The feelings of elation on Feb. 23 after a victory over Laquey turned sour two days later for the Steelville High School girls’ basketball team. The Lady Cardinals’ season ended after falling to number one-seeded Dixon in the Class 3 District 8 semifinals on Feb. 25 at Steelville High School. The Lady Cardinals hosted the district tournament, and defeated Laquey on Feb. 23 in the quarterfinals. Dixon went on to win the district championship and Fatima took second place.

The Lady Cardinals finished the season with an 11-16 record and will lose seniors Peyton Brooks, Aaleigha Decker and Marley Eilert to graduation. 

Steelville will return its leading scorers, Emeri Perkins (15.6 ppg) and Jazmyn Hurd (11.6 ppg) for their senior seasons, along with fellow upcoming senior and leading rebounder, Sylvia Davis (6.1 rpg). Hurd also led the Lady Cardinals in assists (117) and steals (94) and Perkins topped Steelville’s stat sheet in free throws made (66) and deflections on defense (109). The Lady Cardinals boasted a strong freshmen class of Alex Helms, Adalei Perkins, Kaylee Pitts, Brooklyn Thomas and Kaylee Piersall along with sophomore Claire Settles that all will look to compete for larger roles in next year’s team. 

Phillip Gambill completed his first season as head coach for the Lady Cardinals. He will look to steady the position after being Steelville’s third head coach in the last three seasons. Gambill spoke afterward about his team’s effort and improvement throughout the season.

“I was very pleased with the progress made throughout the season. I felt we improved in many areas of the game,” Gambill said. “Players improved individual skill sets and we got a good mix of players in games throughout the season. Our young players saw a lot of varsity minutes and were put in game situations at a young age, which will only help us going forward. I was very proud of our players’ fight throughout the season. We competed every day in practice, games were no different. Players showed fight no matter what adversity came their way. This is a recipe for success going forward.”

Steelville had been to nine straight district finals leading up to this season, and picked up district titles in six of those years. Dixon looks to be the team to beat in the foreseeable future after their district championship and with a roster of only freshmen and sophomores. Belle and Fatima picked up 16 and 14 wins, respectively, so the Lady Cardinals will have a tall task to flip the script next season. 

Gambill said that he knows there’s work to be done from his group but believes that an exciting future lies ahead for his program. 

“Moving forward, we are going to keep working on our fundamentals and find ways to improve,” he said. “This group works hard and hard work pays off. We are going to have an exciting future. It’s going to be a fun ride going forward.”  

Feb. 23 vs. Laquey

The Lady Cardinals came out of the gates hot on Feb. 23 versus Laquey and scored the first seven points of the game against the Lady Hornets. Laquey settled in, and Steelville used a strong offensive quarter to take a 20-10 lead into the second frame. The Lady Hornets used pressure defense in the second quarter to repeatedly force turnovers and narrow the gap. Steelville junior Emeri Perkins scored 14 points in the first half to help the Lady Cardinals hold onto a six-point lead heading into halftime.

The Lady Hornets came out of the break with a different level of intensity and took back the lead from the Lady Cardinals. Laquey led by three with less than three minutes remaining in the frame and the physicality of the game seemed to turn up a notch. Both teams had multiple players in foul trouble and players on both sides continually went to the free throw line. After back and forth baskets, the game was tied at 38 going into the final period. 

Steelville gained momentum back early in the fourth quarter when Laquey’s biggest threat, six-foot senior Trinity Harvey, fouled out. The Lady Cardinals had foul trouble of their own, but were able to attack the paint without Harvey’s presence. Steelville went on an 11-0 run to turn a two-point deficit into a nine-point lead. After a timely timeout from head coach Brittany Matlock, Laquey responded with six straight points to narrow the deficit to three points with less than two minutes remaining. With tensions rising, Steelville junior Jazmyn Hurd swiped a steal, and finished a layup at the other end to give the Lady Cardinals a five-point lead. Laquey added on just one free throw at the other end, and Steelville was able to dribble the clock out and walk away with a 59-55 victory to advance to the district semifinals against number one-seeded Dixon. 

Emeri Perkins drained a trio of three-pointers and finished with a game-high 24 points to lead Steelville. Hurd added 16, Sylvia Davis and Adalei Perkins scored seven points apiece, Aaleigha Decker chipped in three and Alex Helms added two points for the Lady Cardinals. Laquey sophomore Keilana Concepcion netted 21 points and Harvey added 15 to pace the Lady Hornets. 

Feb. 25 vs. Dixon 

The Dixon Lady Bulldogs used dominant first and third quarters on Feb. 25 against Dixon to advance to the district finals and end Steelville’s season in frustration. Lady Bulldog freshman Aaliyah Ford buried a pair of three-pointers and tallied 10 points in the opening frame to propel the Lady Bulldogs to a 15-3 lead after the first quarter. Jazmyn Hurd knocked down a three-pointer for the Lady Cardinals’ lone basket in the frame. 

Steelville started the second frame with urgency, and quickly narrowed the gap to single digits, giving its home fans a glimmer of hope for a comeback. But Dixon responded with a 12-5 run to end the frame and turned an eight point lead into a 15 point advantage heading into halftime. 

Dixon erased all hopes of a Lady Cardinals’ comeback in the third frame, as the Lady Bulldogs used a 23-11 edge to balloon its lead to 27 points heading into the final quarter. The damage had been done at that point and Dixon coasted to a 67-37 victory that sucked the air and energy out of the Steelville gymnasium. 

The Lady Cardinals didn’t have a player reach double figures, but had eight players score baskets. Steelville’s juniors led the way as Hurd scored nine, Emeri Perkins added eight and Sylvia Davis chipped in six points. Freshmen Adalei Perkins netted five, Brooklyn Thomas tallied three and Alex Helms scored two. Seniors Aaleigha Decker and Peyton Brooks each scored two points in their final game for the Lady Cardinals. 

Dixon had four players reach double digits, led by its star freshman duo of Inez Ballard and Ford, who registered 22 and 17 points, respectively.