Wooden Shoes Win Barn Burner Over Sages In Overtime

That’s because the senior guard hit the shot of his life in the fourth quarter Tuesday night at Unity High School, beating the buzzer with a game-tying putback bucket to get his Wooden Shoes to overtime in an eventual 53-46 sectional semifinal victory over Monticello.

The game was heard on KJ Country 102.3.

T-town (23-10) advances to Friday night’s sectional championship against either Lawrenceville or Warrensburg-Latham; those two square off in a semifinal of their own this evening.

The Addis equalizer was a breathtaking cap to a wild sequence as regulation expired in Tolono during which T-town missed and rebounded three shots before he knocked down his last-ditch attempt from the right side of the lane to knot the contest at 42 points apiece.

Alex Kremer got the Shoes out in front during overtime as they won the toss and found him cutting to the rim for a layup, setting up a final four minutes during which they never trailed but also could’ve led by more with some better free throw shooting. 

In fact, the seven-point margin of victory was T-town’s largest edge all night after falling behind by as many as eight in the first quarter, never leading during a first half that ultimately went to the locker room in a 22-all deadlock, and never carving out more than a three-point advantage during regulation.

Addis, who also drilled a big three-pointer earlier in the fourth quarter, finished up the night with a team-high 10 points, sharing that total with Mick Niebrugge. Niebrugge also hauled down a dozen rebounds; he and Drew Hoene -- who checked in at nine points -- snagged several crucial offensive rebounds during the extra frame.

Monticello (18-14) had its chances but was dreadful from the free throw line down the stretch, missing 7 of 10 attempts during the fourth quarter and overtime. It was the Sages’ second loss to T-town this year as they also met up Jan. 8 in Piatt County for what turned out to be a 41-37 triumph for the visitors.

Tyler Blythe led Monticello with 10 points, including a triple that got the team back within 48-46 during overtime after the Shoes were the clear aggressor to begin the additional time. The Sages also got 10 from Matthias Rudolph off the bench.

Now the Shoes wait to see who they’ll face at 7 p.m. Friday with a trip to Monday’s Carbondale Super-Sectional on the line. It’ll be a chance for redemption either way; Lawrenceville handed them a 52-39 loss in the second game of the day at the season-opening Lawrence County Capital Classic, while a Jan. 18 home date with Warrensburg-Latham went the visiting team’s way by a 47-40 final.

When T-town plays that sectional championship, it’ll be gunning for the 17th in school history and the fifth in Coach Chet Reeder’s seventh year at the helm (including the 2020-21 COVID season with no IHSA postseason play). This is the 15th straight sectional appearance for Teutopolis.

At Unity High School, Tolono

Class 2A Unity Sectional Semifinal

Overtime

MONTICELLO (46)

Foran 0-2 — 2, Young 3-1 — 7, Buehnerkemper 3-1 — 8, Blythe 4-0 — 10, Grant 4-0 — 9, Motsegood 0-0 — 0, Rudolph 4-1 — 10, High 0-0 — 0. TOTALS 18-for-35 FG, 5-for-12 FT.

TEUTOPOLIS (53)

Kremer 2-2 — 6, Thompson 1-2 — 5, Niebrugge 3-4 — 10, Addis 4-0 — 10, Hoene 3-3 — 9, B. Thoele 2-0 — 5, Kreke 0-0 — 0, McWhorter 1-0 — 3, L. Thoele 2-0 — 5. TOTALS 18-for-50 FG, 11-for-26 FT.

Monticello 12 10  9 11  4 — 46

Teutopolis  8 14 10 10 11 — 53

3-Point FG — Monticello 5-for-17 (Buehnerkemper 1, Blythe 2, Grant 1, Rudolph 1), Teutopolis 6-for-21 (Thompson 1, Addis 2, B. Thoele 1, McWhorter 1, L. Thoele 1). Rebounds — Monticello 23 (Buehnerkemper 9, Young 7), Teutopolis 25 (Niebrugge 12, Hoene 5). Turnovers — Monticello 16, Teutopolis 7. Fouled Out — Monticello 1 (Buehnerkemper), Teutopolis 1 (B. Thoele).