“We had a 27-point win, but there’s still a lot for us to work on, which is good,” Reeder said. “We had too many unforced turnovers.  We weren’t getting our feed under us before we started dribbling the ball. That caused some silly turnovers.

“But I really liked our effort, especially on defense,” Reeder added. “And, we were relentless on the glass, especially on the offensive end. Guys just seemed to come out of nowhere to grab rebounds. That was great to see.”

That defensive intensity set the tone early. The Shoes forced the Eagles into 31 turnovers in the game, including seven in the opening eight minutes. T-Town converted three of those into baskets to build a lead it never relinquished.

“We did things tonight we need to do all season,” Reeder explained. “This team’s strength is going to be in transition. We need our defense to create turnovers and provide us with some easy baskets. We did that tonight. I thought we were especially strong in the second quarter. We turned them over and got some great looks at the offensive end.”

The Shoes placed three players in double figures. Brendan Niebrugge led the way with 24 points – 22 of those coming in the first half. James Niebrugge scored 14 and Kayden Althoff added 10. Teutopolis dominated the glass, holding a 31-17 rebounding advantage. Kayden Althoff led the team with eight boards, while Caleb Siemer pulled down seven.

The Shoes also shot the ball well. They made 47 percent overall, knocking down 28-of-60 attempts. They were 7-for-11 from three-point range and 6-for-11 at the foul line.

“It was a good way to start the season,” Reeder said. “We just need to build on that and continue to improve.”

T-Town will be back in tournament action tonight (Tuesday). The Shoes will play Highland at 8 p.m.