Wooden Shoes Down Bulldogs on Emotional Night in TTown, Friday Scores

On a night filled with emotion, the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes defeated the St. Anthony Bulldogs 63-45 in boys high school basketball action.

The game was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com including live video and audio streaming. Copies of the game are up on social media, but the final edited copies will be available this week.

As to the emotion, it was Senior Night for the Wooden Shoes as Brant Bueker, Brock Bueker, Mitch Hardiek, Lane Belleville, Blake Mette and Lucas Deters played their final game at J.H. Griffin Gym.

Add to that the confirmation that senior Chris Ungrund didn't get to play as his high school career has come to an end due to a broken bone and a fractured bone in his back.

Add to that the ability of Lucas Deters' father, Ronnie, to be present for the game during his fight with lingering illness. Lucas was the final senior to be introduced during the Senior Night ceremony and when his father joined Chris' mother for Chris' introduction, a standing ovation followed and tears flowed freely.

The final bit of drama was when Mitch Hardiek scored the last of his 15 points in the game, which gave him exactly 1,000 points for his career.

And we haven't even talked about the ballgame.

Teutopolis stormed out of the gate Friday night, outscoring St. Anthony 16-4 in the first quarter and 29-8 in the first half. Teutopolis Coach Jason Hanson said it was the best half of defense he's seen his team play this season.

St. Anthony didn't quit, though, hitting five threes in the third quarter and outscoring the Wooden Shoes 22-14 in the period to pull within 43-30. 

Teutopolis regrouped, however, and outscored the Bulldogs 20-15 in the fourth quarter to win the game by 18 points.

Teutopolis shot 51% from the field on the night, 22 of 43, including 11 of 18 in the second half. The Shoes were 7 of 13 on threes, made 12 of 16 foul shots, committed just eight turnovers, and grabbed 27 rebounds.

St. Anthony shot 36% from the field, 15 of 42, including 8 of 16 threes. The Bulldogs made 7 of 10 foul shots, turned the ball over 14 times, and pulled down 24 rebounds.

Brant Bueker led Teutopolis with 24 points, hitting 8 of 15 shots and making five threes. Mitch Hardiek's 15 points was on 6 of 12 shooting including two threes. Also for the Shoes: Lane Belleville 9, Blake Mette 6, Brock Bueker 4, Lee Hardiek 2, Lucas Deters 2, and Landon Jansen 1.

Drew Gibson led St. Anthony with 14 points. Also for the Bulldogs: Alex Beesley 9, Alex Deters 8, Cade Walsh 6, Adam Levitt 4, Jack Nuxoll 3, and Wyatt Lawrence 1.

Teutopolis improved to 22-3 on the season, while St. Anthony is now 21-3 on the campaign with their second loss this week.

St. Anthony came from behind to win the JV game 59-53, a rarity for any team to accomplish at J.H. Griffin Gym. For the St. Anthony JV: Wyatt Lawrence 20 and Luke Ludwig 17. For the Teutopolis JV: Dawson Smith 16 and Lee Hardiek 16.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Marshall 57, Newton 42

Vandalia 51, Staunton 33

St. Teresa 44, Shelbyville 41

Mt. Zion 73, Taylorville 56

Salem 71, Charleston 56

Flora 59, Casey-Westfield 45

Robinson 72, Paris 58

Pana 59, Gillespie 39

Woodlawn 63, Cisne 59

Olney 65, Lawrenceville 57