Steelville High School’s boys’ basketball team competed in the St. James Invitational tournament from Jan. 19 to Jan 23. The Cardinals were seeded sixth out of seven teams and faced off against St. James in the first round. Number one seed Blair Oaks had a bye in the first round. Steelville fell to St. James, defeated Cuba in the consolation semifinals and lost in the consolation finals against Waynesville. All of Steelville’s games in the St. James tournament are detailed below.

The Cardinals were scheduled to play in Salem on Jan. 27, which will be detailed in next week’s edition. Steelville will host Cuba on Jan. 31 in collaboration with the Lady Cardinals’ basketball team for Pink Out Night which will raise funds for a local resident’s battle with cancer. The Cardinals will then return to the road and play in Union on Feb. 3 and in Kingston on Feb. 5.

Jan. 19 vs. St. James

The first quarter of Steelville’s game versus the St. James Tigers was dictated by runs from both teams.

St. James scored the first eight points of the game before Steelville responded with a 7-1 run and trailed 9-7 with a few minutes remaining in the frame. St. James finished the quarter with an 11-3 advantage and took a 20-10 lead heading into the second quarter. 

The game went downhill for the Cardinals in the second quarter, however, as St. James’ full-court pressure defense repeatedly forced turnovers that led to transition baskets on the other end. The Tigers outscored Steelville 22-8 in the second frame and took a 42-18 lead into halftime.

The Cardinals regrouped at halftime and had a slight advantage in the third frame. Steelville outscored St. James 12-10 in the third, but still trailed by 22 points going into the fourth quarter. The Tigers kept up their relentless pressure defense and repeatedly attacked the rim, which led to a whopping 31 free-throw attempts. St. James held Steelville to five points in the final frame and coasted to the final buzzer with a 69-35 win over the Cardinals. St. James headed to a second-round winners’ bracket matchup against Rolla, and Steelville went to a matchup against Cuba in the consolation portion of the bracket.

Steelville didn’t have a double-figure scorer but did receive points from seven different players. Nate Gambill drained a pair of three-pointers and finished with eight points to lead the Cardinals. Chase Grayson and Malaki Bruno each scored six, and Jackson Woods and Hunter Starbeck scored five points apiece. Trentin Garrison chipped in three, and Landon Rutledge added two points to round out the Cardinal scorers.

St. James’ pressure defense forced 24 turnovers on the evening as ball denial and getting to the free throw line were clearly an emphasis for Tigers’ head coach Ben Smith. St. James senior Aiden Boone had his fingerprints all over the game and stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. Nick Gleason added 16, and Tate Gruver chipped in 12 as the Tigers’ senior trio led the way.

Jan. 22 vs. Cuba

The Cardinals found themselves in a highly contested matchup against local rival Cuba in the consolation portion of the bracket. 

The first quarter was a close, low-scoring defensive battle, and each team scored seven points. Steelville looked like they were going to pull away in the second frame, and outscored the Wildcats by seven points in the quarter to take a 21-14 lead going into halftime. But the Wildcats poured in 20 points in the third period to get back in the game, and the Cardinals led by just two points heading into the fourth quarter.

The final frame was even, as both teams traded baskets and tensions built as the seconds ticked down. The game came down to the final seconds when Steelville senior Nate Gambill went to the free throw line with 6.2 seconds left, with the Cardinals up one point. Gambill knocked down the first free throw and missed the second, which gave the Wildcats one last chance to tie or take the lead. 

Without a timeout, Cuba senior Cameron Carnal grabbed the rebound, raced ahead, and dished it to junior Braden Gipson, who went for a three-pointer and the win. But Gipson’s shot was wide left and Steelville escaped with a victory. The Cardinals prevailed for their seventh victory of the season, keeping themselves in the tournament for a matchup in the consolation finals against Waynesville.

Eight Cardinals reached the scoresheet, led by Jackson Woods, who netted 18 points and drained four three-pointers. Trentin Garrison added eight points, and Malaki Bruno, Nate Gambill, Chace Grayson and Will Bailey scored four points apiece. Hunter Starbeck chipped in three, and Landon Rutledge added two points to round out the Cardinals’ balanced attack. Carnal scored a game-high 22 points for the Wildcats.

Jan. 23 vs. Waynesville

The Cardinals played in the consolation finals of the St. James tournament against Class 6 school Waynesville at St. James Middle School. With the tournament moved up a day due to inclement weather, Steelville was forced to play on back-to-back nights and looked to be fatigued after a strenuous game the night before.  

Steelville got out to a slow start offensively and trailed 9-4 going into the second quarter. The Cardinals offense improved in the second, but its defense couldn’t slow down a tough Waynesville attack and Steelville went into halftime down 28-13. Steelville started chipping away at the deficit in the third quarter, and the Cardinals outscored Waynesville 11-8 in the frame to go into the fourth quarter down 36-24. Steelville started the fourth quarter on a 5-0 run to make it a 36-29 game and lower the deficit to seven points. But the Cardinals couldn’t string together stops and baskets on the other end, and that was as close as they would get. Steelville was down by eight with 2:45 left, but Waynesville finished on a 11-3 run to make a close game look like a blowout and walked away with a 51-35 victory to win the consolation portion of the bracket. 

The Cardinals didn’t receive a double-figure scorer but received 9-point scoring efforts from senior guards Jackson Woods and Malakai Bruno. Woods netted a pair of three’s, a close-range basket and a free throw and Bruno knocked down a three-pointer and a trio of shots near the basket. Will Bailey added five, Chace Grayson chipped in four, Landon Rutledge scored three and Hunter Starback and Trentin Garrison each scored two points. Branden Jackson scored 15 points to lead Waynesville.