But after Wednesday’s game, much of the focus was on Bloemer, the Shoes’ 6’6” reserve post player.

“I’m so darn proud of him,” THS coach Chet Reeder said. “Here’s a kid that didn’t play much in junior high. He hadn’t developed yet. But he kept sticking with it and continued to work.

“Now here he is making a gigantic impact in a sectional game,” Reeder added. “How cool is that?”

The game was tied four times in the first half. But with T-Town’s leading scorer, Garrett Gaddis, on the bench with two early fouls, the Shoes needed some scoring help from others. As it turns out, that help came from an unexpected source.

A basket by Alex Kremer and a three-point play by Tyler Pruemer staked the Shoes to a seven-point lead, 15-8, in the first 90 seconds of the second quarter. The Rockets got back-to-back threes from Henry Thomas and Dane Eisenmenger and then a free throw from Henry Thomas to knot the score at 15-15.

Bloemer’s first basket put Teutopolis ahead by two and his second, after grabbing an offensive rebound, gave the Shoes a lead they never relinquished. Two free throws by Joey Niebrugge sent T-Town to the locker room with a 21-17 advantage.

“Austin just kept moving and getting to the right spots,” Reeder noted. “With Garrett in foul trouble, we needed to find points somewhere else. Austin came up huge. He was the difference tonight.”

It was a two-point lead early in the third period when Kramer, Joey Niebrugge and Bloemer each scored to make it an eight-point spread, 29-21. Another short jumper from Bloemer gave the Shoes a 33-27 advantage heading into the final eight minutes.

Ironically, Bloemer scored the team’s final basket of the game at the 4:42 mark, giving THS a 37-30 lead. Their final 11 points all came from the free throw line.

In the December 2 contest at J.H. Griffin Gymnasium, the Rockets used a 9-2 run in the fourth quarter to pull ahead and post a 60-52 road win. The Shoes were guilty of 21 turnovers, including a couple crucial miscues in the decisive final period.

But Wednesday night was a different story. The Shoes had just 10 total turnovers and only two in the fourth quarter. And in the final 1:46, they went 11-for-14 from the foul line. Joey Niebrugge was 4-for-4, Gaddis made both of his charity tosses and Pruemer was 3-for-4, helping T-Town secure the victory.

A key moment was at that 1:46 mark. It was just a three-point lead, 37-34. But after Pruemer made two foul shots, the St. Joe bench was whistled for a technical foul. Gaddis made both of those free throws, and then Mitch Koester was immediately fouled and converted one of his two foul shots.

In a span of three seconds, that three-point margin had expanded to an eight-point cushion, 42-34.

The Rockets got a three by Dalton O’Neill to trim the gap to five with 1:31 to play, but the Shoes knocked down five free throws over the next 57 seconds to gain their largest lead of the contest, 47-37, with only 34 ticks remaining.

“This was the type of game we expected,” Reeder said. “I did think both teams would score a little more, but it was a defensive battle.”

In addition to fewer turnovers, another key was the impact T-Town’s defense had on St. Joe’s shooting. In that game 89 days ago, the Rockets shot very well, connecting on 56 percent of their attempts, including 6-for-11 from behind the arc.

This time around, SJO was just 15-for-45, a cool 33 percent. And the Rockets really struggled from long range, connecting on only 4-of-23 attempts.

“We wanted to keep them out of the paint and then prevent them from kicking it out for open threes,” Reeder explained. “I thought our rotation was really good tonight. We made them take difficult shots.

“I thought both teams played incredible on defense,” Reeder added. “Neither team really got into a rhythm offensively.”

Bloemer and Joey Niebrugge shared game-high scoring honors, both finishing with 10 points. Even though the Shoes didn’t make a three-pointer, going 0-for-6, they shot very well overall, connecting on 17-of-32 attempts, a 53 percent clip. They were also 14-for-20 at the foul line.

Now it’s on to the sectional final against St. Joe-Ogden, who will enter with a 27-6 record. That includes a 53-40 setback at home against the Shoes on January 9.

“These big moments are not foreign to us,” Reeder said. “This team is easy to like; easy to cheer for. These kids will give everything they have and give St. Joe their best shot.”