Blog Thrice

Hows it going everybody? I am back today for another RitzBitz blog. As promised from last week this week's blog will be about the Teutopolis boys basketball team and how they are doing and what to expect down the stretch for them.

The Wooden Shoes are (17-2) after defeating Windsor tonight by a score of 52-22 in the 74th Annual National Trail Conference. The Shoes have won 14 straight games and won three tough games last week beating some good teams in the process. They beat Casey-Westfield by eight, Altamont by four, and finally Danville by seven. These three games were really important for the Shoes because by winning these games the players showed they can play with the best, and win tight games. The Shoes are led by Senior guard Tony Zerrusen who averages 15 points a game, and Senior forward Brian Haskerherm with 12 points a game. The shoes also get great contributions from seniors Jeremy Schumacher, John Runde, and Kendall Giles. These guys do not get enough credit for how much great defense they bring to the court, and the leadership they have as well. They sometimes might not be the leading scorers, but the parts they play is a vital part of the Shoes this season.

The Wooden Shoes are currently playing in the National Trail Conference Tournament where they have earned themselves the number one seed, and are the favored to win. The tournament, however, will be not be given to them on a silver platter. They have to face a tough rematch against the Altamont Indians who will be playing on there home court. The shoes will have there hands full, but showed they can beat the Indians once this year, and this game will decide who will move to the Championship game. Other teams that pose a threat is the St. Anthony Bulldogs who have the two seed. The Bulldogs are always a tough crew to beat, and this year they are getting votes for state rankings. Everytime these two teams play, the games are so physical, and the fans are always into it. I am expecting a Wooden Shoe/Bulldog championship game in the National Trail Conference Tournament. That would be really exciting if the two teams did matchup for the championship as both teams hate each other. One other team to not look over is the Stewardson Strasburg Comets who earned themselves the three seed. They will be playing the Bulldogs in the Semi-finals, and the Bulldogs have beat them once this year by ten points, so the Comets are looking for some revenge, and no better time would be to do it in the tournament.

After this tournament is over the Wooden Shoes will be facing some pretty tough teams heading into the postseason. The Shoes have played really good defense, and have a well distribution of scoring this year, but if they want to continue winning games down the stretch and into the postseason they will have to play a team effort. On the schedule they have to play the Comets and Bulldogs one more time each and both games are not going to be easy. Then they finish out there schedule with Cowden-Herrick and Madison. If the seniors step and play well and the Shoes get good contributions from the bench players they will be very hard to beat.

One more final note before I head out today. I would like to give a big heads up to my friend Zach Braden has he sits through all the games at the National Trail Conference Tournament and post all the scores from his labtop. He does a really great job posting the scores on IllinoisHighSchoolSports.com which is a great website. So good job as he keeps all the fans updated that can not make it to the games.

Well, time for me to wrap this up, but next time on the RitzBitz blog I will be posting about how my life has been so far in the new semester and how things are going in 2009. Until then hopefully everybody has fun time and I will talk to you later.