01-31-09
BY JACK BULLOCK
ALTAMONT - When St. Anthony and Teutopolis hook up on a basketball floor – it is always a special contest.

And usually in the history of this rivalry someone steps up and makes a difference late in the game to make a winner out of one of the teams.

On Saturday night in the title game of the National Trail Conference Tournament – St. Anthony’s sophomore guard James Jansen stepped forward and delivered the victory for the Bulldogs, 39-38 in front of a packed house at Altamont.

The 5-foot-8 guard scored nine points in the final quarter and made two key steals to propel Coach Matt Britton to back-to-back tournament titles for himself and the 20th title for the school in the 74 year history of this tourney.

In a contest dominated by defense – Jansen hit the big shots at the right time to improve St. A to 18-3 on the season.

After a pretty good first half of shooting – Coach Andy Fehrenbacher’s Wooden Shoes were just 6-of-20 from the field in the last 16 minutes.

T-Town finished 15-of-38 overall and committed 12 costly turnovers – four of which happened in the final quarter courtesy of Jansen’s heroics.

“He (Jansen) is a sophomore but his teammates say he is “Cold-Blooded” because the pressure doesn’t rattle him at all,” said Coach Britton. “He made some big plays for us tonight. When we were getting a bit desperate offensively late in the game he (Jansen) made a big play for us. We hung our hats on the defensive end tonight and we turned the ball over more than we usually do but that is because T-Town contested everything tonight.”

St. Anthony shot the ball a bit better than its opponent – hitting 18-of-39 from the floor.

The Bulldogs hit just 2-of-7 from the 3-point line but the last one was perhaps the most important shot of the title game.

Jansen nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner with 5:03 to go to give St. Anthony its first lead of the contest at 35-34.

In fact Jansen scored the Dawgs final six points of the game.

After Zerrusen gave T-Town back the lead with a score on an inbounds play – Jansen followed with a fast break score and a drive that resulted in a pull-up jumper on the left baseline to put St. A up for good with 1:23 left.

In the final minute – Jansen came up big defensively.

He stole and inbounds pass underneath the Teutopolis basket and two possessions later – with the Wooden Shoes needing a basket – Jansen picked Zerrusen’s pocket as the T-Town guard was heading to the baseline.

Jansen was subsequently fouled with :03.7 remaining.

After he missed the free throw – Teutopolis rebounded and called time out to set up a final play.

The Shoes got the ball into Jeremy Schumacher in the frontcourt.

Schumacher launched a shot as the time ticked down. Brian Haskenherm grabbed the rebound and his desperation follow up bounced off the backboard as the horn went off.

“We had too many guys standing around waiting on Tony (Zerrusen) to make a big shot,” said a disappointed Coach Fehrenbacher. “Our offense was completely non-existent tonight. We have to do a better job in executing our offense. We just can’t come out and freelance like we did tonight. We have gotten by with it the last couple of weeks but it is my fault. I have to get us better prepared.”

Teutopolis got off to a good start with a John Runde and Schumacher both hitting shots as the Wooden Shoes led by five early.

Schumacher drove to the basket for a lay in while being fouled by Taylor Worman.

His conventional three-point play made it 9-4 Shoes with 3:02 remaining.

Derek Rolfing hit a couple of shots for St. Anthony to finish off the quarter.

A baseline jumper and a back door lay in on a pass from John Steppe cut the Wooden Shoes lead to 13-10 at the end of one.

Runde scored twice in the second quarter on spin moves in the lane and when his second one found the mark – T-Town was up 21-16.

However St. Anthony – like they did in the first quarter – closed the half strong.

Jansen, Rolfing and Steppe each connected from the field.

With T-Town holding the ball for a final shot in the half – Steppe stole the ball near mid-court and raced to the basket and beat the buzzer with a lay in to cut the Teutopolis halftime lead to 23-22.

“Steppe is a super kid and special player and he hurt us again tonight,” Fehrenbacher added. “They did what they had to do to win the game.”

Steppe kept the Bulldogs close with a couple of late third quarter baskets.

His score with just over a minute remaining on a drive down the right baseline cut the T-Town lead to 32-29 heading into the fourth quarter.

The final frame belonged to Jansen.

Teutopolis had chances to win the game late but couldn’t muster up any offense.

Brock Sandschafer scored on a back door lay in with 2:05 left to give the Shoes its final lead.

T-Town didn’t score another point.

“Usually when you hold a team to 39-points you will come away with a victory,” added Fehrenbacher. “But when your offense does absolutely nothing like ours did tonight it is impossible to win.”

In a low scoring game Jansen led the Bulldogs with 11-points while Steppe added eight.

“He (Jansen) is a special player and for a sophomore to come out on a stage like this and perform the way he did is special,” added Fehrenbacher. “And as a sophomore that means he will be a thorn in our side the next two years as well.”

Zerrusen was the top scorer for Teutopolis – also with 11.

