03-05-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE – The Harrisburg Bulldogs and the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes are set to meet at the 2A Carbondale Supersectional on Tuesday night at 8 pm at the SIU Arena.

The Bulldogs, coached by Randy Smithpeters, have had a dream-like season.

The Dawgs have but a single loss to Dyer County (TN.) at the Penny Hardaway Shootout back in January and have had their collective sights on reaching Peoria since a 39-30 loss to eventual state-champion Breese Central last March on the same floor in which they will play on March 5.

Harrisburg, with all of the cogs returning from a year ago, have taken no prisoners in this postseason, winning all four of their games by a combined 278-164 (69.5-to-41 average).

The senior group is 108-22 in its varsity run, and have won three consecutive Eldorado Holiday Tournament titles in this era, a prestigious event in southern Illinois.

Tyler Smithpeters and Capel Henshaw represent without question the best backcourt in the Deep South.

Those two are averaging nearly 30-points a contest combined.

With those two, 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-3 respectively and are athletic and skilled enough to make them very tough to defend.

Stopping their dribble penetration will be a key for Teutopolis on Tuesday night.

Up front the third leading scorer for Harrisburg has been Eli Taborn-Scott, a 6-foot-4 junior lefty forward who adds 12-points a night.

This doesn't sound like a high scoring situation for Coach Smithpeters expect he has other kids that can produce.

Ryne Roper is a 6-foot-2 senior who has been part of this four season run.

Ryne, Tyler and Capel are capable scorers from the outside, having made 39 percent of their 3-point shots this season (192-of-481) from behind the stripe.

Dakoka Upchurch is a 6-foot-6 space eater in the lane for Harrisburg, another of the senior vets.

One of the keys for Coach Smithpeters this season has been the play of their reserve unit, led by 6-foot-4 sophomore Bahari Amaya.

If you look at signature wins for Harrisburg, they topped 3A rival Massac County three times and 3A Herrin twice.

They handled Calloway County (KY.) back in December at the Marshall County (KY.) Shootout.

Another 3A foe Alton Marquette Catholic was a 62-53 victim back on December 8 at the Saluki Shootout.

The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes have had heartache by the numbers the past two seasons.

Coach Andy Fehrenbacher has witnessed the two toughest losses in his tenure as head coach in his program's previous two supersectional games.

The Shoes in 2011 led Pittsfield for the whole game before a last season shot ended T-town's title hopes with a 43-42 loss.

Last season, Teutopolis was in complete control with a 16-point lead heading into the fourth quarter before Normal U-High rallied for a 60-59 win.

Insert the adage “What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger” to the Wooden Shoes season in 2012-13.

Teutopolis will bring a 28-3 resume to SIU Arena on Tuesday night.

Despite some early season issues on and off the court, Coach Fehrenbacher's team has grown since losses to Breese Central, Highland and Jerseyville.

The Jerseyville loss during the Pinckneyville Holiday Tournament known as the Duster Thomas Classic was the last defeat for the Wooden Shoes.

Teutopolis has reeled off 19-consecutive wins, which includes three quality wins over Mascoutah, Breese Central and Waterloo Gibault Catholic to win the Nashville Invitational Tournament back in January.

Teutopolis won the Hillsboro Regional with relative ease before dispatching Roxana at the Greenville Sectional.

Their epic 58-53 double-overtime win over Breese Central catapulted the Shoes to SIU.

Not unlike Harrisburg, the Wooden Shoes have gotten the job done on the defensive end of the floor, holding the opposition to just 41-points a game this season while scoring 60 themselves.

Scoring hasn't been a problem for Teutopolis, either, led by senior guard Derek Smith with 14.6 p.p.g. this season.

Smith scored 15-points in the sectional title game win over Central.

Kyle Pruemer (11.3 points, 7.4 rebounds) gives the Wooden Shoes an inside presence as this 6-foot-6 senior, along with Smith, are team leaders on a club that has tackled a tough as nails Independent schedule after saying goodbye to the National Trail Conference after over 70-yeas as a member.

Devin Falbe steps off the bench for T-town, netting 9.2 points a night.

Both Harrisburg and Teutopolis have the defensive units in place to make this supersectional worth the admission price.

These two teams met last season in a shootout at Benton with Teutopolis winning 71-59.

