STEELVILLE — The Steelville High School boy’s basketball team will look to build off a successful season in which they won 15 games and the Class 3 District 8 Tournament in head coach Josh Pritchett’s first season as the head man.

Pritchett, who won District Coach of the Year, is now tasked with reassembling the Cardinals roster that lost nine seniors, led by leading scorer and rebounder Gage Harris. Harris is now a freshman on Evangel University’s basketball team, where Pritchett starred as a player just two years ago before taking the coaching job.

Pritchett said that he will lean on All-Conference senior Malachi Bruno and Jackson Woods — who was the team’s sixth man last season — to lead this year’s squad. Bruno averaged nine points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals a game last season, and his numbers will likely increase this year with a larger opportunity. Pritchett also highlighted seniors Landon Rutledge and Trentin Garrison as players who came off the bench last season who he expects to take a leap in production.

Pritchett also said that senior Nate Gambill, who transferred after a move from Licking, will “help the team a lot” and junior Will Bailey is someone who will provide a punch off the bench. Pritchett added that the team will have back senior Hunter Starbeck, who had been dealing with health issues, and the team is happy to have him back. 

The Cardinals will have to deal with a tough, road-heavy schedule in the beginning of the season.

Steelville officially starts their season at home on Nov. 25 against Dixon. But, then they will play six road games and two tournaments before playing at home again in early 2026.

Steelville is scheduled to compete in the FCNB Bank-It Championship Tournament in Sullivan and then in the 70th annual Bob Sechrest Jr. Central Christmas Tournament before playing again at home almost two months later on Jan. 14 against St. Clair. 

Despite the difficult schedule, Pritchett sees the challenge as something his team can benefit from.

“I have always had the philosophy that whenever you have a tougher regular season schedule, you’re going to have a better chance at going farther in the postseason,” Pritchett said. “So I mean, I like the challenge. I hope that we can step up and go from there.”

Pritchett said that he sees his team playing at a fast pace and will use pressure defense to create offense. 

“I think that this team will be really good at getting the ball up and down the floor quickly,” he said. “We want to create a lot of pressure defensively. Hopefully we can make a lot of shots, a lot of threes, but we’ll see how it goes.” 

Pritchett and his Cardinals will compete on Nov. 18 in the Kingston Preseason Jamboree in Kingston before tipping off the regular season next Tuesday (Nov. 25) at home against Dixon.