Wooden Shoes Claim Own Class 2A Girls Regional Title

TEUTOPOLIS -- It was a hot time in the old town Thursday evening as Teutopolis High School captured its own Class 2A Girls Basketball Regional championship by beating Lawrenceville 76-65.

It was especially warm in the opening quarter when Jamie Sandschafer was absolutely unstoppable and got the Shoes off to a 31-13 lead. The 5-foot-10 senior couldn't miss, nailing her first three baskets, which were three-pointers, before connecting on two free throws and then putting in a regular basket and another three-pointer.

She scored 16 points in that period and the Shoes were on fire going 10 of 11 from the field and five of six from the free throw line. At one time in the period, T-town held a 21 point lead.

"We were laughing on the bench and I was saying we just need to run the Jamie offense," said T-town Coach Laurie Thompson. "All the girls just came out ready to play."

The Shoes quieted down in the second period but Sandschafer continued to add to her point total and had 22 by halftime. The Shoes held a 42-30 lead.

But, if the folks in the gym thought the game was over, Lawrenceville had other ideas. The Indians came out in the third quarter and began to turn up the heat. With a whopping 11 turnovers in the first quarter and 15 by halftime, Lawrenceville knocked that down to only four in the third period and began to find the range from the field.

Lawrenceville went on a six point run and pulled the score within six points at the 5:48 mark. Morgan Parrish hit a shot before 6-foot-2 Brianna Mefford connected. Then it was Bailey Dining who put in the basket that brought the score within six.

That's when Shelby Thompson nailed two huge three-point baskets and the Shoes pushed back into the safety zone with a 50-38 lead.

"That was a big possession," said Coach Thompson. "Shelby hit those two threes in a row."

From there, T-town connected on free throws as Sadie Bueker nailed four and Raegan Drees put in two. The Shoes held a 60-47 lead going into the final period. T-town then hit 10 of 13 from the free throw line in the final quarter. Lawrenceville did outscore the Shoes 18-16 but couldn't get any closer than 10 points.

Sandschafer finished with 28 points while Thompson added 19 and Sadie Bueker 13. Raegan Drees was on the brink of double figures with nine.

Lawrenceville was led by Parrish with 19 points while Mefford had 18 points and 13 rebounds. Jayley Akers finished with 11 and Alicia Wimberly added 10. The Indians end the season with an 18-12 record.

"It was a team effort for sure for us tonight," said Thompson. "Hopefully we'll keep doing that. We have to tighten up our defense. We'll be ready to go next week."

The Shoes (26-5) will take on Tuscola at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Newton Sectional. Tuscola defeated Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond 45-43 to win the Sullivan Regional. The opening game Monday will feature Newton against Marshall at 6 p.m. Newton defeated Mount Carmel 53-48 to win the Fairfield Regional while Marshall beat Casey-Westfield 76-35 to win its own regional.

Advancing in the three-point competition were T-town's Raegan Drees and Sadie Bueker, Vandalia's Anna Miller and Flora's Kelsey Krutsinger.

Class 2A Teutopolis Regional

Championship

LAWRENCEVILLE (65)

Mefford 8-11 2-2 18, Parrish 7-13 5-7 19, Dining 1-3 0-0 2, Farrell 1-2 0-0 2, Wagner 0-0 -- 0, Wimberly 4-9 1-4 10,  Akers 5-9 0-1 11, Organ 1-2 0-0 3. TOTALS 27-49 FG, 8-14 FT.

TEUTOPOLIS (76)

Drees 1-4 7-9 9, Thompson 5-9 5-7 19, S. Bueker 4-6 4-4 13, Sandschafer 9-13 6-6 28, J. Bueker 2-7 3-5 7, Hemmen 0-0 0-0 0, Niemerg 0-0 0-0 0, Michels 0-0 0-0 0, Bushur 0-0 0-0 0, Mette 0-0 0-0 0, Grimes 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 21-40 FG, 25-31 FT.

Lawrenceville           13    17    17    18    --    65

Teutopolis                31    11    18    16    --    76

3-point FG -- Lawrenceville 3-8 (Wimberly 1-2, Akers 1-2, Organ 1-2), Teutopolis 9-13 (Thompson 4-5, Sandschafer 4-5, S. Bueker 1-2). Turnovers -- Lawrenceville 25, Teutopolis 22. Rebounds -- Lawrenceville 21 (Mefford 13, Parrish 5), Teutopolis 19 (J. Bueker 8).