“We hoped to get something easy and we wanted to take the crowd out of it,” Rincker noted. “We played pitch and catch out front and forced them to come out and guard us. We felt like we needed to grind it out. But we also knew they would probably come back on us.”

James Niebrugge got T-Town on the board a little more than three minutes into the game. It started a 9-0 run for the Shoes. But SAHS closed the first period on a 6-0 run of their own. Brock Fearday hit a free throw, Ryan Schmidt connected on a three-pointer and Fearday hit a short jumper to give the Bulldogs a 10-9 lead.

Westendorf opened the second period with two straight baskets, one from beyond the arc, to cap the 11-0 scoring spree and extend St. Anthony’s lead to 15-9 at the 5:23 mark.

Joey Niebrugge responded with a three-point play and Caleb Siemer scored the final four points of the first half, getting the Shoes to within 18-16 at intermission.

“I thought our guys responded well,” Reeder said. “They didn’t panic or overreact. We continued to play hard on defense and got the good shots we wanted at the offensive end.”

Siemer grabbed an offensive rebound and scored just 19 seconds into the second half to tie the game. That was first of five times the score was knotted through the next four minutes. A three-pointer by James Niebrugge, however, put the Shoes on top to stay, 30-27. Niebrugge had nine points in the third period, helping the hosts take a 32-29 lead into the final eight minutes.

“James was really challenged at halftime,” Reeder said. “He was told he needed to be a factor in the second half. He came out aggressive on the offensive end and also defended very well. I’m really proud of Jimmer. He stepped up in a big way.”

Siemer and Joey Niebrugge both scored to start the fourth period and open a seven-point margin, 36-29. That forced the Bulldogs to start picking up the tempo.

“I thought we did a great job sticking to the game plan,” Rincker said. “But I wasn’t surprised one bit. When they put their mind to it, they can do anything it takes to be successful. I absolutely love these kids. They battle every night. But, eventually, we had to speed things up to try to catch up.”

Another basket by James Niebrugge and a pair of free throws from Garrett Gaddis expanded the gap to double digits, 42-32, with 2:09 left to play.

Three-pointers by Griffin Sehy and Westendorf got the Bulldogs to within six, 44-38, but the Niebrugge boys – James, Joey and Brendan – made 5-of-6 foul shots in the final 52 seconds to secure the victory.

“I thought we played pretty well the entire game,” Reeder said. “You can’t counter slow offense on one end with rushed or bad shots on the other. We didn’t do that. In the second half, we got exactly we wanted at the offensive end. Things really opened up for us. And once we got the lead, they couldn’t stall as much.”

Westendorf paced the Bulldogs with 16 points, but was the only player in double figures.

“Collin worked hard and got some opens shots; a couple open threes,” Rincker said. “It would have been nice to get somebody else going, too, but that just didn’t happen.”

The Bulldogs shot 45 percent overall, connecting on 14-of-31 shots. They were 6-for-10 from long range and 4-for-7 at the foul line.

“I feel good coming out of this game,” Rincker said. “We played a very good game against a really good 2A team. Now we just need to build on this moving forward.”

James Niebrugge, after scoring just four points in the opening half, poured in 15 in the final 16 minutes to finish with a game-high 19 points. Siemer added 14 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. The Shoes made 15-of-32 attempts, a 47 percent clip. They were 2-for-11 from behind the arc and 17-for-21 at the line. They also had a 21-14 rebounding advantage.

“Tonight is what high school basketball should be,” Reeder said. “I took a moment before the game and just looked around this gym – both sides. So many people here love watching these kids play.

“Moments like this shouldn’t just pass by,” Reeder noted. “It was a great atmosphere and both teams gave a good performance tonight.”

St. Anthony is now 17-10 on the season. The Bulldogs will return home Tuesday to face South Central in a National Trail Conference contest.

THS improved to 18-7 on the season. The Shoes will travel to Casey-Westfield Tuesday night.