Steeleville finishes 8th at Sparta Mid-Winter Classic

<span>SPARTA -- The disappointment, and maybe a little disbelief, was evident on Bryce Bainter's face at the 51st Annual Sparta Mid-Winter Classic on Saturday.</span>

<span>Bainter's Steeleville Warriors held a nine-point advantage, 49-40, with 5:34 left in regulation after a 3-pointer by junior standout Nic Hagel.</span>

<span>But something changed down the stretch, as Freeburg finished the remainder of regulation and overtime on a 21-3 run to win the contest, 61-52, in extra time. The Midgets took the tournament's seventh place title as a result.</span>

<span>"I thought we started playing not to lose instead of playing to win when we were up five or six," Bainter said. "We got a little tentative on offense and let (Freeburg's) pressure get to us a little bit."</span>

<span>Hagel finished with a game-high 21 points for Steeleville, while sophomore Dusty Sutton was the only other Warrior in double figures with 12.</span>

<span>Zach Dieker led four Freeburg players in double figures with 17 points, while D.J. Valleroy added 14 and Jacob Mueller and Carter Bonta each contributed 10.</span>

<span>"We wanted to keep doing what we were doing," Bainter said on his approach to overtime. "Pressure them a little bit and run a good half-court offense, but we just couldn't get a shot to fall.</span>

<span>"We let the pressure get to us and that was the game."</span>

<span>Freeburg led 30-27 at halftime, but Steeleville took a 41-38 advantage into the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer from Sutton. The Warriors hit 10 shots from 3-point land in the contest.</span>

<span>Also on Saturday, Grant Kelley and Jake Chapman each scored seven points as Trico beat two-time defending tournament champion Waterloo, 30-27, to win its first Mid-Winter Classic championship since 2007.</span>

<span>Dwayne Dodson scored 16 points to help Sparta beat Du Quoin, 62-57, in the fifth-place game.</span>

<span>As for Steeleville, the Warriors finished the four-game, five-day tournament 0-4 and travel to New Athens Friday before facing Black Diamond Conference foe Goreville at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Pinckneyville Shootout.</span>

<span>"We come up to a tournament like this to get better," Bainter said. "There were a couple of games we could have won, we just didn't finish them. Hopefully, we get better by playing schools like this."</span>

Jan. 20 Scores

<span>Waterloo 58, Du Quoin 21</span>

<span>Murphysboro 56, Steeleville 36</span>

<span>Red Bud 71, Sparta 56</span>

Jan. 21 Scores

<span>Trico 48, Red Bud 28</span>

<span>Sparta 62, Freeburg 60</span>

<span>Du Quoin 50. Steeleville 48</span>

Jan. 22 Scores

<span>Waterloo 53, Steeleville 18</span>

<span>Murphysboro 57, Du Quoin 40</span>

<span>Trico 60, Freeburg 48</span>

Jan. 23 Scores

<span>Freeburg 53, Red Bud 40</span>

<span>Waterloo 36, Murphysboro 28</span>

<span>Trico 63, Sparta 48</span>

Jan. 24 Scores

<span>Sparta 62, Du Quoin 57 (Fifth Place Game)</span>

<span>Murphysboro 40, Red Bud 34 (Third Place Game)</span>

<span>Trico 30, Waterloo 27 (Championship Game)</span>

<span> </span>