“We did the things we wanted to do,” Thompson noted. “We were aggressive to the basket and played good defense. I’d still like to see us shoot more mid-range jumpers, but we did a better job tonight.

“We knew they had a couple good three-point shooters,” the THS coach added. “Ciara did a phenomenal job on (Jayley) Akers and we didn’t leave (Chaylee) Shick open either. Plus, our defensive pressure caused them some problems, too.”

Akers made one 3-pointer in the opening period, but that was the only one Lawrenceville had. Both Akers and Shick were limited to five points for the game.

The Lady Shoes extended the margin to 28 points after three periods, 43-15, and when Bueker scored in the fourth quarter, that resulted in a continuously running clock.

Mette and Bueker, both inside players, led T-Town with 10 points each. Niebrugge and Olivia Niemerg both scored seven. Mette also had six rebounds to help the Lady Shoes to commanding 33-13 edge on the boards. In addition, Niebrugge had four assists and Mette three steals.

With the victory, the Lady Shoes improved to 22-8 and will now look for their 11th straight regional title. They will face a Pana team beat Mt. Carmel 59-50 in Tuesday night’s second semifinal contest. T-Town defeated the Lady Panthers 41-36 back in December.

“It’s great to start the postseason off with a win,” Thompson said. “We have to carry over the good things we did into the next game and just keep getting better. Pana will be challenge. We have to come ready to play every game.”