Teutopolis Junior High Girls Set To Play for State Title

WARRENSBURG -- Teutopolis Junior High School's eighth-grade girls basketball team will be playing for a state championship after picking up two victories Saturday in the Class 8-3A State Tournament at Warrnesburg-Latham High School.

In the first game, Teutopolis edged Auburn 26-24. The Shoes led 17-11 at halftime but the Trojans outscored T-town 10-2 in the third period to take a 21-19 lead. A three-pointer rmidway through the fourth quarter by Shelby Thompson was a huge basket for the Shoes. T-town played terrific defense in the fourth quarter as the only basket Auburn was able to make came on a three-pointer from Emily Jessup with just .4 left in the game.

T-town was led by Raegan Drees with eight points and Jamie Sandschafer and Thompson with seven each.

 T-town then advanced to face St. Joseph and captured a 39-31 victory. T-town used a strong fourth quarter to earn a spot in the championship game. Leading by one entering the final period, Lexie Kaufman scored on a layup to give the Shoes a three-point lead at 26-23. Jessica Davis followed with a layup to give T-town a five point cushion with 4:50 left. St. Joseph came right back with four unanswered points to pull within one at 28-27 with 3:53 left. But it was all T-town from that point on as the Wooden Shoes outscored the Panthers 11-4.

St. Joseph (19-4) will face Wenona Fieldcrest (22-5) at 6 p.m. for third place while T-town (26-1) will take on Monticello (25-2) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for the state championship. Monticello is coached by a Teutopolis graduate and former player. Shelly (Rentfrow) Beery graduated from Teutopolis in 1991 and coaches the seventh and eighth grade girls squads at Monticello. Last week she coached the seventh-grade squad to a state title.

Class 8-3A State Tournament

Game Three

Teutopolis          8    9      2    7    --    26

Auburn               7    4    10    3    --    24

Teutopolis -- Hemmen 2, Sandschafer 7, J. Drees 2, R. Drees 8, Thompson 7

Auburn -- Jessup 10, Tanner 5, Vaught 8, Paan 1

Game Seven

St. Joseph            1    12    10      8    --    31

Teutopolis          10      8      6    15    --    39

St. Joseph -- Conish 4, Witruk 1, Runck 2, Sanders 8, Michaels 16

Teutopolis -- Sandschafer 4, R. Drees 11, Thompson 10, Kaufman 6, J. Drees 4, Hemmen 4

Class 8-2A State Tournament

Altamont saw its season come to a close in the Class 8-2A State Tournament at Auburn High School Saturday. Altamont fell to Bloomington Holy Trinity 37-26.

Altamont took an 8-6 opening quarter lead over Bloomington Holy Trinity. Holy Trinity came back to knot the score at 11-11 at halftime. The Wildcats began the third quarter with a 7-0 run. Down 18-11 the Saints were almost out of the contest until Maddie Holt and Kate Hoerdemann combined to score 12 points that sparked a Bloomington comeback. The Saints exploded for 20 third quarter points to take the lead for good as they held Altamont to just three points in the fourth quarter. Holt and Hoerdemann tallied 11 each for the winners. Altamont was led by Keidron Duckwitz with 10 points.

Altamont ends the season with a 19-5 record. Holy Trinity advanced to beat Mendon Unity 32-26 and will now face Mount Olive at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for the state championship.

Class 8-2A State Tournament

Altamont             8    3    12    3     --    26

Holy Trinity          6    5    20    6    --    37

Altamont -- Mayhaus 1, Duckwitz 10, Burns 6, Wolff 6, Biggs 3

Bloomington Holy Trinity -- Matthewson 4, Holt 11, Hoerdemann 11, McBeath 3, Malinowski 4, Stevens 4