It was Teutopolis' trap game and they almost fell in. The Shelbyville Rams made the Shoes tighten up just a bit in what was a 2-point game with 5 seconds left. Teutopolis made two free throws and ecaped the first night of the Shelbyville 2A Regional, 51-47.

Shelbyville drew first blood, when Cody Boarman won the tip and the Rams set up their offense and quickly found Levi Pruemer inside for two. Teutopolis' Derek Thompson tied it two possessions later on the Shoes third attempt. Nick Schumacher then scored for a 4-2 Shoe lead. On their next possession, Caine Cloe stole the ball, brought it to the Ram end and knocked down his first 3-pointer for a 5-4 Ram lead with 4:20 to play in the first.

T'town missed their next shot and were out-rebounded. They then committed a double-dribble due to Ram defense. They missed on their next possession and under-sized Ram center Dustyn Fatheree grabbed the board. Cloe got the ball to Pruemer again down low and he put the Rams up by three points, their largest lead of the game, 7-4, with 3:00 left in the first.

A T'town got a putback and Cody Boarman was called for his third foul in the first 6:00 of the game. T'town scored inside to reclaim the lead, 8-7. A steal and a fast break two made it 10-7 Shoes. However, Pruemer was taking it to the Shoes in the first period and he drove the lane for two more points, cutting the Shoe lead to10-9 with :40 in the first. T'town got a final two before the period ended for a 12-9 lead.

Cloe had a trey in the first, but Levi Pruemer was the scoring leader with 6 of his 11 points in the first 8:00. Austin Smith opened the second period, dishing the ball to Cloe on a back cut for two, 12-11 Shoes. The Shoes then went on an 8-3 run. The Rams got their three points in that stretch from Pruemer again. Cloe dished to Pruemer who scored, got the foul and converted the 3-point play.

Trailing 20-14, Fatheree got a rebound two.The Shoes went up 22-16. With 3:20 in the half, Cloe drove inside down low and put on a move against a Shoe double-team that was like shooting through the branches of a tree. He drew contact, went down and the ball came down straight through the bucket. He pumped his fist in celebration, went to the line and converted the 3-point play to cut the 6-point lead in half, 22-19. Thompson knocked down a cormer three for the Shoes, then added a jumper for an 8-point lead with 1:30 in the half.

Clayton Baker then came up with a big play. He drove the baseline, snaking through the defense and somehow getting the ball past the Shoe shot blockers on a left-handed lay-in. T'town answered, scoring inside, but then Cloe drew a foul and made the 1-and-1, cutting the lead to six points, 29-23.

The Shoes tried to hold the ball for the last :30 and take the final shot to go up 8 or 9 points. But with 5 seconds left, Cloe forced a double-dribble and a Shoe turnover. He got the ball to Nate Standerfer with 1 second left for a half-court heave that came close.

T'town got 3 shots for a quarter to start the third and finally scored for their biggest lead of the game, 31-23. However, Smith responded by driving right down Main Street for a lay-up, Boarman then grabbed a Shoe miss and brought it to the Ram end. Either he had the ball tipped away behind him or he passed it behind his back to a trailing Fatheree and Fatheree took it to the rack for two.

In a repeat, Boarman was bringing the ball back again and got it to Fatheree, who was fouled on the shot. Fatheree made 1-of-2 free throws to complete the 5-0 Ram run. T'town missed two 3-pointers on successive possessions. The Rams out-hustled the Shoes on the loose ball and Fatheree scored again, cutting the lead to one and extending their run to a 7-0 run with Fatheree scoring 5 of the 7 points, 31-30.

The Shoes missed another 3-pointer and Pruemer's defense caused another Shoe loose ball. He got it and called time-out with 4:54 in the third. Teutopolis had seen enough and had to call time-out.

Like a line from the movie about the 1966 Texas Western NCAA champions, "Glory Road," where they surprised the favored Kentucky Widlcats, Teutopolis had to admit concerning the Rams, " All right, they came to play."

The Rams took the ball out and after a miss, Cody Langan fought for the rebound and was fouled. He made 1-of-2 free throws and tied the game, 31-31. The Shoes split a pair at the line, 32-31. After tit-for-tat, defense inspired turnovers, Cloe was out top and found Cody Boarman on a back cut for two points and a Ram lead, 33-32 with 3:07 in the third. T'town answered right back with a jumper, 34-33.

The Rams missed a shot and Langan was double-teamed on the rebound, was knocked down to the floor. One of the Shoes landed on him, but the other Shoe was about to drop, as well. T'town missed another 3-pointer and when the Rams were bringing it back up the floor, like an enforcer on a hockey team, Langan body checked a Shoe to the deck. The ref didn't call the foul right away, but after hearing the reaction of the crowd and seeing the Shoe on the floor, deduced it must have been a foul and called it. Langan sat and the Ram fans applauded.

Teutopolis scored on a turn-arounf post jumper and a pair of free throws off Boarmans' fourth foul to lead 38-33. Cloe responded by driving and dishing to Baker out top and Baker got the ball to Pruemer, who scored inside again, 38-35. The Shoes got fouled and were put in the bonus with 1:00 to play in third. They would be shooting bonuses the rest of the game and that was key to their survival.

