Teutopolis dominates second half in win over over Newton

Feb. 2—Chet Reeder and his coaching staff harped to their team at halftime about how they played.

The Teutopolis boys basketball team trailed Newton by five points, 37-32, at J.H. Griffin Gym on Tuesday night. Reeder noted that his assistant coach, Craig Toler, said it best when he told his team that they didn't "care enough" when the Eagles (16-9) scored on them, and he agreed.

However, that changed in the second half.

The Wooden Shoes (17-7) did care and displayed it, outscoring Newton 37-12 in the final two frames to come away with a 69-49 win over the Eagles.

Caleb Siemer started the second half with a layup that cut the deficit to three points, 34-37.

Caden Nichols then answered for the Eagles with a step-back shot from the corner that made it 34-39 before Teutopolis went on an 8-0 run to take a 42-39 advantage. James Niebrugge hit a short shot in the paint and was on the receiving end of an alley-oop pass, while Siemer and Brendan Niebrugge converted layups.

Dylan Gier then made a layup himself to cut the lead to one point, 42-41, but the Wooden Shoes continued to be the aggressors.

Teutopolis went on a 10-0 run to push the lead to 11 points, 52-41. Siemer converted a layup, Joey Niebrugge made a short shot in the paint, and Brendan Niebrugge and Garrett Gaddis made back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner.

Parker Wolf then stole the ball away and converted a layup at the other end to push the margin to nine points, 52-43, with 1:12 left, before Brendan Niebrugge closed the frame with a layup before making one-of-his-two free throws to make it 55-43.

The Wooden Shoes then continued their onslaught in the fourth quarter, outscoring Newton 14-6 in the period.

The win for Teutopolis broke a three-game losing streak, as well.

Reeder added that would do wonders for his team's confidence as the postseason approaches.

"It's big for confidence, big for these guys," Reeder said. "It's always hard. When you're slumping, and you're not playing your best, it's always hard to get that win.

"We can't get too high or too low. We need to keep believing in what we're doing and trust the next guy."

On this particular night, though, they trusted Brendan Niebrugge more than anyone else.

Brendan led the Wooden Shoes with 28 points, while James Niebrugge added 15, and Siemer and Gaddis each had nine.

Meanwhile, Nichols led the way for Newton with 20 points — only two in the second half — while Wolf added 11 points to the cause and Gier had 10.

"We kept bodies in front of him," said Reeder of Nichols. "He can make those step-back, off-balance, 15-footers; that's what we want him to shoot."

Box Score

Teutopolis 22 10 23 14 69

Newton 22 15 6 6 49

T — B. Niebrugge 28, Bloemer 2, Gaddis 9, Jo. Niebrugge 6, Ja. Niebrugge 15, Siemer 9. FG 26, FT 9-12, F 9. (3-pointers: B. Niebrugge 5, Gaddis 2, Ja. Niebrugge 1); N — Bergbower 2, Nichols 20, Bierman 4, Wolf 11, Weber 2, Gier 10. FG 23, FT 1-3, F 9. (3-pointers: Nichols 1, Wolf 1).

Contact EDN Sports Editor Alex Wallner at 618-510-9231 or alex.wallner@effinghamdailynews.com.