Teutopolis vs. Harrisburg Link

In the opening game on the night Gallatin County, who is riding a long winning streak of their own, make there first ever supersectional appearance after a 75-58 win over Mounds Meridian to conquer the field at the Hardin County 1A Sectional.

Behind the outstanding play of 7-foot senior center Andrew Drone (25.4 p.p.g., 11.9 r.p.g.) the Hawks are a win away from the ultimate goal of playing on the Carver Arena floor.

Patrick Lowe has been the unsung hero for the Hawks this season. Coach Patton calls him the best athlete in the school and one of the top players in the area for Gallatin County, who are an outstanding 27-3 heading into the super.

Lowe is a 6-foot-6 senior forward who has averaged 12.7 points a game while grabbing 9.1 rebounds.

The Hawks also have some backcourt players who have stepped up this season.

Five-foot-ten senior guard Daine Hish tops the club from long range, hitting a team-high 55 3-pointers this season and has a 9.5 points a game average.

Wes McGuire, Anthony Sorto and Josh Belford have all played their roles as Gallatin County, after having won three consecutive regional championships with this senior group, added a sectional championship on Friday night with a 75-58 win over Mounds Meridian.

The three losses for Gallatin County came to 2A Harrisburg (2) and 2A Nashville as the Hawks tried to strengthen the schedule this season in preparation for a postseason run.

Head Coach Robert “Radar” Patton has a club with a huge size advantage in the post while Nokomis brings in a club that is long on talent after weathering a very sizable schedule, having played mostly larger schools in the season.

The Nokomis Redskins have loses to 4A school Granite City while 3A teams Taylorville, Alton Marquette and Civic Memorial were also defeats.

But the wins have also been impressive.

They won three consecutive games over 2A Pana, 3A Columbia and 2A Roxana to capture the Litchfield Invitational Tournament title back in January.

Coach Steve Kimbro (660-232 in 31-years at the helm) has won 11-regional championships in this run at the school.

His club is hoping to repeat its southern journey from 2008 as the Redskins, in the first season of four-class basketball, won the Carbondale 1A Supersectional in route to a second-place finish in Peoria.

This season the Redskins are 23-9 after dispatching Oblong 69-48 on Friday night to win the Altamont 1A Sectional.

Nokomis struggled to win the St. Elmo 1A Regional, edging St. Elmo and Altamont to win that championship before a pair of relatively easy wins over North Clay and Oblong at Altamont.

Evan Huber, a 5-foot-11 senior, scored 19-points for the Redskins in their sectional title game win.

Nokomis also got 16-points from 6-foot-1 senior Devon Wright, which is near his average.

Tyler Herpstreith, a 5-foot-5 senior guard and 6-foot-2 senior forward Austin Leigh have been part of a club that has used big second half pushes in all of its postseason success.

Nokomis rallied for a win over Altamont by outscoring the Indians 25-9 in the fourth quarter of a 51-43 win.

Coach Kimbro's club also had a big second half in its win over Oblong.

Further north at the 1A Jacksonville Supersectional, the Madison Trojans are trying to make a return trip to Peoria.

Coach Jaime Cotto's club bested Waterloo Gibault Catholic on Friday night to win the Okawville Sectional title, 51-49 and are 19-10 against a brutal schedule of large schools.

Madison got third place in the state tournament in 2010 after winning this supersectional and the Trojans have been led in scoring by 6-foot-2 senior guard Marquis Bourney, who averages 21-points a night for the Trojans.

This long and athletic team have won four straight postseason games after losing its season finale on the road at Teutopolis.

They used a 38-29 rebounding edge on Friday night, including 19-offensive rebounds as the held off Gibault to advance.

Madison will face 27-4 Payson-Seymour at Jacksonville as the Indians won the Brown County 1A Sectional with a win over Mendon Unity.

This Tribe won its first regional title since 1993 and captured their only sectional title on Friday night, 60-53.

The Indians' top scorer is 6-foot junior guard Cody Hildebrand, who has put together a fine year for head coach Brian Rea's club that won the Pike County and West Central Conference titles.

Hildebrand averages 21.2 points and 3.2 rebounds so far and delivered 24-points in the sectional title game.

The tradition rich Madison program has won two boy's basketball championships (1977 and 1981) but would love to add another piece of four-class hardware after finishing third in 2010.

The last time that the Trojans played a game at the Jacksonville Bowl, they won the supersectional title in 2010 with a win over Lewistown.