TEUTOPOLIS @ DUQUOIN
12-14-2002
BY JACK BULLOCK
DUQUOIN - For Teutopolis guard Matt Schumacher, this was a tough weekend.

After going home from school sick early Friday, the 6-5 senior wasn't feeling 100 percent before his team's game against DuQuoin on the road Saturday night.

However looking at the way that he ran roughshod over the Indians defense, he may want to consider not finding a cure for his illness for the rest of the season.

Schumacher scored and hustled his way to 31 points and 12 rebounds as the Wooden Shoes posted a 66-58 non-conference win over the host Indians.

T-Town (5-1) got a tremendous team effort on the defensive end to help shut down the DuQuoin (5-1) offense.

Although likely All-State pick Nick Hill matched Schumacher with 31 points, no other Indian player hit for double-figures.

"I thought our kids did a great job on defense and, even though Hill got his points, we made him work for everything he got," explained T-Town coach Ken Crawford.

The game started off inauspiciously for the Wooden Shoes, as DQ's Jake Marshall made a steal and scored on a fast break to give the Indians an early 2-0 lead.

However these two state-ranked teams traded baskets for most of the quarter, which ended deadlocked a 18-all.

Hill, the 6-4 senior guard who is headed to Western Kentucky next season to play basketball, hit his first basket of the night from the baseline with 6:35 left.

His teammate Reid Bastien hit a pair for free throws to give the Indians a 6-2 advantage.

But later in the opening quarter, with the score 11-8 Indians, Schumacher scored on offensive rebound put-backs on consecutive trips to give the 'Shoes their first lead of the night 12-11 at the 1:33 mark.

A 3-point bomb by DuQuoin's Ricky Oakley gave the Tribe back a two-point advantage on the next trip down the court.

Then the two clubs exchanged baskets the rest of the way. T-Town guard Derek Hoene scored after making a steal in the DQ backcourt to knot things at 18 just before the first horn.

The second quarter turned into eight minutes that the Indians would just as soon forget as T-Town took control of the game.

Schumacher canned a 3-pointer from the left side of the arc to make it 21-18 Wooden Shoes.

DuQuoin reserve Jaymon Alvis scored in the paint on a pass from Marshall to cut the lead to 21-20 with 6:22 until the half.

But as it turned out, that would be the only Indian field goal of the quarter as T-Town turned up the defensive 'heat'. Schumacher made a steal on a tipped pass and went 'coast-to-coast' to score and put his team up 23-21 with 4:41.

However at this point, both teams struggled offensively and for the next 2:50, neither team put any points on the board. But it was clear at this point which team was dictating play.

"We made too many mistakes offensively and you have to give them (Teutopolis) credit for most of it," said DuQuoin coach Wendell Wheeler. "They are such a good defensive team."

After missing six straight shots, Teutopolis finally got something to fall.

Six-five senior Mike Hardiek hit his only 3-pointer of the night and Schumacher scored again in close on a pass from Hoene that completed a 7-0 run to give T-Town a 28-21 lead.

Hill hit a pair of free throws to cut the advantage to five but the Wooden Shoes got as pair of baskets by 6-7 junior Mike Deters.

He scored first on a nice reverse lay in and then put back a Schumacher miss at the buzzer to give his team a 32-24 halftime spread.

"Mike Deters really gave us a lift with his play on both ends." added Crawford. "He also hit some big shots."

DuQuoin woke up a bit offensively in the early part of the second half but every time they scored, the Wooden Shoes answered with points of their own.

After Hoene scored on a drive to put the 'Shoes up by ten, Hill scored a basket with a nice spin move along the baseline.

Then Marshall hit a 3-pointer for DQ, but it was sandwiched between T-Town baskets by Deters and Hardiek, as the Indians couldn't get a run going.

Hill hit a long 3-pointer from NBA range and then added a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 42-36.

But like a great counter puncher in boxing, Teutopolis put together an 8-0 run to finish the round (quarter).

Deters had his shot in the lane blocked by Hill, but he had enough composure to put the ball back up and in and push the lead back to eight. Two straight rebound baskets by Schumacher stretched the lead to 48-36.

Then, on an 'out-of-bounds' play to end the quarter underneath the T-Town basket, Hardiek lobbed the ball to Deters who laid the ball in as the buzzer sounded to give his team its largest lead of the night heading into the final quarter 50-36.

Still DuQuoin refused to go away as they opened up the fourth quarter with a 7-0 start.

Oakley hit a 3-pointer on a set play from the top of the key.

Then, after a pair of missed free throws Hoene, Hill forced Schumacher's third personal foul.

His two free throws along with a Marshall lay in on the next trip after a Teutopolis turnover got it to 50-43.

After a couple of minutes with each team scoring six points, T-Town's Deters made what turned out to be the defensive play and 'no-call' of the night that stopped a DQ scoring run.

DQ's Bastien made a steal near the half-court line and headed for a fast-break lay up.

But a hustling Deters caught him from behind and blocked his shot out-of-bounds.

Although there was some contact, no foul was called and the ball was DuQuoin's with 3:01 left.

"That was a big play for them. If we score on that play or even get to the free throw line, who knows what would have happened." added Wheeler, whose team could have cut the lead to 56-51 with a basket or two free throws.

After missing a field goal attempt on that possession, the Indians were forced to start fouling and the Shoes' responded by knocking down 7-of-10 tosses in the next 2:03.

Bastien had a basket during that run that ended with Schumacher hitting 1-of-2 shots from the line to make it 62-51 with :58.0 left.

Hill hit a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer from about 25-feet to get the score a bit closer.

But T-Town closed things out from the line, hitting four-straight to finish the quarter with a total of 10-of-13.

Although they only out-rebounded DuQuoin 31-25, the Shoes' looked dominant on the boards as they scored nine times on offensive rebound chances (eight put-backs and two free throws).

"The key to this whole game was their rebounding, especially on the offensive end. We still have football legs and it showed tonight," added Wheeler, talking about his squad's lack of basketball conditioning and the small amount of practice time. "We gutted it out last week at our tournament but it caught up with us tonight."

Teutopolis shot 27-of-50 from the field while DQ managed just 19-of-44 shooting.

"We beat a good team tonight after a long bus ride. I am thrilled to win this game," said Crawford, who is a southern Illinois native from the Ridgway area.

DuQuoin plays next Friday at Sparta and then will not play again until the Carbondale Holiday Tournament.

Teutopolis plays Effingham at home Tuesday then at Neoga Friday before the Charleston Holiday Tournament begins December 26.