BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE – Contrasting styles can sometimes make a game much more interesting in basketball. But generally speaking if one style dominates, it can lead to some frustration for other team.

On Saturday night in the finale of the Nashville Invitational Tournament, Breese Central head coach Jeremy Schubert knew his Cougars couldn't allow the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes to score a lot of points.

The ABV top-ranked 2A team had been used to scoring in the 70's and 80's all season.

On this night, Central's physical style of play and stingy defense took its toll.

Causing the 'Shoes to miss their first eight shots from the field and being deliberate with the ball, Coach Schubert's club took an early lead and used a big second quarter scoring burst for a 50-38 win to cap an unbeaten 4-0 week at the NIT and the championship.

“Tonight we were able to give them one shot attempt and make our free throws tonight. When you get into a physical game like this, you have to be able to make your free throws and limit the team to one shot,” said Coach Schubert. “Credit our defense but they (Teutopolis) missed some shots tonight that they have been making during this tournament. I hope our defense had something to do with it.”

This was the Cougars' ninth championship in the 35-year history of the event as this program has been dominant on this floor, having won six of the last eight crowns at the Assembly Hall.

Central took care of business down the stretch, holding off any sort of T-Town rally by cashing in 19-of-22 free throws, including 13-of-14 in the fourth quarter.

The Cougars were as balanced as they were deliberate, getting three players in double-figures in the win that pushed the won-loss mark to 16-3 for the season.

The backcourt trio of seniors Kolby Schulte, Carter Truong and Jack Strieker came up big for Central, netting 13, 12 and 10-points respectively.

Truong canned some big long-range shots early and Schulte led the way to the foul shooting parade in the final minutes.

Coach Schubert also got nine important points from 6-foot-8 junior Tyler Joest off the bench.

For Teutopolis and head coach Jason Hanson, the normal offensive explosion that they are accustomed to never came about in this “grind it out” type game that the were dragged into.

Although the Shoes got a game best 22-points from senior Mitch Hardiek, they struggled offensively, hitting just 14-of-45 attempts overall, including 1-of-15 from the 3-point arc.

Senior guard Brant Bueker added 10-points for Teutopolis but no other player scored more than two-points.

“We made a couple of different runs but then we would shoot ourselves in the foot. Central is a really good team and they played really good basketball tonight,” said Coach Hanson. “And their defense is really good. They are very well coached. We missed free throws tonight when we needed them and we hit 1-of-15 from the 3-point line.”

Central also had issues in the defensive dominated scrum.

The Cougars ended up 13-of-33 overall, and 5-of-15 from long-range.

However the Clinton County crew made their defensive effort hold up in the win as they set the tone in the early going.

Central got an early score from Schulte, 1-of-2 free throws from the senior guard, and then a fast break bucket by Strieker for a 5-0 lead with 6:11 left in the opening quarter.

Neither team could muster any other points for the next three and a half minutes.

Hardiek finally got Teutopolis on the scoreboard as he netted all of the Wooden Shoes seven-points in the first frame.

He matched a late 3-pointer from Truong with a bomb of his own as T-Town trailled 8-7 at the end of one.

A score by Bueker gave Teutopolis its only lead at 8-7 in the early going of the second quarter before Truong and Company got the Cougars back the lead for good.

The 6-foot-1 senior nailed three big shots from 20-feet, and Joest added a pair of shots on drives to the basket.

His third one, from the right wing with 2:01 left in the second quarter, force a Teutopolis timeout at 21-13 Cougars.

A Strieker 3-point bomb, and a transition score from sophomore Simon Thomas, closed the first half with Breese Central in command at 26-15.

The 'Shoes put their best foot forward to begin the second half, going on a 9-2 run led by Hardiek who closed the burst with a basket in the paint and then a fast break bucket while being fouled by Strieker.

His made free throw cut the Central lead to 28-24 with 3:24 left.

Central responded with a basket by Schulte and 5-of-6 free throws by Joest.

Four of those attempts (3-of-4 made) came on one trip down the floor as Joest was fouled by junior guard Lee Hardiek.

After the whistle, Mitch Hardiek was issued a technical foul.

Toeing the line, Joest hit the first three free throws for a 33-26 spread.

Joest added two more charity tosses for a nine-point advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

Most of the final frame was spent with Breese Central at the foul line as the Wooden Shoes would get no closer than seven-points in the last eight minutes.

Being even more deliberate than they were at the beginning of the contest, Coach Schubert's squad forced the pace to be much slower and Teutopolis ended up fouling.

Central only missed one free throw in the fourth as they closed out the win and the championship.

Coach Hanson saw his team hit just 2-of-10 fourth quarter field goal attempts as they couldn't take advantage of Central's five fourth quarter turnovers.

“We weren't able to overcome our mistakes tonight. We forced shots that didn't go in and that isn't going to help you win games against a good team like Central,” said Coach Hanson. “We have to get better and do a better job.”

Eight straight made free throws in the final 1:17 pushed the lead to the max at 50-36 before a late bucket by Bueker close the gap to the final score.

“You have to have good guards and Jack, Kolby and Carter along with Simon Thomas were really good tonight,” said Coach Schubert. “You have to have good guards to win championships. I like coming here (Nashville) and playing, I really do.”

Coach Brad Weathers' also got 14-points from Bryce Bultman and eight-points from Ryan Brink as the Hornets improved to 13-8 on the season.

The Knights (10-7) were topped by 6-foot-4 senior Noah Gerdes with 18-points.