01-16-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE – It took Teutopolis roughly eight and a half minutes of playing clock to get used to their new January tournament surroundings on Wednesday night in the first round of the Nashville Invitational Tournament.

This basketball powerhouse program, for nearly the last century, had been a part of the National Trail Conference and its annual league tournament.

But with a change to being an Independent, the Wooden Shoes needed a new home.

Coach Andy Fehrenbacher's club found themselves one at the Assembly Hall.

Once T-Town got acclimated, the comfort zone produced better shooting and a 66-37 win over Mascoutah to advance to the semifinals on Friday night.

Trailing 11-8 after the first period to an Indians' club that was considered a threat for the championship despite their number six seed, Teutopolis got rolling offensively with a 15-0 run to take control.

T-Town was just 3-of-16 from the field to begin the contest, which included five-consecutive missed shots on its first possession of the second quarter.

But the tide turned quickly in the remainder of the half.

Using their vaunted defense and rebounding philosophy that has served this program well over the years, Teutopolis improved to 15-3 on the season.

“This was the first time in this gym for a lot of these kids and just getting used to the surroundings and the atmosphere took a while,” said Coach Fehrenbacher. “We were sluggish at first but the defense kept us close and in the second quarter we really got after them (Mascoutah).”

Once the 'Shoes found the offensive range, the Indians (5-11) were in trouble.

Teutopolis got so hot offensively that nearly everyone wearing a uniform got into the scoring act.

Nine different 'Shoes got their name in the paper with Rourke Schultz, a 6-foot-3 reserve senior forward, leading the victory march with 14-points.

Getting the ball inside, 6-foot-6 senior vet Kyle Pruemer delivered nine points.

As if this wasn't enough, T-Town was also effective from the outside.

Jared Waldhoff, a 6-foot-3 senior backcourt marksman, hit one of six Teutopolis 3-pointers on the night as he also finished with nine points.

Two of the 'Shoes finished with eight points each; senior Derek Smith and junior Reed Hardiek.

Both delivered points from the outside also.

Hardiek hit a pair of treys, including one that helped Teutopolis take command in the second quarter.

His long range bomb from the left corner tied the game at 11-all with 6:15 left in the second frame.

Freshman forward Brett Mette scored two of his seven points and Smith scored on a 3-pointer and a nice reverse lay up in transition in which the 6-foot-2 guard switched from his right to his left hand underneath the basket for a nifty score.

That bucket forced a Mascoutah timeout at 18-11 with 4:32 remaining.

Unfortunately for Coach Cody Reynolds and his Indians, it didn't get much better from there on.

Pruemer, who normally does most of his damage in the paint, stepped out from behind the arc for a blast from the left corner that made it 23-11.

Mascoutah did have a bright spot on the night as 6-foot-6 senior forward Alex King scored 14-points for the Indians, including the only two baskets his team had in the second quarter.

But another run by T-Town to close the quarter took much of the life out of the Mascoutah championship cause.

Mette, Pruemer and senior guard Devin Falbe each scored before halftime.

Pruemer took a nice assist from Smith for a bucket and Mette also scored from in close.

Falbe, with the clock winding down and the 'Shoes holding for a final shot, made a great crossover dribble to get free and let go with an 18-footer that found the mark just before the horn for a 31-15 lead at intermission.

“We had 18-turnovers on the night and we were taking quick shots on offense and in the second quarter we got away from everything that we did in the early going,” said Mascoutah mentor Cody Reynolds. “We told the kids that quick shots and turnovers are going to lead to break-outs and easy shots for them (Teutopolis). Once they got into a rhythm it opened it up for them and we didn't respond well.”

Coach Fehrenbacher's team forced Mascoutah into 12-turnovers in the first 16-minutes and the defensive pressure didn't let up in the second half.

“We always talk about letting our offense feed from our defense. Let your defense set the tone,” added Coach Fehrenbacher. “I felt like we made some big stops and some run-outs. And we started running our offense better. Our offensive execution has to get crisper.”

Finishing the third quarter with yet another (9-0) run, the Wooden Shoes earn themselves a shot in the championship semifinals.

Schultz scored four points in the run, grabbing a rebound on his second score which beat the buzzer for a 52-25 lead.

A trifecta from Waldhoff to open the fourth quarter gave T-Town its largest lead at 30-points and a few minutes later the teams went to their reserves to close out the game.

Teutopolis recovered from its rough beginning, smoothing out the stat sheet by finishing 28-of-58 (48.2 percent) and commanded the glass at 33-20.

Mette had nine rebounds, Schultz added eight and Pruemer grabbed five as T-Town had their way around the goal.

“We rebounded pretty well tonight, especially our three bigs,” added Coach Fehrenbacher. “Mette as a freshman, I thought he held his own inside against some pretty athletic kids. Pruemer was steady and Schultz off the bench was awesome tonight.”

Schultz hit all seven of his field goal attempts as the Wooden Shoes were effective inside the arc at 22-of-42 (52.3 percent).

Mascoutah, after a good first quarter, couldn't sustain the momentum.

With Teutopolis doing a good job defensively, especially on the perimeter, the Indians were just 1-of-10 from distance.

“We just didn't respond well to their run. We kind of got down on ourselves and against T-Town you don't stand much of a chance when that happens,” explained Coach Reynolds.

Mascoutah will play Freeburg on Thursday night in the consolation bracket semifinals at 8 pm while the Wooden Shoes will try to avenge one of its three losses on the season when they face Breese Central at 8 pm on Friday night.

The Cougars won the matchup back on November 30 at Teutopolis, 49-42.

Mascoutah (37) – Olson 0 0 0-0 0, Nelson 1 0 0-0 2, Parks 0 0 0-0 0, Oltmann 1 0 0-0 2, Manley 0 0 0-0 0, Moore 1 1 0-1 5, Limuel 1 0 0-0 2, King 6 0 2-2 14, Duprey 0 0 0-0 0, Norrenberns 3 0 0-0 6, White 2 0 0-0 4. 2FG-16, 3FG-1, FT-2-3, PF-6.
Teutopolis (66) – Smith 2 1 1-2 8, Waldhoff 3 1 0-0 9, Windell 1 1 0-0 5, Will 2 0 0-0 4, Hardiek 1 2 0-0 2, Falbe 1 0 0-0 2, Kenter 0 0 0-0 0, Schultz 7 0 0-0 14, Mette 2 0 3-4 7, Pruemer 3 1 0-0 9.
2FG-22, 3FG-6, FT-4-6, PF-8.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.