The Sentinel

Rockets' basketball season abruptly ended after sectional semifinal

SHELBYVILLE - Seven members of the Unity basketball roster delivered some sort of scoring in their semifinal game against Teutopolis in the Shelbyville sectional semifinal game. While beating the Wooden Shoes by 12 in early December last year, the Rockets were unable to repeat the feat, losing 48-39 on Wednesday.

Henry Thomas led Unity's scoring effort with eight points. Sophomore Coleton Langendorf came off the bench to match senior Dalton O'Neill's output of seven points. Another sophomore, Dane Eisenmenger and Andrew Thomas' matched at five points apiece in the season finale.

Unity fell behind early and tied the score four times, the last at 17-all in the second quarter. The Rockets trailed within striking distance to overtake Teutopolis until the last two minutes of play. It was T-town's free-throw shooting down the stretch that propelled the program into the title game.

The Wooden Shoes made fourteen trips to the line in the final quarter and only missed converting on three attempts, despite the Rockets limiting them to only two field goals in the fourth quarter.

Austin Bloemer and Joey Niebrugge paced the Shoes with ten points each. Tyler Pruemer had eight points, while Garrett Gaddis and Alex Kremer finished with eight points apiece.

Teutopolis advanced to Friday's sectional title game in a rematch against St. Joseph-Ogden (27-6), who is enjoying a nine-game win streak. The Wooden Shoes prevailed in the January 9 game, 53-40.

The Rockets finished an impressive 2023-24 campaign with 26 wins against five losses.

Spartan basketball team takes on Teutopolis for sectional title tomorrow

ST. JOSEPH - The bracket is set. St. Joseph-Ogden (27-6) will face Teutopolis (21-10) for the Shelbyville sectional championship game tomorrow at 7 p.m.

The boys' basketball team needs all the support they can get in their second meeting of the two teams this season. The Wooden Shoes prevailed at home in early January with a 13-point victory, 53-40, over the SJO.

"We want to try to get as many people as we can to this game to support our team," St. Joseph-Ogden athletic director Justin Franzen told The Sentinel earlier this week.

The St. Joseph-Ogden basketball team hopes to have, as they enjoyed at Unity on February 9, hundreds of supportive fans on March 1 for their sectional title game against T-town. The Wooden Shoes will be well-represented for the game just 35 miles from their home. (Photo: PhotoNews Media)

Ticket info:

Tickets for the game are available online now for just $7. Fans attending the game can order them at https://gofan.co/event/1410359?schoolId=IL15331. Spartan fans can also buy tickets at the door for $8 at Shelbyville High School.

Teutoplis advanced to the title game after defeating Unity last night in a close game, 48-39. The Rockets, who beat the Wooden Shoes back on December 2 by 12, closed their season with a 26-5 record.