TEUTOPOLIS vs. ST. ANTHONY
02-01-03
BY JACK BULLOCK
ALTAMONT - Round two goes to the 'Shoes.

The second meeting between conference rivals Teutopolis and St. Anthony turned out to be just like all the rest of the encounters in this series.

It was a war.

And when the smoke cleared, Teutopolis had claimed the title of the 68th Annual National Trail Conference Tournament with a 60-54 win in front of a packed house at Altamont, which serves as the host of this fine event.

Matt Schumacher, a 6-5 senior guard, sparked the Wooden Shoes to the win.

His 16 points led T-Town in scoring. However his work at helping to keep St. Anthony's Chris Bochtler in check was far more important in determining the outcome.

Ryan Bushue, St. Anthony's 6-5 senior center, got the Bulldogs rolling in the first quarter by scoring 10 points.

His rebound basket and subsequent lay in on two straight trips brought his team even at the end of the first quarter at 14-apiece.

However T-Town held Bushue to just one field goal in the remainder of the game as the Shoes put the clamps down.

St. Anthony's best run of the night came in the second quarter.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Aaron Phillips and Derek Storm pushed the St. A advantage to 29-23 with 2:01 left in the second quarter.

But Teutopolis scored the last four points of the half.

Adam Webber busted loose in the paint for a short bank shot and Schumacher scored a basket on a short baseline drive to make it 31-28 St. Anthony at the break.

However T-Town took control of the game in the late part of the third quarter.

After Bushue scored his last bucket of the game with 3:23 to go to give his team a 38-35 spread, Teutopolis scored the next ten points.

Mike Hardiek rebounded his own miss to cut the lead to one.

Then Derek Hoene scored two quick baskets. He rebounded a Hardiek miss and put it back in to give the Shoes the lead.

Then just seconds later he stole and errant St. Anthony pass and went coast-to-coast for the lay up to give his club a 41-38 lead, which forced a St. Anthony timeout.

Schumacher and Webber each scored in the paint on consecutive trips, and although Storm quieted the run with a pair a free throws, T-Town entered the final quarter up 45-40.

The Teutopolis momentum continued into the final frame when Webber once again muscled his way to the basket after receiving a pass from Hardiek.

His basket and a rebound put back by Chris Zerrusen made the lead 49-40.

Zerrusen's rebound basket was possibly the turning point of the game, as his putback was the fifth attempt by the Shoes on that offensive trip as they out worked the Bulldogs in the paint.

"That trip was indicative of the second half." said St. Anthony coach Ron Niebrugge. "They just out worked us tonight."

St. Anthony cut the lead to five at 53-48 on a Bochtler 3-pointer and a Derek Storm score.

But forced to foul, St. Anthony could only parade the Shoes to the free throw line and they watched T-Town can 7-of-8 in the to put the game away.

A 'window-dressing' 3-pointer by Bochtler made the final 60-54.

"We beat a good team tonight that was playing very well coming into this game." said Crawford, who's team has won 12 NTC Tourney titles in the last 22 seasons. "This was a game that we needed."

Schumacher led the balanced Teutopolis (17-5) scoring attack with his 16 points.

Hoene added 14 while Hardiek and Webber added 10 and nine respectively.

St. Anthony (19-3) got 14 points to lead his team, but he did so on just 4-of-16 shooting from the field.

Bushue was the only other Bulldog in double-figures with his 12.

Mike Wines, a 6-3 junior starter, was saddled with foul trouble and managed only five points.

ALTAMONT 75, STEWARDSON STRASBURG 58
The Indians got some great performances in the third place game to take home the title.

Tyler Meier and Aaron Grobengieser came up big for Altamont (15-4) with 23 and 20 points.

Grobengieser had a team-high eight rebounds while Trenton Kull had six rebounds and five assists.

Stew-Stras (12-6) got 15 markers from Seth Schuler while Craig Moffett added 12. Eleven points each by Luke Weatherall and Kyle Duncan helped the Comets cause.

Altamont won the game from the charity stripe, hitting on 31-of-38 attempts while Stew-Stras hit just 12-of-18 from the line.

BEECHER CITY 75, NEOGA 73
The Eagles edged the Indians on the strength of Travis Gordan's 26 points to claim the NTC Consolation Championship.

Beecher City (11-7) got 24 points from Kyle Clark, including 14 in the second half.

Jared McKay and Aaron Zumbahlen led Neoga with 18 points apiece.

TOP LEFT
Matt Schumacher of Teutopolis puts up a shot in the second half of the Wooden Shoes 60-54 win over St. Anthony Saturday night.
(Jack Bullock Photo)
MIDDLE RIGHT
St. Anthony's Derek Storm looks to make a pass to a teammate during the first half of the Teutopolis win at Altamont.
(Jack Bullock Photo)