Steeleville boys clinch first Kaskaskia title

Posted February 12, 2016 10:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

With a 60-47 win over Lebanon on Feb. 9, the Steeleville boys clinched their first-ever Kaskaskia Division title in the Cahokia Conference.

Nic Hagel scored 24 points and Dusty Sutton added 17 for the Warriors, who can go undefeated in conference play with a win over New Athens today.

"I think it just shows the work they put in the offseason and the work they do every day," said Steeleville coach Bryce Bainter. "The last three years we've gotten second in the conference and I think this year they think they could win it.

"I told the kids to enjoy it because they earned it."

Steeleville (19-7, 9-0 Kaskaskia Division) has won five straight games and eight of its last nine heading into Wednesday's Senior Night matchup with regional rival Chester.

The Yellow Jackets took a hard-fought 67-64 win over the Warriors in the season opener at the Trico Pioneer Invitational in November.

"Our senior class, we're a very diverse group to say the least," said Steeleville senior Bryar Pim. "We all have our differences. Parker Lutz works his tail off on defense and Nic can shoot the lights out any day out of the week and Trey (Lazenby) is a fantastic man in the post.

"I'm just honored to be able to experience the season with them."

Lazenby has been one of the success stories for Steeleville after not playing organized basketball prior to this season. The 6-foot-1 center has reached double-digits 10 times this season and is averaging 7.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

"As the season's gone on, he's gotten more comfortable with the system we run," Bainter said of Lazenby. "He's starting to find his groove and starting to relax."

Another key to Steeleville's season has been its ability to stay relatively healthy. The Warriors recently got guard Owen Gross back after the freshman missed several games with a foot injury.

"This year's been a 180 from last year," Bainter said. "We were pretty banged up last year and I think the kids throughout the year have grown together as a team.

"They've developed their skills throughout the year and I felt toward the end of the Sparta tournament, we've kinda hit our stride."

With five seniors on the roster, including the team's leading scorer and rebounder in Hagel, Pim noted that the seniors know it's their last ride as Warriors.

"This has been the fastest year of school that I've noticed," he said. "We realize that it's our last season and we just want to make the most of it. Defense, offense and playing as a team."

Pim also touched on finishing the conference season undefeated.

"We still have New Athens coming up and we would like to see ourselves undefeated in conference," he said. "We still have some kinks to work out to prepare ourselves for regionals."

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