Red Bud girls down Steeleville
<span>STEELEVILLE -- Allanah Renner posted a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds, but Steeleville fell behind early to Red Bud in a 47-43 loss to the Musketeers on Jan. 28.</span>
<span>The Lady Warriors trailed 47-40 after an eight-point Steeleville run. A 3-pointer from Chloe Gerlach with 5.3 seconds left accounted for the final score.</span>
<span>"You've got to give (Red Bud) credit," said Steeleville coach Brad Copelin. "We dug ourselves a hole and every time we tried to come back, we got within five, and they hit the shots they needed to keep it that way.</span>
<span>"No. 22 came out and did almost everything for them."</span>
<span>That would be junior guard Olivia Bievenue, who scored a game-high 17 points for Red Bud. Freshman Sophie Richards added 12 points and senior Jessica Otten contributed nine.</span>
<span>"Our main focus was to try and run the floor, if possible," said Red Bud coach April York. "Try to take it to the hole every time and draw fouls.</span>
<span>"We did an OK job of that, but we need to work on that still."</span>
<span>Trailing 11-2 early thanks to foul trouble and some untimely turnovers, Steeleville rallied to tie the game at 11 on a jumper from Morgan Bockhorn - who later left the game with an ankle injury.</span>
<span>Red Bud (10-12) responded with four straight points, including two free throws from Olivia Bievenue after Chloe Gerlach picked up her second foul with 6:57 left in the second quarter.</span>
<span>At that point, Steeleville had been whistled for seven fouls compared to zero for Red Bud.</span>
<span>"We're in the attitude now, after being in some of the gyms we've been at where the refs really dictated the pace, we get a foul and the girls' heads are down thinking about the refs are already against us," Copelin said. "We're trying to get out of that attitude. It's hard for them to understand refs are going to make bad calls, but you've got to play through it."</span>
<span>Trailing 23-18 at halftime, Steeleville closed to within five again, 35-30 on a jumper from Lexi Middendorf with 1:58 left in the third quarter.</span>
<span>But Red Bud responded once again in the fourth quarter, building a 45-32 lead with 3:42 remaining on a 3-pointer from Bievenue.</span>
<span>"I didn't sub anybody all game, so I'm out with some injuries and some sicknesses," York said. "The second half I think you could tell they were a little drained, but the first half, I think we did a pretty good job pushing the ball."</span>
<span>Middendorf finished with 12 points for Steeleville, while Gerlach added six. Other scorers included Mackenzie Pim (4), Bailey Gale (2) and Bockhorn (2).</span>
<span>"It depends on what team shows up," Copelin said on where he thought the team is at with regionals approaching in a few weeks. "We have every quality of a young team. Some nights we look fabulous, some nights we look like we're a first-year team.</span>
<span>"We're very inconsistent."</span>
<span>Dupo 56, Steeleville 36: </span><span>Leading just 22-20 at halftime, Dupo pulled away in the second half of a victory over Steeleville on Jan. 20.</span>
<span>The Tigers outscored the Lady Warriors 21-7 in the fourth quarter and were led by Leia Campbell's 25 points. Chloe Gerlach was the leading scorer for Steeleville, but individual statistics weren't released.</span>
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