The Shoes took the lead for good when James Niebrugge’s basket broke a 5-5 tie midway through the opening quarter. Caleb Siemer then scored four points and Brendan Niebrugge connected on a three, helping the hosts build a 16-9 lead after eight minutes.

The margin fluctuated between 7 and 10 points throughout the second period. After Garrett Gaddis hit a jumper, T-Town owned a 10-point advantage, 33-23. But Danville’s O’Shawn Jones-Winslow scored the final four points, making it a 33-27 edge at halftime.

“Danville is a solid team,” Reeder noted. “Maybe we made them look bad at times with our execution and we did force them into taking some tough shots. But we made some mistakes, too.”

Caleb Bloemer hit a shot and Brendan Niebrugge connected from behind the arc to re-establish that double-digit lead when the second half opened. Joey Niebrugge hit a three to make it a 13-point spread at 44-31, but the Maroons got within 48-39 when JaVaughn Robinson drained a three.

The Shoes closed the third period on a three from Brendan Niebrugge and a buzzer-beating putback from Logan Roepke after he grabbed an offensive rebound. Heading into the final eight minutes, T-Town owned a 53-39 lead.

“I thought we played with a little more swagger and confidence,” Reeder noted. “We’re a good team with good players. I just think we get caught second-guessing ourselves sometimes.”

Joey Niebrugge scored two baskets and Siemer added another to quickly expand the gap to 20 points, 59-39.  The Shoes led by as many as 24 points before finishing with the 21-point win.

“I thought Joey really got back on track tonight,” Reeder said. “He’s had a couple rough games. I was proud of how he bounced back.”

Brendan Niebrugge led the scoring attack with 16 points, while Joey Niebrugge scored 14, Gaddis 12 and Siemer turned in another double-double, finishing with an 11-point, 13-rebound performance.

The Shoes also shot extremely well. They finished 26-for-47 overall, a 57 percent clip. They were 5-for-15 from long range and 10-for-14 from the foul line. They dominated the boards, holding a 29-15 advantage.

“We have really struggled offensively as of late,” Reeder noted. “We’ve only shot 34 percent three of the last four games. We just couldn’t put the ball in the hole. I thought we had better ball movement tonight and just looked to be back to our normal selves. It was good to see.”

THS improved to 15-4 on the season. The Shoes will have a tough road test Saturday. They will travel to Prairie Central to face one of the better Class 2A teams in teams in the state. The Hawks are 17-1 on the season. It will be the second time in eight days the Shoes will face a state-ranked team on the road.

“They are a really good team with really good players,” Reeder said. “They are state-ranked for a reason. Their place will be loud and crazy. We’re excited for the opportunity to go up there and play them. Our schedule is certainly not getting any easier.”