And it caused the Shoes problems, especially the first two quarters. T-Town owned a slim 10-8 lead after the opening eight minutes, but they didn’t hit a single field goal in the second period – and only three for the entire first half. The Shoes made only five free throws and the Meteors held a 20-15 advantage at intermission.

“We were fortunate to only be down five at halftime,” Reeder admitted. “There was no flow to the game and we weren’t making shots. We weren’t moving the ball and we struggled finding holes in their zone. Our defense kept us in the game.”

Like most good teams do, adjustments were made during the break.

“Our guards started moving the ball better,” the THS coach noted. “We started finding Brock (Deters) and Matt (Deters) down low and also got the ball to the wings. Jordan (Hardiek) made a couple shots that loosened up their defense a little.”

Evan Wermert and Brock Deters scored in the first 90 seconds of the second half. After Khaje Branch hit a short jumper for TFN, Jordan Hardiek drilled a three to tie the game at 22-22. After a free throw by TFN’s Julius Byrd, the Shoes got baskets from Brock Deters, Jordan Hardiek and Matthew Deters at the buzzer to take a 28-23 advantage into the final eight minutes.

Jason Fudge scored for the Meteors to open the fourth quarter to trim the gap to three, but that’s the closest it got. Jordan Hardiek made a jumper and Luke Ungrund turned in a three-point play to open a 33-25 lead.

T-Town made 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch to maintain a comfortable margin and secure a berth in the semifinal round.

“Defense won the game for us tonight,” Reeder said. “It kept us within striking distance.

“I felt like if we could get a lead of a couple possessions, we’d be in good shape,” Reeder added. “We made some timely shots in the second half and came away with a hard-fought win.”

Jordan Hardiek was the only Shoes player to reach double figures, finishing with 17 points, 11 of those coming in the second half. Byrd had 10 for the Meteors.

With the victory, the Shoes improved to 13-5. They will now face Effingham for the second time this season. The Shoes posted a 66-57 victory over the Hearts on January 3.

“Effingham is a really good team,” Reeder said. “Neither team will have time to prepare, but we probably know each other fairly well. It will probably come down to which team executes better.”