“Both teams played their hearts out tonight and this is what high school basketball is all about,” Britton explained. “It is a great rivalry between good kids and good teams playing hard. There was definitely some defense played tonight.”

St. Anthony (39) – M. Jansen 0 0 0-0 0, Koerner 1 0 0-0 2, J. Jansen 4 1 0-1 11, Rolfing 3 0 0-0 6, Worman 1 1 1-2 6, Steppe 4 0 0-0 8, Baker 1 0 0-0 2, Sudkamp 1 0 0-0 2, Schmitt 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-16, 3FG-2, FT-1-3, PF-11.
Teutopolis (38) – Niebrugge 3 0 2-2 8, Brummer 0 0 0-0 0, Zerrusen 4 0 3-5 11, Thompson 0 0 0-0 0, Haskenherm 1 0 0-0 2, J. Schumacher 2 0 1-1 5, Giles 0 0 0-0 0, Runde 4 0 2-2 10, Sandschafer 1 0 0-0 2, N. Schumacher 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-0, FT-8-10, PF-12.
Fouled Out – Runde - Teutopolis.
Technical Fouls – None.

ALTAMONT 79, STEWARDSON-STRASBURG 67
In a track meet type game in the afternoon – Altamont beat Stew-Stras to the finish line.

Mitch Ruff topped all scorers with 21-points for the Indians who are now 18-3 on the season.

Brian Suckow and Landon Duckwitz added 18 and 14 to the high scoring Tribe.

Stewardson-Strasburg (12-7) fell in the third place game for the second year in a row despite 18-points from Jaden Widdersheim who hit five 3-pointers.

Coach Doug Hill’s Altamont team used a 14-0 run in the second quarter to get separation and held off the Comets in the final 16 minutes.

With Altamont leading 23-20 with 6:17 remaining in the second period – the Indians held S-S without a field goal for nearly four minutes.

Ruff scored six points in the run for Altamont and when the dust settled – the Indians led 37-20.

Stewardson-Strasburg cut the lead down to 75-67 with 1:48 remaining on a rebound basket Josh Talbert.

But Altamont closed the game out with Duckwitz coming up with a key steal and a pair of free throws.

The Comets missed ten shots in the final quarter.

Altamont committed just seven turnovers and Duckwitz added nine assists to his points.

“We just never really got going today,” said Stew-Stras head coach Mike Walker. “When we tried to get on a run we would miss a lay up or turn it over. We failed to convert our open shots. We played a lot better in the second half but our energy level dropped a bit there in the second quarter when they (Altamont) made their run. Give Altamont the credit – we didn’t answer their run.”

He did a good job taking care of the ball today for us and we didn’t have a turnover in the first half,” said Altamont head coach Doug Hill. “We were running around out there like our hair was on fire and we did that without turning it over.”

“Like I said before the game we wanted a track meet – baseline to baseline – and do it with a purpose,” added Hill. “We were solid inside and out today.”

Stewardson-Strasburg (67) – Brandt 0 0 0-0 0, Ballinger 1 1 1-2 6, Rincker 2 2 4-5 14, Widdersheim 0 5 3-4 18, Becker 0 0 0-0 0, Koontz 2 0 0-0 4, Talbert 8 0 3-4 19, Hoene 3 0 0-0 6.
2FG-16, 3FG-8, FT-11-15, PF-14.
Altamont (79) – Duckwitz 3 2 2-2 14, Suckow 6 2 0-0 18, McCarren 1 2 1-2 9, Ruff 8 1 2-2 21, Frailey 2 0 4-4 8, McGinnis 0 0 0-0 0, Kuhns 0 0 0-1 0, Sperry 4 0 1-1 9.
2FG-24, 3FG-7, FT-10-12, PF-14.
Fouled Out – Mc Carren - Altamont.
Technical Fouls – None.

NEOGA 48, BROWNSTOWN 44
The Indians rallied past the Bombers in the consolation title game to open play on Saturday.

Coach Jason Hansen saw his club overcome an early seven-point deficit to post the win.

Austin Robinson paced the Indians with 16 points.

Brownstown was led by Cody Robbins with 11.

Neoga held the Bombers top scorer Jared Winters to just six points - all in the second half.

Brownstown (44) – Sefton 0 0 0-0 0, Kramer 2 1 5-5 12, Rigdon 2 0 2-4 6, Robbins 3 1 2-2 11, Tackett 3 0 3-3 9, Winters 1 1 1-3 6.
2FG-11, 3FG-3, FT-13-17, PF-16.
Neoga (48) – Russell 3 0 0-0 6, Cornell 0 0 0-0 0, Boarman 1 1 2-2 7, Price 3 0 4-4 10, Blair 1 0 0-0 2, D. Robinson 1 1 0-0 5, Letizia 0 0 0-0 0, A. Robinson 3 1 7-11 16, Massengill 1 0 0-1 2.
2FG-13, 3FG-3, FT-13-18, PF-15.
Fouled Out – Sefton - Brownstown.
Technical Fouls – None.