But Tolono Unity refused to quit, knocked down a pair of threes, forced a couple turnovers and ended the game on a 10-2 run to get within eight.

“I felt like we got complacent at the end,” Reeder noted. “In fact, I thought it started in the third quarter. After we got up 19, we took our foot off the gas pedal. We started letting them do whatever they wanted. We beat a pretty good team, but I felt like we could have separated ourselves from them more than we did.”

Despite the layoff, the Shoes shot the ball extremely well. They connected on 54 percent of their shots overall, making 19-of-35 attempts. They also made more than half of their shots from long range, going 7-for-13 from three-point range. T-Town was also 14-of-19 from the foul line.

“We looked better tonight on offense,” Reeder said. “We played with a purpose. Our passes and our cuts were sharp.

“And we shot the ball well,” the THS coach added. “That had everything to do with our ball movement. We got some wide open looks and then knocked them down.”

The Shoes also had a balanced scoring attack. Brendan Niebrugge and Siemer led the way with 16 points apiece, but Max Niebrugge and Kayden Althoff both chipped in with nine and James Niebrugge added seven.

“A lot of guys contributed, which was good to see,” Reeder noted. “It’s not good for us if just one guys scores a lot. We need everybody contributing and that’s what we got tonight.”

The Rockets had two players in double figures. Blake Kimball had 12 points and Austin Langendorf added 11.

The Shoes held a 19-14 rebounding edge, with Siemer pulling down a game-high nine rebounds. Max Niebrugge led the team with five assists.

“Like I said, overall I thought we played a solid game,” Reeder said.

The Shoes, now 4-1 on the season, will be in action twice this week. They will travel to Paris on Tuesday and then return home Friday to face Bloomington Central Catholic on Homecoming Night.