Wooden Shoes Claim 11th Straight Regional Championship w/Dramatic Win

Luke Ungrund knew when to score his only points of the game.

Ungrund hit a layup with seconds remaining to give the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes a 59-58 lead. That lead stood up despite the Pana Panthers shooting and missing a shot for the win, then grabbing a rebound and getting a timeout called, and then missing another shot at the buzzer, and the Shoes had the one-point win. The game was heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com. 

That sequence of plays was pretty typical of the game all night long.

The first quarter was crazy enough. 

The Wooden Shoes scored the first 12 points of the game. After Pana finally scored, the Shoes scored to take a 14-2 lead.

That's when Pana ran off 20...yes, that's right...20 straight points to take a 22-14 lead. It was 17-14 Pana at the end of the first quarter and then Pana scored the first five points of the second quarter.

That, though, is when Teutopolis regrouped and the battle was joined for the rest of the evening.

Pana outscored the Shoes 13-12 in the second period to lead 30-26 at halftime. A 16-14 edge gave the Panthers a 46-40 edge heading to the final quarter.

That's when the Shoes found another gear, outscoring Pana 19-12 in the final period to win by one.

There were several heroes for Teutopolis, but Evan Wermert deserves special mention. The junior scored 27 points on 10 of 18 shooting. Also for the Shoes: Brock Deters 11 points with seven rebounds, Mitch Hardiek 7 points, Matthew Deters 5 points and 5 rebounds, Jordan Hardiek 5 points, and Ungrund and Evan Addis 2 points apiece.

Jonah Lauff and Wesley File each scored 13 points to pace Pana while Bryce Edmiston added 12 and Andrew Ambrose 9. Also for the Panthers: Lane Funneman 6 and Lucas Holthaus 5.

Teutopolis shot 46% from the field, 20 of 44, including 6 of 11 threes. Pana shot 45% on the night, 23 of 54, including 2 of 9 threes. The Shoes were stellar at the foul line, hitting 13 of 15 attempts, while Pana made 10 of 13. Teutopolis turned the ball over 17 times to 14 for Pana, and Pana outrebounded the Shoes 31 to 23.

Teutopolis is now 22-10 on the season, capturing their 11th straight regional championship.

Pana closes its campaign with a 25-7 record.

Teutopolis advances to the Shelbyville 2A Sectional, where they will play Breese Mater Dei, who won the Gillespie Regional, defeating arch-rival Breese Central 61-53. Game time will be 7pm Wednesday and you can hear the game on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com. Also advancing to the Shelbyville Sectional were Marshall, who beat Salem 57-43 for the Flora Regional championship, and Alton Marquette, who beat Roxana 35-25 to win the Roxana Regional title. Marshall will play Alton Marquette on Tuesday at 7pm.

Teutopolis Athletic Director Laurie Thompson said tickets for Wednesday's game will be sold on Monday. Players and cheerleaders can purchase their tickets at 8:15am Monday in the high school office. Information on sales of tickets to others will be available on the school district website and on social media today.