Teutopolis Boys Headed To Class 2A SIUC Super-Sectional

BY DUSTIN WHITE

SHELBYVILLE -- Deep postseason runs are often built on role players turning into superheroes, and after Friday night Zac Niebrugge might just consider adding a navy and old gold cape to his wardrobe.

The Teutopolis High School senior drilled a corner three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining in overtime to bust a 55-55 tie with St. Joseph-Ogden, putting the Wooden Shoes ahead for good in a 61-55 victory to claim championship hardware at the Class 2A Shelbyville boys basketball sectional.

In a game heard on 979 XFM, T-town led 16-13 after a back-and-forth first quarter that made it apparent the contest was destined to come down to the wire. Indeed it did as the Shoes went into halftime ahead 25-21 and still headed the Spartans 42-40 entering the final period of regulation.

SJO never fell more than six points off the pace and even took a brief lead with five straight tallies to open the fourth quarter, but Teutopolis absorbed that blow and traded punches with the Spartans for the remainder of the period as regulation concluded in a 50-50 deadlock.

In OT, Niebrugge and Mitch Koester came up clutch. Koester got the extra four minutes started with a step-back triple and later drove the baseline and dished to Niebrugge to set him up for his heroic trey from the corner. Not only did Niebrugge hit that three, but earlier he picked a Spartan’s pocket and turned the steal into a layup as he racked up five of his season-high 11 points during overtime.

Koester was 4-for-7 from long range for the night, leading T-town with 14 points in all. Tyler Pruemer racked up 8 of his 13 in the first half but made a couple huge scoring plays of his own after halftime, while Joey Niebrugge stuffed the stat sheet with 9 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and two charges taken. He also added some more big free throws to his postseason resume, hitting three of four at the line late in overtime to put the triumph on ice.

The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for SJO and ended its season at 27-7; the Spartans also fell to Teutopolis on Jan. 9 at J.H. Griffin Gymnasium by a 53-40 final.
Teutopolis, the defending third place finisher in Class 2A, improved to 24-10 and punched its third straight ticket to super-sectional play; in his sixth season helming the Wooden Shoes program, head coach Chet Reeder will coach in his fourth super Monday against Benton at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m.

Benton upset Breese Central, widely regarded as the best team in the state, by a 34-32 final in its own sectional championship. The Rangers, though, were a No. 1 seed themselves and ranked fifth in the final Associated Press poll; SJO was the leading vote-getter not to crack the top 10 in that poll, while T-town garnered no votes.

CLASS 2A SHELBYVILLE SECTIONAL

CHAMPIONSHIP

OVERTIME

ST. JOSEPH-OGDEN (55)

Jacob 3-7 0-0 — 8, Taylor 4-11 0-0 — 11, Smith 3-7 4-8 — 11, Landrus 5-13 2-4 — 13, Siems 4-9 4-6 — 12, Lockhart 0-0 0-0 — 0, Tomen 0-1 0-0 — 0. TOTALS 19-48 FG 10-18 FT.

TEUTOPOLIS (61)

Gaddis 2-11 4-4 — 8, Kremer 1-3 0-0 — 2, J. Niebrugge 2-7 5-8 — 9, Koester 5-11 0-0 — 14, Pruimer 5-8 3-3 — 13, Z. Niebrugge 4-6 0-0 — 11, Hoene 1-1 0-0 — 2, Bloemer 1-2 0-2 — 2, Lawson 0-0 0-0 — 0. TOTALS 21-49 FG 12-17 FT.

SJO                 13    8    19    10    5    --    55

Teutopolis      16    9    17      8    11    --    61

3-Point FG — St. Joseph-Ogden 7-18 (Jacob 2-5, Taylor 3-7, Smith 1-1, Landrus 1-3, Seims 0-1, Thomey 0-1), Teutopolis 7-17 (Gaddis 0-3, J. Niebrugge 0-2, Koester 4-8, Z. Niebrugge 3-4).