The second half saw the lead fluctuate between 12 and 22 points with a steady parade to the foul stripe. The two teams shot 36 free throws in the final 16 minutes.

The Saints scored six straight points to close to 30-18 in the third period, but Pruemer, Joey Niebrugge, Bloemer and Addis all made free throws to extend the lead back to 18 points, 37-19. Heading into the final eight minutes, THS owned a 41-24 edge.

Just 70 seconds into the fourth quarter, following a three-pointer from Niebrugge, the Shoes had their biggest lead of the game, 46-24. BCC responded by scoring six straight points, kept whittling away and eventually got to within a dozen, 50-38. But free throws down the stretch helped the Shoes stay comfortably in front.

“One of the hardest things to do is play with the lead,” Reeder explained. “It’s tough to stay aggressive and still be patient. I might have pulled the reins in a little too early. But when you have the lead, the clock is the opponent’s enemy.

“Plus, we’re still learning,” Reeder added. “For many of our guys, this was just their seventh varsity game. I thought this game was great for our confidence.”

Neither team shot well. The Shoes were 15-for-39 overall, a 38 percent clip, while the Saints made only 33 percent of their attempts, connecting on 13-of-39.  But both teams got plenty of practice from the charity stripe. T-Town was 19-of-28, while BCC was 10-of-17.

“I knew it would be this type of game,” Reeder said. “They don’t have a lot of returning players either. I expected it to be ugly at times and it was. I would have liked for us to finish a little better than we did, but overall, I thought our kids played with tremendous grit and energy.”

Trey Eller and DJ Larson led Central Catholic in scoring, finishing with 12 and 11 points respectively. Addis was the game’s leading scorer with 15 points, while Niebrugge added 12 and Pruemer chipped in with 10 for the Shoes. Pruemer came close to a double-double, grabbing nine rebounds and helping THS to a 26-18 advantage on the boards.

“I thought Tyler did a very good job guarding their best shooter (Eller), but we let Larson get loose a couple times,” Reeder noted. “And then Garrett and Joey did their thing. Overall, it was a good win for us.”

The Shoes, now 5-2, will return to action Tuesday night with a road game at Effingham.