They made both shots for a 5-point lead, but Cloe drove, stopped and leaned in for a two, 40-37. Cloe had the ball for a last second shot in the third, but he was trapped and gave it up for a Shoe fast break and score with a second left in the period, 42-37.

Cloe got his fourth foul to start the fourth on a charge call on his post-up move. He thought he was fouled on the shot, but then found out the ref called it on him. He was not the only one in the house that saw it differently. Teutopolis scored on a putback, 44-37. Cloe went out of the game, then he and Boarman both returned, both with four fouls with 6:22 to play.

Smith got position on a defensive rebound and got the foul call. The Rams got the ball out of bounds. Cloe threw a half-court lob pass to Boarman on the inbound. Boarman had single coverage and he sealed off the defender who had fronted him. The Ram quarterback put the ball on the money and Boarman used his body to go up and score, 44-39. Fatheree scored on a putback to make it 44-41 and Teutopolis had to call time again, with 3:46 to play.

The Rams were still playing with the #1 seed and not going away.

On the ensuing Shoe possession, they passed up a 3-pointer and threw a pass inside that surprised everyone. It got though to the backside of the rim and a Shoe happened to be standing there alone. He put the ball up, but heard footsteps and missed. The ball caromed right back to him and he hurried the shot and it rolled off. The Rams were starting to get in the heads of the top-seed and tighten those Shoes up a bit.

Cloe shot a baseline jumper on the next possession and it ended up on the top of the backboard. It bounced up a couple of times then came down to Boarman. The ball was going out and Boarman saved it to Austin Smith. Boarman came back in bounds down low and Smith got it to him for the score, making it a 1-point game, 44-43. T'town called time again with 1:54 to play.

Out of the time-out, Teutopolis calmed down and made a baseline jumper, 46-43. Fatheree fought for a Ram offensive rebound and shot a short baseline jumper with two Shoes hanging on him. He missed, but was fouled. He made 1-of-2 shots and it was a 2-point game, 46-44 with a minute to play.

Coach Franks took Boarman out and put on the press. Teutopolis turned it over, Rams ball with :49 seconds left. Boarman came back in for offense. His baseline jumper missed and he fouled immediately to save the clock. But he fouled out.

Teutopolis made both super bonus shots, 48-44 with 23 seconds left. The Rams missed a 3-pointer and Pruemer grabbed the loose rebound on the floor. He tried to call time, but four Shoes were digging at the ball. Pruemer had possession, but the refs called a jump ball, which gave possession to the Shoes. The Shoes were fouled and made 1-of- 2 free throws for a 49-44 lead.

Cloe, still with four fouls, came back in for offense with 11 seconds left in the game. He dialed up a shot from long distance with a hand in his face and it hit nothing but the bottom of the net, 49-47 with 5 seconds left. The Rams called time-out. Unable to get an offensive foul on the inbound, the Rams had to foul. T'town made both free throws for the 51-47 lead. Cloe came back in with 4 seconds left, but couldn't make the last desperation trey.

Cloe had a game-high 15 points in his final game at SHS, with 10 of those 15 in the first half. He had an early and a late trey, bookending his three other scores and 3-of-3 at the line. Preumer stepped up again around the paint, scoring 11 points on five buckets and making a free throw on the tradiional 3-pointer. Fatheree was the third Ram in double figures, scoring ten points. Boarman was held to six points due primarily to getting called for three fouls in the first 6:00. Teutopolis also had three players in double figures. Jeremy Niebrugge, Thompson, and Bo Blievernight had 12 points each.

The Rams outscored the Shoes from the field. Shelby had 17 twos and two 3-pointers. T'town had 17 twos and one 3-pointer. The differense in the ball game was Teutopolis free throws. The Shoes were in the bonus the final 9:00 of the game and the Rams never were in the second half. The Shoes made 14-of-17 free throws and the Rams shot just ten, making seven.

Teutopolis will play in the regional championship game on Friday against the winner of the St. Anthony/Casey-Westfield game to be played on Tuesday.

Shelbyville Regional

Teutopolis 51, Shelbyville 47

T'town 12-17-13-9—51

Shelby 9-14-14-10—47

Ram stats: Caine Cloe 15 (3-2s, 2-3 pt FGs, 3/3 FTs), Levi Pruemer 11 (5 FGs, 1/1 FTs), Dustyn Fatheree 10 (4 FGs, 2/4 FTs), Cody Boarman 6 (3 FGs), Austin Smith 2 (FG), Clayton Baker 2 (FG), Cody Langan 1 (1/2 FTs). Team FGs 19 (2-3 pt: Cloe 2). Team FTs 7-of-10.

T'town stats: J. Niebrugge 12 (3 FGs, 6/6 FTs), Thompson 12 (3-2s, 1-3 pt FGs, 3/4 FTs), Blievernicht 12 (4 FGs, 4/4 FTs), Schumacher 6 (3 FGs, 0/1 FTs), Michels 3 (FG, 1/2 FTs), Sandschafer 2 (FG), M. Niebrugge 2 (FG), Bushur 2 (FG). Team FGs 18 (1-3 pt: Thompson). Team FTs 14-of-17.