Nashville Sends Teutopolis To Sidelines

Teutopolis fans await the start of the Class 2A Carbondale Super-sectional Monday evening. Greg Sapp photo

CARBONDALE -- Nashville High School used a swarming defense that smothered Teutopolis and any hopes the Wooden Shoes had of advancing to the Class 2A State Boys Basketball Tournament Monday evening at the Carbondale Super-Sectional. Nashville finished with a 44-18 victory.

The Hornets held Teutopolis scoreless in the opening quarter as they took a 10-0 lead. Colton Gajewski scored five points for Nashville while Isaac Turner nailed a three-pointer.

But T-town got its scoring shoes on in the second period and had a slight 7-6 edge to trail 16-7 at halftime. Caleb Siemer had four points in the quarter.

But that was short-lived. Nashville came out strong in the third period and this time held the Wooden Shoes to only one point, on a free throw by Siemer, and pushed its lead to 29-8 going into the final quarter.

From there Nashville had a 15-10 final quarter for the 44-18 victory.

The Hornets were led by Saxton Hoepker with 16 points on five of eight from the field and six of seven at the line. He also pulled down six rebounds. Gajewski also hit double digits with 13 points and had five rebounds. Leading the Hornets in rebounding was Carter Schoenherr with eight.

T-town was led by Siemer with 12 points on four of eight from the field and four of six at the line. Siemer also led the team in rebounds with seven.

The Wooden Shoes got off 36 shots in the contest, connecting on six of those for a mere 16.6 percent. They were six of eight at the line.

Nashville, meanwhile, was 14 of 30 from the field for 46.6 percent and hit 14 of 20 free throws for 70 precent. Seven of those free throws came in the final quarter.

T-town ended the season with a 26-8 record while Nashville advances with a 29-6 mark.

The Hornets will meet Chicago DePaul College Prep Thursday at the State Tournament at the State Farm Center in Champaign. Chicago DePaul College Prep defeated Chicago Leo 50-43 to win the Joliet Central Super-Sectional Monday. In the other two super-sectionals, Monticello beat Bloomingtn Central Catholic 62-44 at the Springfield Super-sectional while Taylor Ridge Rockridge won over Rockford Lutheran 57-52 to win the Sterling Super-Sectional.

In the other State Tournament contest Thursday, Taylor Ridge Rockridge faces Monticello at 2:30 p.m. The winners of the two opening games at State will meet Saturday in the championship game at 11 a.m. The losers will play for third place at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

In other classes:

1A Super-Sectionals -- Steeleville defeated Macon Meridian, 68-47 in the opening game at Carbondale. Scales Mound downed Chicago Marshall 55-41 at DeKalb, Liberty defeated Augusta Southeastern 49-42 at Jacksonville and Yorkville Christian won over Lexington 71-33 at Normal. Steeleville will meet Yorkville Christian at 10 a.m. Thursday while LIberty will face Scales Mound at 11:45 a.m. The losers drop into the third place contest at 7 p.m. while the winners will play for the 1A State title at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

3A Super-Sectionals -- Chicago Simeon defeated Lemont 52-47 at Chicago, Chicago St. Ignatius College Prep downed Chicago St. Patrick 50-49 in two overtimes at Hoffman Estates, Metamora won over Wheaton St. Francis 60-44 at Ottawa and Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin downed East St. Louis Senior 60-50 at Springfield. In Friday action, Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin meets Chicago St. Ignatius College Prep at 10 a.m. while Chicago Simeon takes on Metamora at 11:30 a.m. The third place game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday while the championship will take place Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

4A Super-Sectionals -- Chicago Whtiney Young downed Chicago Kenwood 75-62 at Chicago, Glen Ellyn Glenbard West defeated Elgin Larkin 60-34 at DeKalb, Barrington edged Glenview Glenbrook South 52-50 at Forest View and Bolingbrook won over Quincy Senior 49-42 at Normal. In Friday action, Chicago Whitney Young faces Barrington at 2:30 p.m. and Bolingbrook meets Glen Ellyn Glenbard West at 4 p.m. The losers drop into the third place contest at 6:30 p.m. The winners advance to Saturday at 7 p.m. for the state title.

Class 2A Carbondale Super-Sectional

TEUTOPOLIS (18)

B. Niebrugge 0-7 0-0 0, M. Niebrugge 0-4 0-0 0, Althoff 1-2 0-0 2, J. Niebrugge 0-3 2-2 2, Siemer 4-8 4-6 12, Pruemer 1-5 0-0 2, Gaddis 0-2 0-0 0, Roepke 0-1 0-0 0, Buehnerkemper 0-1 0-0 0, Konkel 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 6-36 FG (16.6%) 6-8 FT (75.0%)

NASHVILLE (44)

Hoepker 5-8 6-7 16, Turner 3-8 1-2 8, Schoenherr 0-1 0-1 0, Heggemeier 2-5 0-0 5, Gajewski 4-6 5-8 13, Hammer 0-1 0-0 0, Robinson 0-0 2-2 2, Knepp 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 14-30 FG (46.6%) 14-20 FT (70.0%)

Teutopolis             0      7      1      10    --    18

Nashville             10      6    13      15    --    44

3-point FG -- Teutopolis 0, Nashville 2 (Turner 1, Heggemeier 1).

The Teutopolis student section gets ready to cheer its team on during super-sectional action. Greg Sapp photo