GREENVILLE 2A SECTIONAL
Talent laden group to battle @ Greenville Sectional
Teutopolis, Breese Central, Robinson and Roxana all sport shiny records

02-28-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
GREENVILLE
– Unlike some of the sectionals in the state, the Greenville 2A event has three teams that are very familiar with each other despite being spread out over the southern part of Illinois.

Teutopolis, Robinson and Breese Central have all crossed paths this season with varying results.

The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes split a pair of games with the Cougars, losing at home in December and then winning a semifinal game at the Nashville Invitational Tournament on their way to the championship win over Waterloo Gibault.

Central, during a Thanksgiving tournament at Effingham St. Anthony, lost to Robinson as the Maroons eventually took home the championship.

Teutopolis handed Robinson a 59-53 loss back on December 15th.

The Wooden Shoes are playing the best basketball (as are the other three teams) and much of its success has been triggered by a departure from the National Trail Conference to becoming an independent this season for the first time.

A tougher slate of high-caliber teams has strengthened the resolve of a program on the rise even higher than it was.

In the past two seasons, the Shoes got all the way to the Springfield Supersectional only to meet heartbreak with losses to Pittsfield and Normal University High.

But this is a new postseason, one that Teutopolis has relished with easy wins over Greenville and Vandalia to nab the title at Hillsboro and now have their sights on winning its third straight sectional.

Coach Andy Fehrenbacher has his club in a good slot thanks to another defensive minded club that is stingy with points and open shots.

The Wooden Shoes have scored 60 points a night while surrendering just 41.

Teutopolis is sitting at 26-3 with some good wins over Central, Gibault, Madison, Effingham and the list goes on.

Mount Vernon, Mattoon, Alton and Charleston are 3A teams they have handled this season.

The losses are to Central, Jerseyville and Highland.

Guard Derek Smith, a 6-foot-2 senior guard and playmaker, tops the Shoes with 14.3 points a night.

Inside 6-foot-6 senior center Kyle Prumer is adding 11.5 points and 7.4 rebounds for T-Town.

Other contributors are Devin Falbe, a 5-foot-11 senior guard (9.2 p.p.g.) and 6-foot-3 senior guard Jared Waldhoff (6.4 p.p.g.) along with Reed Hardiek (5.7 p.p.g.).

They have good size with senior Rourke Schultz, a 6-foot-3 forward, and freshman Brett Mette, a 6-foot-3 forward.

Roxana, with head coach Mark Briggs, finally got that regional title.

The Shells haven't won a title of this sort since 1999-2000 but put things together late in the season, handling South Central Conference foe Staunton on the Bulldogs home floor, 45-31 last Friday night to snare the crown.

Six-foot-nine senior center Hunter Reine has been as good as any big man in the state in 2A and his numbers prove that out.

Try these numbers on for size?

Reine is averaging 18.6 points and a whopping 13.3 rebounds a game for the 24-7 Shells, who won the SCC this season and beat 1A powerhouse Waterloo Gibault to win the Metro-East Lutheran Thanksgiving Tournament back in November and split a pair of games with Alton Marquette.

Matt Harnett, a 6-foot-4 senior forward, is second in the ranks behind Reine with 12-points a night while Charlie Sheets adds 10.3 p.p.g.

Jordan Briggs, a 6-foot-1 senior guard and coaches' son, has taken on the role of point-guard very well, tossing in 6.9 points and handing out assists at 3.7 a contest.

Five-foot-eleven Jordan Brown is averaging 4.5 points heading into the battle with Teutopolis on Tuesday night.

Breese Central turned the tables on their Clinton County and Cahokia Conference rivals from Carlyle, winning its own regional title, 54-39 on Friday night.

Coach Stan Eagleson picked up his 600th win of his career earlier in the season and his Cougars struggled offensively this season but appear to have things going in the right direction after snagging yet another regional title for this coach and program that has been as successful as any in the Deep South in the past decade.

Kyler Scheer is a 6-foot-6 senior forward, who is leading the Cougars with 11.2 points a game while getting to 5.7 rebounds.

Six-foot-three senior Austin Rickhoff (10.4 points) and Jacob Timmermann, a 6-foot junior guard (10.3 p.p.g.) are part of an improved offense from the one that struggled early in the year.

Five-foot-eleven senior Justin Becker is another of the vets off of last season's state-champs (6.6 p.p.g.).

Luis Perez (5.7 p.p.g.) and Luke Jackson (6.4 p.p.g.) each help out with the scoring.

Losing a pair of games to Carlyle in the regular season, Central got revenge and finds itself back in the chase for another trip to Carver Arena and a fifth consecutive supersectional berth.

Robinson might have the most talented player in the entire sectional with 5-foot-11 senior guard Aaron Siler.

He has helped lead Robinson to a 25-4 mark, including the title of the Little Illini Conference regular season and the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament.

Siler scored 30-points in a 68-46 win over Newton to win the Newton Regional on Friday night.

Five-foot-nine senior Cory Blount has also played well in the backcourt for Robinson.

Six-foot-five junior forward Michael Akande and 6-foot-4 senior forward Derrick Nicholas give the Maroons some muscle inside.

ABV Projected Champion – Teutopolis.