Slow Start, Big Finish; Wooden Shoes Advance to Regional Championship Game

The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes scuffled out of the gate, but then exploded over the final three quarters to post a 72-40 win over the Greenville Comets Wednesday in the semifinals of the Hillsboro 2A Regional.  The game was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.

After a three-for-14 first quarter, the Wooden Shoes made 26 of 32 shots over the final three periods, or 81%.  They weren't all layups, either, as the Shoes hit on 11 of 17 three-point shots.

The lackluster first quarter ended with the Shoes in front 7-3, but they outscored the Comets 65-37 over the final three periods.

T-Town made just three of seven foul shots, turned the ball over 11 times and pulled down 23 rebounds.  Greenville shot 36% from the field, 12 of 33, made nine of 14 free throws, committed 21 turnovers and grabbed 20 rebounds while making five of 13 three-point tries.

Derek Smith led Teutopolis with 26 points on nine-of-14 shooting.  Devin Falbe scored 11 points and Cody Will nine points.  Kyle Pruemer scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds and Jared Waldhoff scored eight points.  Reed Hardiek hit two three-pointers for his six points.

Jacob Hall led Greenville with 14 points.

Greenville wraps up their season with a 12-19 record. 

Teutopolis, now 25-3, will play Vandalia Friday night at 7:30pm for the regional championship and a berth in the Greenville 2A Sectional next Tuesday night.  Vandalia beat Hillsboro 62-52 in the other semifinal game.  Friday night's game can be heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com. 

Attention Wooden Shoe Fans: All tickets for the regional championship game at Hillsboro Firday are $4 each. All tickets will be sold Thursday at the high school. Second hour: Tournament players and managers, other boy basketball players, cheerleaders, pomerettes and girl basketball players in the high school office. Lunch hour: Student tickets will be sold in the high school office, seniors first, then juniors, sophomores and freshmen in that order. Students will be allowed to buy one for themselves. 1-3 p.m., Qualified staff may purchase tickets between 1-3 p.m. in the high school office. 4-5 p.m., reserved gold seat holders, immediately followed by the general public on a first come, first serve basis in the high school office. Each individual will be allowed to purchase five tickets. There will be no admittance to the high school building to start forming lines until 3:30 p.m.

Class 2A Hillsboro Regional

TEUTOPOLIS (72)

Smith 10-3 -- 29, Falbe 5-0 -- 11, Pruemer 4-0 -- 8, Waldhoff 4-0 -- 8, Will 2-0 -- 6, Hardiek 2-0 -- 6, Mette 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 29 FG, 3 FT.

GREENVILLE (40)

Hall 5-2 -- 14, Faulkner 1-3 -- 6, Lawrence 3-0 -- 7, Alderman 1-2 -- 4, Manning 1-0 -- 3, Letschuk 1-0 -- 2, Schoufleberger 1-0 -- 2, Hutchman 1-0 -- 2. TOTALS 14 FG, 7 FT.

Greenville          3    16      8    12    --    40

Teutopolis         7    23    22    20    --     72

3-point FG -- Teutopolis 11 (Smith 6, Falbe 1, Will 2, Hardiek 2), Greenville 5 (Hall 2, Foulkner 1, Lawrence 1, Manning 1).