Steeleville falls to Lady Trojans in regional semifinals
This time, there was no postseason magic for Steeleville.
Senior Kaylea Potter scored 24 points and freshman Emma Moser added 21, leading third-seeded Webber Township to a 66-60 win over the sixth-seeded Lady Warriors in Monday's semifinals of the Class 1A Steeleville Regional.
Unlike a year ago, when Steeleville rode a wave of postseason momentum all the way to the Class 1A Salem Super-sectional, the Lady Warriors saw the pendulum swing in the other direction.
Abby Potter banked a 3-pointer with 3:15 left, and later added two free throws for a five-point spurt that gave Webber township a 61-57 lead with 2:22 remaining.
That proved to be the turning point in a see-saw contest in which both teams struggled to distance themselves from one another.
"That banked three was definitely the turning point," said Steeleville coach John Antonacci. "We had done a pretty good job of bottling them up. They were having trouble getting offense going and those three points gave them a two-point advantage.
"They were able to pull the ball out, we had to step up and try and get the ball, and any time you do that, driving lanes open up."
Moser hit one of two free throws with 1:11 to go that stretched the Lady Trojans' lead to five, 62-57.
Steeleville managed to get the deficit back down to three, 63-60, on a free throw by Chloe Gerlach with 40 seconds left, but the Lady Warriors were forced to foul.
Moser then calmly sank two free throws to push Webber Township's lead back to five, 65-60, with 17.6 seconds left.<span class="s1">
</span>"The bottom line is just winning," said Webber Township coach Rick Hays. "Just happy with that tonight. Some things we could do better of course, but to beat Steeleville on their home floor, we knew it was going to be a pretty hostile environment for us."
Webber Township improved to 17-7 with the win, while Steeleville saw its season end at 11-18. It was the last high school basketball game for Lady Warrior seniors Gerlach, Bailey Gale and Morgan Bockhorn.
"We were getting close to the end of the game and we had a senior who was out, not because she was in foul trouble, and I was getting ready to put her in and she said 'Coach, it's not going to give us the best chance to win,'" Antonacci said. "So she didn't go back in and I think that sums it up about this senior class.
"They are 100 percent about the team and what's going to be the best for our team and we're going to miss that going forward."
The Lady Trojans advanced to face No. 2 seed Christopher - which had few problems in defeating No. 8 Elverado, 63-29, in Monday's earlier semifinal - in Thursday's regional final.
Autumn Gunter, who recently recorded her 2,000th career point for the Bearcats, led the way for Christopher with 25 points.
Ten other players notched at least a bucket in the victory, which saw Christopher respond to an early 8-8 tie with a 28-2 run to take control.
Class 2A
Vienna Regional
Emma Basler scored 19 points, all in the first half, and Anna-Jonesboro put together a 28-8 second quarter in a 61-31 win over Chester in the quarterfinals of the Vienna Regional.
Alexis McMath led the Lady Yellow Jackets with nine points in the loss, as Chester finished its season at 12-12 overall having lost four straight and five of its last six games.
With no seniors on the roster, the Lady Yellow Jackets could return everybody in 2016-17. Anna-Jonesboro advanced to meet No. 1 seed Carterville in Tuesday's semifinals.
Sesser-Valier Regional
Claudia Mehring led Red Bud with 14 points and the Musketeers held off Sparta for a 44-38 victory in the quarterfinals of the Sesser-Valier Regional.
Kera Kiner led all scorers with 16 points for Sparta in the loss. Red Bud advanced to face No. 2 seed Johnston City in Tuesday's semifinals.