Little did Knudsen realize the junk T-Town was going to throw at her.

“We ran our junk defense tonight,” Thompson said, recalling a few years ago when she used the same defense to shut down Mt. Carmel’s Tyra Buss. “Karsyn (Mette), Ciara (Roepke) and Katelyn (Schumacher) did a terrific job taking turns guarding her. But we always had a second defender ready to help.

“Knudsen is a nice player; a smooth player,” Thompson added. “Our girls did a heckuva job on her. I think they frustrated her a little.”

The goal was to hold Knudsen to 20 points, so the junk defense worked, as she finished with just 17 points and was never really a factor in the game. The Lady Rockets didn’t have a quarter with more than seven points.

“When you hold a team to single digits every quarter, normally you’re going to do well,” Thompson said. “Our defensive effort was the difference tonight.”

The Lady Shoes scored just seven points in the opening eight minutes, but never trailed and led 7-4. They started to take control in the second period. Grace Tegeler and Roepke hit back-to-back shots and Olivia Niemerg added a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 14-6.

After Tolono Unity scored five straight points, THS closed the first half on 7-0 run of its own. Hope Bueker hit a short jumper, Lexie Niebrugge converted a turnover into a layup and Niemerg connected again from behind the arc to make it 21-11 as the teams headed to the locker room for intermission.

It was still a 10-point spread when the Lady Shoes went on another scoring spree in the third quarter. Izzy Hardiek started the 9-2 surge with a pair of free throws. Mette and Niebrugge also connected on two foul shots and Niebrugge capped the run with a 3-pointer to make it 33-16 heading into the fourth quarter.

“I thought we showed better patience on offense in the second half,” Thompson said. “We made their zone defense move. We had some questionable shots in the first half, but did a better job moving the ball and getting the ball inside the second half. I thought we got into a bit of a rhythm and got to the basket better.”

Niebrugge was the only T-Town player in double figures, finishing with 13. But the Lady Shoes showed balance with Bueker scoring nine, Roepke seven and Niemerg six. Niemerg had a game-high 13 rebounds, while Niebrugge had three steals and three assists.

So the stage is set for Thursday night. Paris defeated T-Town 44-35 in overtime in the championship game of the Charleston Holiday Tournament and then posted a 44-35 win just a few days later in Paris.

“We have a game plan for Paris. We’ve been working on that since January 2,” Thompson noted. “Now we just need to go out and play. There’s no pressure on us. They have a very good team, but they have to figure out a way to beat us for a third time. I think it will come down to who comes ready to play.

“The goal is to go 7-0 in the postseason,” Thompson added. “We’re 3-0 right now. When you get to this stage, you know you’re going to have to beat good teams to make it to the state tournament. I believe in our girls. We just need to go out and play our game.”

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Paris High School.