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Steeleville takes second at Trico

Posted December 03, 2016 10:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Editor@heraldtrib.com

CAMPBELL HILL -- Steeleville survived its first offensive lapse, but not the second.

Red Bud broke open a close game with an 18-3 fourth-quarter run, giving the Musketeers a 46-34 win over the Warriors last Saturday on the final day of the Trico Pioneer Invitational.

The loss put Red Bud in a tie with Steeleville and Trico - all with 3-2 records - for second place, but the trophy went to the Warriors by virtue of superior free-throw percentage in the tournament.

"You're going to have to have a heck of a defensive effort to win if you score only 34 points," said Steeleville coach Bryce Bainter. "I don't know. Maybe we had a letdown from the night before, but we couldn't get anything going offensively and, having said that, we were still up two going into the fourth quarter."

Red Bud's Alex Birchler tied the game at 28 on a layup with 7:13 remaining, and the Musketeers got five straight points from Griffin Ziebold to take a 40-31 advantage with 2:31 to go.

"Hopefully, this is a learning experience," Bainter said. "Red Bud does a good job with their length in guarding and hopefully, we can learn from this and move on."

Reid Frederking led Steeleville with a game-high 13 points, including making a jump shot from his knees in the third quarter.

Birchler and Ziebold, the latter of which was named to the All-Tournament team for Red Bud, each scored 12 points for the Musketeers, while Frederick Grohmann - another All-Tournament team selection - added 11.

Steeleville held a 12-5 lead with 3:33 left in the first quarter after Owen Gross was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer and converted all three resulting free throws.

But the Warrior offense then went ice cold as Red Bud scored the next 15 points to lead 20-12 before Frederking swished a pair of free throws to stop the bleeding with 5:11 left in the second quarter.

Steeleville righted the ship and the teams were tied at 22 at halftime.

"The game's a lot easier when the ball goes in the basket," Bainter said. "We tried to switch up the offenses a handful of times, but it seems like we never could get a good look and when we did, they didn't fall."

Gross and Dusty Sutton, who both earned All-Tournament team selections, combined for 10 points, with Gross providing seven of that.

Steeleville will open Kaskaskia Division play on Monday at Valmeyer (6:15 p.m. JV start) and will also travel to Marissa-Coulterville on Friday.

The Warriors will finally have their home opener on Dec. 13 against Dupo, one of only two home games in the month of December - with the other Dec. 16 against Okawville in non-conference action.

"It's nice to be 3-2, I would have liked to be 4-1," Bainter said. "At the same time, maybe we didn't have our legs, I don't know what it was, but it is nice to come out of this tournament 3-2."

• S'ville 53, Sparta 43

Owen Gross scored a game-high 18 points, and Steeleville outscored Sparta 16-7 in the third quarter of a win on Nov. 29.

Reid Frederking added 10 points and R.J. Smith added nine for the Warriors (1-1), who trailed 24-22 at halftime but took a 38-31 lead into the fourth quarter.

Bryan Lowery led Sparta (0-2) with 15 points.

• S'ville 72, Shawnee 17

Dusty Sutton led all scorers with 16 points and 11 total players scored for Steeleville in a rout of Shawnee on Nov. 30.

The Warriors (2-1) led 20-7 after the first quarter and 35-8 at halftime after limiting the Redskins to one point in the second quarter.

• S'ville 58, Trico 50

Owen Gross and Dusty Sutton both scored 17 points, and Steeleville beat its archrival last Friday.

Justin Bauersachs scored a game-high 22 points for Trico in the loss.

Steeleville led 18-7 after the first quarter and 30-16 at halftime.

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