T-town Wins Sectional, St. A Falls In Hard-Fought Title Game

Sectional champion Teutopolis will head on to the super-sectional Monday against Bloomington Central Catholic.

PANA -- In a low-scoring contest, Teutopolis High School claimed a 38-22 win over Tuscola to clinch the Class 2A Pana Sectional girls basketball championship Thursday evening.

The Wooden Shoes' offense wasn't clicking on all cylinders but their defense was, holding the Warriors to only 22 points. T-town edged out to an 8-5 opening quarter lead and a 19-13 halftime tally. Tuscola continued to remain close, trailing 27-20 going into the final quarter.

But the Shoes dominated in defense, especially in the final period, holding Tuscola to only two points while putting together 11 for the final tally.

Only one player hit double digits for the Shoes, Jamie Sandschafer put together 11 points, nine coming in the second half. Shelby Thompson chipped in with nine, all on three trifectas, while Anna Hartke had eight in even scoring.

Hartke led the Shoes in rebounds with eight while Thompson added five. Hartke, Molly Smith and Thompson had two steals each.

This was the third sectional championship in the last four years for the Shoes. T-town now advances to face Bloomington Central Catholic Monday at the Champaign Super-Sectional at Parkland College in a 7 p.m. contest. Bloomington Central Catholic beat Gilman Iroquois 63-50 to win the Monticello Sectional.

The Shoes beat Bloomington Central Catholic back February 5, 55-39.

At Pana

TEUTOPOLIS (38)

Smith 2-1 -- 6, Repking 2-0 -- 4, Drees 0-0 -- 0, Hartke 4-0 -- 8, Thompson 3-0 -- 9, Sandschafer 4-3 -- 11. TOTALS 15 FG, 4 FT.

TUSCOLA (22)

Bates 1-2 -- 4, Clark 0-0 -- 0, Koester 0-0 -- 0, Meinhold 0-0 -- 0, Kauffman 2-0 -- 4, Henderson 0-0 -- 0, Hale 0-0 -- 0, McCrory 3-2 -- 11, Stewart 0-0 -- 0, Russo 1-1 -- 3. TOTALS 7 FG, 5 FT.

Teutopolis            8    11    8    11     --     38

Tuscola                 5      8    7      2      --    22

3-point FG -- Teutopolis 4 (Thompson 3, Smith 1), Tuscola 3 (McCrory 3).

Class 1A Nokomis Sectional

The Moweaqua Central A&M players were tired after the game because Effingham St. Anthony gave it all they had before succumbing to the Raiders, 54-31 in the championship game of the Class 1A Nokomis Sectional Thursday evening.

The Raiders' Ryan Dooley was the catalyst for the evening, scoring 23 points and connecting on a huge three-pointer at the end of the third quarter that took the wind out of St. Anthony's sails.

"Dooley's shot was huge and we couldn't recover," said St. Anthony Coach Bart Wiedman.

St. Anthony trailed by only a point after the opening quarter and by two at halftime, 20-18. The Bulldogs pressure forced A&M from getting on a roll and the Raiders couldn't seem to find the range.

The Bulldogs led 18-14 with over three minutes remaining in the second period. But the Raiders rallied to lead 20-18 at halftime. St. Anthony held Dooley to only two baskets, both coming in the opening quarter.

But in the second half, the Raiders began to get on track offensively. Dooley connected on a basket that pushed Central A&M's lead to eight. A jumper by Abigail Hilton and another Dooley layup came right before the back-breaking three-pointer. Central A&M's lead went to 42-28.

The Raiders tallied a 12-3 final quarter for the 23 point lead. Dooley finished with 23 points, 13 coming in the third period, while Maples tallied 12. A&M connected on 18 of 41 shots for 44 percent and was 15 of 21 at the free throw line. The Raiders turned over the ball 11 times and had 26 rebounds.

St. Anthony did not have a player in double figures. Abby Weis led with nine points. St. Anthony hit only 26 percent of its shots with 11 of 42. The Bulldogs made just six of 13 foul shots, had 19 turnovers and 24 rebounds.

"Great job by all six seniors this year," said Coach Wiedman. "They will be missed."

St. Anthony finished its best-ever campaign with a 21-12 mark, matching its highest season win total, its third consecutive regional championship, and its first-ever berth in a sectional championship game.

Central A&M is now 30-1 this season. The Raiders advance to the Springfield (UIS) Super-Sectional against Brimfield who won its own sectional by downing Liberty 53-44.

Altamont's Keidron Duckwitz advances to the state finals in the Country Financial Three-Point Competition.

At Nokomis

ST. ANTHONY (31)

Burton 0-1 -- 1, Schmidt 1-3 -- 5, M. Richards 0-0 -- 0, Weis 4-0 -- 9, McDevitt 1-0 -- 3, Brown 2-0 -- 4, Horn 0-0 -- 0, Clausius 0-0 -- 0, McGuire 0-0 -- 0, Schuette 1-1 -- 4, E. Richards 2-0 -- 4, Niebrugge 0-1 -- 1, Saba 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 11 FG, 6 FT.

CENTRAL A&M (54)

Dooley 8-5 -- 23, Collins 0-0 -- 0, Sams 1-0 -- 2, Schinzler 0-0 -- 0, Meyer 2-4 -- 9, Jordan 0-1 -- 1, Maples 4-4 -- 12, Dailey 0-0 -- 0, Cole 0-0 -- 0, Hilton 3-1 -- 7. TOTALS 18 FG, 15  FT.

St. Anthony              12    6    10      3    --    31

Central A&M            13    7    20    14    --    54

3-point FG -- St. Anthony 3 (Weis 1, McDevitt 1, Schuette 1), Central A&M 3 (Dooley 2, Meyer 1).

Class 3A Regional

Bethalto Civic Memorial handed Salem a 63-54 loss to win the Class 3A Salem Regional.