“We didn’t start the game right at all,” Reeder said. “I thought we came out timid. And defensively, we weren’t ourselves. But once we picked up the pressure, we got into a groove. But good teams like that will never go away.”

Alex Kremer hit a short jumper and then drilled a three from the corner to get THS going. He added another basket later, helping the Shoes get within 17-11 at the end of the first period.

From there on out, the game was tight. Tuscola never led by more than six and the Wooden Shoes by no more than five.

After Sweetnam converted another one of those turnovers into a basket, Austin Bloemer, who came off the bench and scored six points in the second period, hit a short jumper to start an 8-0 run. Kremer added a pair of foul shots and Garrett Gaddis and Tyler Pruemer both scored to give the Shoes their first lead of the game, 22-20 at the 2:39 mark.

The two teams traded baskets until Pruemer grabbed an offensive rebound and scored in the final seconds to send Teutopolis to the locker room with a 28-26 halftime lead.

“There were three keys to this game -- limiting their points in the paint, offensive rebounding and turnovers,” Reeder explained. “To me, our turnovers were the big stat. They had eight steals and converted many of those into easy points. Turnovers were the difference tonight.”

The Shoes looked good to start the third period. Joey Niebrugge made two free throws and Gaddis connected on a three-pointer, giving the hosts their largest lead of the game, 33-28, about 90 seconds into the second half.

But the Warriors rattled off the next seven points to reclaim the lead. They were up four as the final seconds ticked off the clock, but Gaddis heaved one from midcourt that swished through the net, getting T-Town within 43-42 heading into the final eight minutes.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the game was tied 47-47. But from that point on, the Shoes had trouble making shots. Zac Niebrugge did knock one down from behind the arc that got THS within 52-50 with 1:43 to play. But T-Town made just one of its final five attempts, which was not enough to offset Tuscola’s good free throw shooting down the stretch.

“We had good looks in that fourth period,” Reeder said. “We ran our offense exactly like we wanted and got the shots. They just didn’t fall.”

The Warriors, who improved to 16-2 on the season, were led in scoring by Sweetnam, who finished with 20 points. Quinn added 14, and his final free throw with just 13 seconds to play gave him 1,000 for his career. Tuscola shot well, connecting on 21-of-41 attempts, a 51 percent clip. They were 7-for-17 from long range and 10-for-13 at the foul line.

The Shoes also had two players in double figures. Gaddis scored 14 and Kremer added 11. They shot 42 percent from the floor, going 20-for-48. They were just 4-for-13 – and 1-for-9 from three-point range – in the fourth period. Overall, they were 4-for-19 on three-point shots and 8-for-11 at the charity stripe.

“These types of games really help prepare us for February,” Reeder said. “Tuscola is a very good team.”

The Shoes dipped to 12-6 on the season. They will return to action Tuesday with a road game at Danville.