Bloomington Central Catholic Ends T-town's Season

CHAMPAIGN -- The second quarter . . . that's where fans will point to when talking about what ended the Teutopolis High School girls basketball season Monday evening in the Class 2A Champaign Super-sectional.

The Wooden Shoes trailed opponent Bloomington Central Catholic by just four points after the first period. But the second quarter was the ace in the hole for the Saints who ran off 18 straight points and outscored T-town 20-6 for a 32-14 halftime lead. They eventually went on for a 70-47 victory.

"We struggled and they hit their shots," said T-town Coach Laurie Thompson. "We're a better team than we showed tonight."

The Shoes started out with their typical style of basketball in the opening quarter, forcing Central Catholic into five turnovers. But they trailed 12-8 after struggling with their shots, hitting only four of 12 while the Saints were five of eight.

T-town pulled within two at the start of the second period and knotted the score at 14-14 with 5:37 showing. Then the bottom dropped out. The Saints were on fire, hitting nine of 12 shots in the quarter and going on a tear that started at the 4:43 mark and didn't end until 6:16 was on the clock in the third quarter.

Sarah Brady nailed four straight shots and Maggie Stopa knocked down a three-pointer to end the run for a 32-14 halftime lead.

Central Catholic's Lauren Shanks put in two free throws and hit a three-pointer to start the second half. Brady knocked down another shot and the lead stood at 39-14.

Then in typical Shoe fashion, T-town got fired up and went on a run themselves. Jolene Bueker started it at the 2:08 mark in the third period and the Shoes rattled off 11 straight points to cut the lead from 22 to 13 at the end of the period.

But the Shoes were still having trouble from the field, connecting on only eight of 19 third quarter shots.

T-town pulled the score within 10 with 5:12 remaining on a field goal and free throw by Raegan Drees. But Saints' coach Debbie Coffman cautioned her team to calm down and they got back on track hitting 12 of 16 free throws. Shanks put in six of eight and connected on a three-pointer and the Saints finished out strong for the trip to the Class 2A State Tournament this Friday and Saturday. The Saints nailed 66.6 percent from the field and were 72.7 percent at the line.

T-town could muster only 34.4 percent from the field and were 50 percent at the line.

"I'm proud of the way the girls fought back in the second half," said Thompson. "We almost got back in the game."

T-town ended with two players in double figures. Drees finished out leading the way with 14 points, hitting six of seven field goals and two of four at the line. Jolene Bueker also had a double figure total with 11 and led the team in rebounds with eight.

Shanks and Brady finished as the one-two scoring punch for the Saints with 18 each while Bailey Coffman scored 16. The Saints improve to 21-10.

T-town ended the season with a 28-6 record.

"We played a tough schedule and learned how to play basketball this year," said Thompson. "These girls are fun to be around and they work hard. We just had too many loose balls and some questionable calls. We just have to get tougher. It was one of those nights where you make a basket here and there and it's a different ball game. Bloomington Central Catholic is a quality team. We wanted to get to state but these girls will bounce back."

Class 2A Champaign Super-sectional

TEUTOPOLIS (47)

J. Bueker 5-12 1-2 11, S. Bueker 3-14 0-0 6, Sandschafer 3-8 2-2 8, Drees 6-7 2-4 14, Thompson 1-11 0-0 2, Hemmen 2-7 0-2 4, Michels 0-1 0-0 0, Mette 1-1 0-0 2, Deters 0-0 0-0 0, Bushur 0-0 0-0 0, Grimes 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 21-61 FG (34.4), 5-10 FT (50.0).

BLOOMINGTON CENTRAL CATHOLIC (70)

Sartoris 1-1 3-4 6, Shanks 4-10 8-10 18, Brady 7-10 3-4 18, Coffman 8-9 0-0 16, Stevens 1-2 2-2 4, Stopa 1-2 0-0 3, Malinowski 1-1 0-0 2, Mathewson 0-0 0-0 0, Kessinger 0-0 0-0 0, Schade 1-1 0-0 3, Isaac 0-0 0-2 0, Foley 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 24-36 FG (66.6), 16-22 FT (72.7)

Teutopolis                         8      6    17    16    --    47

Bloomington C.C.           12    20    12    26    --    70

3-point FG -- Teutopolis 0-14 (S. Bueker 0-3, Sandschafer 0-4, Thompson 0-5, Hemmen 0-2), Bloomington Central Catholic 6-12 (Sartoris 1-1, Shanks 2-4, Brady 1-4, Stopa 1-2, Schrade 1-1). Rebounds -- Teutopolis 25 (J. Bueker 8), Bloomington Central Catholic 17 (Coffman 7). Turnovers -- Teutopolis 18, Bloomington Central Catholic 18.