CHARLESTON — One week removed from a streak ending, a new one began.
En route to a tournament win at the Coles County Girls Holiday Basketball Tournament last week, the Teutopolis Lady Shoes defeated the St. Anthony Bulldogs, one week after losing to the same team at the Enlow Center. T-Town beat St. Anthony to advance to the championship game of the tournament, 50-35.
Long-time head coach Laurie Thompson was pleased with her team’s effort on the defensive end of the court.
“Defensively, I thought we did a very good job. They followed our game plan as I wanted and I thought our overall team defense was excellent,” Thompson said. “Our bunnies fell and I thought we had better shot selection. For the most part, shots went in and when they go in, it becomes contagious.”
The Lady Shoes led 13-5 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulldogs opened the frame with a three-pointer by junior Nancy Ruholl. T-Town answered with a three-pointer by senior Mollie Ruholl with 5:17 left.
Nancy Ruholl then came up with a steal and converted a layup, making it 5-4.
Another three-pointer from Mollie Ruholl pushed the Lady Shoes back in front, 7-5, with 3:29 left.
Senior Chloe Probst then made a layup with 1:25 remaining and sophomore Jersey Gaddis came up with a steal and drew a foul on Nancy Ruholl with 28.1 seconds left, sending her to the free-throw line. She made both foul shots, equaling the score after the stanza.
St. Anthony sophomore Addie Lauritzen opened the second period with a layup to cut the margin to six points. Senior Adysen Rios made a layup after driving to the basket from the baseline to cut the lead to four.
Mollie Ruholl then made a putback shot with 4:56 left, pushing the lead back to five points.
Nancy Ruholl followed with a layup, cutting the lead to three points, 15-12. She later made a three-pointer, making it a two-point contest with 2:23 left in the half.
Senior Kallie Kabbes then made a layup to make it a two-point game, 19-17, but the Lady Shoes scored the last five points to head into the break ahead 24-17.
T-Town outscored the Bulldogs 26-18 in the second half.
Thompson said they changed the defense up during the intermission.
“First half, we went straight up man-to-man. In the second half, we decided to face-guard [Nancy] Ruholl,” Thompson said. “I put Mollie on her a little bit. Anna [Probst] was on her for a little bit. Kelsey [Niemerg] was on her for a little bit. We stayed in our man-to-man press the entire time. I didn’t change to our zone press. That was our other key; we stayed in it.”
“They made good adjustments from the last time we played them,” St. Anthony head coach Aaron Rios added. “They made it pretty difficult for us tonight, but we made it difficult on ourselves as well.”
Niemerg was one such player who made it difficult.
She finished with a team-best 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting. Niemerg added six rebounds and three steals.
“She’s wirey, athletic and can get to the basket,” Thompson said. “She just has to believe she can and tonight she believed.”
Chloe Probst finished with 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting and four rebounds. Mollie Ruholl had nine points on 3-of-5 shooting, four rebounds and one steal.
Gaddis had eight points on 1-11 shooting, one rebound and one steal.
Though Thompson knew Gaddis could score, she looked to her to be more of a defender coming in.
“That’s what we wanted her to be — a defender. But she also has a nose for getting to the hoop,” Thompson said. “A couple of times, I was like, ‘Jersey, you’re going up against three kids that are six inches taller, so maybe kick it.’ She started to recognize that and that’s part of her journey to become a better ball player.
“I needed Jersey in there.”
Junior Malea Helmink had five points on 2-of-5 shooting and 13 rebounds. Eva Mette had four points on 2-of-2 shooting and two rebounds and Anna Probst had two points on 1-of-8 shooting and two rebounds.
Thompson said she was happy with how her team responded.
“Sometimes, a loss can make your team respond in different ways and I thought it made us respond the right way,” she said. “They were driven, more focused and that’s the mentality they need to come into every game with.”
The Bulldogs were led by Nancy Ruholl’s 19 points. Senior Addi Nuxoll had six. Junior Lilly Gannaway and Adysen Rios each had three and Lauritzen and Kabbes each had two.
T-Town enters January at 14-2.
The Lady Shoes also beat Galesburg, 57-41, Marion, 56-55, and Champaign (Central), 65-26, in the tournament. The win over the Silver Streaks was for the championship.
Chloe Probst had 59 points on 18-of-47 shooting, 16 rebounds, four steals and one blocked shot over those three games. Mollie Ruholl had 23 points on 8-of-25 shooting, 11 rebounds, four steals and one assist. Anna Probst had 20 points on 6-of-22 shooting, 10 rebounds and two steals. Niemerg had 28 points on 12-of-32 shooting, nine rebounds, 10 steals and three assists. Helmink had 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting, 28 rebounds, three steals, four assists, two blocked shots and two charges. Allie Ruholl shot 0-of-5 from the floor and had one rebound and three steals. Sophia Martin had one point on 0-of-5 shooting, two rebounds and three steals. Mette had two points on 1-of-1 shooting and three rebounds. Gaddis had eight points on 2-of-15 shooting, five rebounds, one steal and one assist. Gabby Tegeler had two points on 1-of-3 shooting and two rebounds. Sophia Cremens shot 0-of-1 from the floor. Kailyn Gaddis had two points on 1-of-1 shooting and one rebound and Brooklyn Will had two points on 0-of-1 shooting.
St. Anthony enters January at 13-3 and 4-0 in the National Trail Conference. The Bulldogs defeated Charleston, 59-19, Effingham, 47-38, and Mahomet-Seymour, 52-25.
Over those three games, Gannaway had 13 points. Adysen Rios had 31. Aubrey Denning had two. Nancy Ruholl had 70. Nuxoll had 16. Alisyn Kollmann had four and Lauritzen had 22.
The Effingham Flaming Hearts head into January at 14-3 and 4-0 in the Apollo Conference. EHS went 3-1 in the tournament, defeating Charleston, 73-14, Marion, 54-34, and Sullivan, 67-39.
Alyssa Martin finished the tournament with 61 points. Tessa Raddatz had 11. Averie Wolfe had 39. Bria Beals had 35. Saige Althoff had 15. Sidney Donaldson had 30. Bella Austin had 22. Hannah Thompson had two. Mya Harvey had seven and McKenzie Love and Melia Wendling each had six.