“We were looking for shots early,” Reeder noted. “We’ve had discussions with the guys about that. I thought they played and shot with a lot more confidence tonight.”
The lead fluctuated between four and nine points in the second period. A bucket by Joey Niebrugge made it 25-18 at halftime.
“When they went to a zone in the second quarter, we started standing around and got passive,” Reeder explained. “We were expecting them to do that. The last three or four times we’ve played them, they’ve played zone against us. It makes sense. We have the size advantage, plus, at times, we don’t shoot it very well.”
That was not the case in the third period, however.
A jumper by Cole Gilbert, followed by a three from Ryan Richards – both after T-Town turnovers – got Casey-Westfield within four points, 27-23, two minutes into the second half. But the Shoes then made five straight shots, igniting a game-deciding 12-0 run to take control.
The Warriors turned the ball over on four straight possessions and THS took advantage. Kremer started the surge with a basket and Gaddis followed two straight buckets, the second one turned into a three-point play. Austin Bloemer then hit a jumper and Logan Lawson drilled a shot from long range to expand the lead to 39-23.
After Richards hit another shot from behind the arc for the Warriors, Zac Niebrugge and Joey Niebrugge connected on back-to-back three-pointers, giving the Shoes their largest lead of the game, 45-26. Heading into the fourth period, it was still a 17-point spread, 47-30.
But securing the win didn’t come easy.
Gaddis hit a free throw to open the final quarter, but Casey-Westfield then scored the next eight points to get within 48-38 at the 4:11 mark. After Gaddis hit a pair of foul shots, Richards connected on a three-pointer that sparked a 7-1 run. A bucket by Nolan Clement got the Warriors within six, 51-45, but there were only 27 seconds left. The Shoes closed it out by making four free throws in the final 26 seconds.
In those final eight minutes, the Shoes were 0-for-7 from the floor and just 8-of-16 from the foul line.
“We’ve struggled in closing games out,” Reeder said. “Tonight, we missed some layups and couldn’t make a free throw. But in terms of getting good shots, we did very well. We’ve just got to make them.”
Richards led the Warriors with a game-high 21 points. They shot 45 percent overall, connecting on 18-of-40 attempts. They were 4-for-18 from long range and 5-for-7 at the line.
Joey Niebrugge and Gaddis were in double figures for T-Town, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively. The Shoes were 20-for-39 from the floor, a 51 percent clip. Through three quarters, they shot a blistering 63 percent. They were 6-for-16 from three-point range and 9-for-18 at the stripe. The Shoes owned a 21-16 rebounding advantage with Joey Niebrugge grabbing a game-high nine boards.
It was a milestone victory for Reeder as he notched his 200th career coaching win.
“My mom was here, plus my wife Jess and the girls,” the veteran coach. “It was neat to have people in the crowd that have supported me through the good and bad times through the years. That was pretty cool.”
The Shoes improved to 17-9 on the season. They will be back in action Saturday, playing the final game in the Wooden Shoes Shootout. They will play Normal U-High at 5 p.m.
