SHELBYVILLE, Ill. — March is made for madness and those one shining moments.
Teutopolis had just that on the first day of the month, defeating St. Joseph-Ogden 61-55 in overtime at Shelbyville High School to win its third successive sectional championship.
“I learned that they continue to trust each other and trust that the next guy is going to make a play and give them the opportunity to make a play,” Shoes head coach Chet Reeder said. “Resiliency; we turned it over seven times in the first half; gave up six offensive rebounds, but we still had a lead.”
“We persevere,” senior guard Mitch Koester added. “We were saying in the huddle, ‘This is our game.’ We’ve been in these situations, and we just battle.”
Senior guard Zac Niebrugge provided the game-clinching shot, knocking down a 3-pointer from the right corner after a Koester assist.
“I’m happy for him,” said Reeder of Niebrugge. “He has struggled in these moments, but he caught that ball and shot it with no hesitation.”
Koester beat his man off the dribble, got a couple of steps away from the left block, and hit Niebrugge with a one-handed pass before the attempt went through the nylon.
“I was ready, I was ready for any shot we set up,” Niebrugge said. “Everybody’s got to be ready to make the big play, and we all trusted in each other.”
“I was trying to make a play,” Koester added. “There wasn’t much time left on the clock, so I had to go to my right hand. They cut off my floater, so I took one extra step, and I had confidence in Zac.”
Niebrugge had five points in the overtime period. He also made a layup with 2:04 left that made it 55-52. Koester hit a 3-pointer to start the frame with 3:29 to go.
The Spartans tied the game at 55-55 after senior guard Tanner Jacob made a 3-pointer.
St. Joseph-Ogden started the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 45-42 lead.
Back-to-back layups from senior forward Joey Niebrugge and junior guard Alex Kremer put T-Town ahead 46-45 with 3:41 left.
Both teams then exchanged the lead once again before the Spartans tied the contest at 48-48 after a made free throw.
Joey Niebrugge then drew a charge with 1:55 left.
“That was a big moment,” Reeder said. “Joey slid over, did what we teach, and stuck his nose in there to make a play; put his body on the line to help his team out.”
Senior forward Tyler Pruemer hit a layup to give the Shoes a 50-48 lead before St. Joseph-Ogden tied the game to send it into overtime.
T-Town led 16-13 at the end of the first quarter, 25-21 at halftime, and 42-40 after three quarters of play.
Koester scored his team’s first five points. The Spartans took their first lead, 6-5, after a layup from senior guard Logan Smith.
Pruemer knocked down a pair of free throws, and Joey Niebrugge got his layup to fall, making it 9-6.
Both teams followed with 3-pointers. St. Joseph-Ogden junior forward Tanner Siems then made a layup off a rebound. Each team hit layups after that, and T-Town senior guard Garrett Gaddis ended the period with two free throws to make the score.
The Spartans opened the second frame by making one of their two free throws.
Pruemer made a layup and later made another to make it 20-15 with 5:11 left.
St. Joseph-Ogden cut the lead to four points, 20-16, before another Pruemer layup pushed the margin to six with 3:30 left. The Spartans then went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to one, 22-21.
Joey Niebrugge then hit a free throw, and Gaddis made a floater to end the half.
Gaddis finished with eight points in the game. Joey Niebrugge had nine.
Koester led the team with 14 points, while Pruemer had 13, Zac Niebrugge had 11, and junior Drew Hoene, senior Austin Bloemer, and Kremer had two.
The Shoes now advance to the elite eight, where they will take on Benton on Monday night at the Banterra Center on the campus of Southern Illinois University in the 2A Carbondale Super-Sectionals. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Reeder is making his fourth super-sectional appearance in his six years and is one win away from a second successive trip to the state tournament.