 11 threes. They were 21 of 26 from the foul line, turned the ball over 11 times and pulled down 26 rebounds.

Anna Hartke, in her final game as a Lady Shoes player, had a monster performance, scoring seven points but grabbing a whopping 19 rebounds. Raegan Drees led the Shoes in scoring with 11 points and Jamie Sandschafer scored 10 for the second straight night. Also for T-Town: Molly Smith 7, Shelby Thompson 6, and Danielle Repking 3.

Paige Holloway led Byron with 16 points, while Lexi Devries scored 12 and Bailey Burrows added 11 points.

Byron finishes the season with a 33-3 record, while Teutopolis finishes 29-7. It's the first time Teutopolis has reached the championship game since 2001.

It was also a special night since the 1986 Lady Shoes state champion team was recognized at halftime of the third place game. Lady Shoes Coach Laurie (Holman) Thompson was a key member of that squad.

Central-Southeastern won the third place game 67-53 over Westchester St. Joseph.

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In the 1A state tournament on Saturday afternoon, Hardin Calhoun won the championship, defeating Central A&M in overtime, 60-56. The third place game also went overtime, with Shabbona Indian Creek defeating South Holland Seton Academy 56-50.