STEELVILLE – Steelville High School’s girls basketball team was seeded eighth out of eight teams in the 70th Annual Bob Sechrest Jr. Central Christmas Tournament in Park Hills.

Beginning with a morning matchup on Dec. 26 against Festus, the Lady Cardinals faced off against the number one seed Lady Tigers. Steelville lost a hard-fought game against a powerhouse Festus team and defeated Fredericktown the following morning to advance to the consolation finals. 

The Lady Cardinals will play South Iron in the consolation championship game at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 31, which will be detailed in next week’s edition. 

Steelville will host Belle at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 2 before competing in the Battle of Bourbon Tournament. The Lady Cardinals are seeded third in the tournament and face six-seeded Newburg at 7 p.m. on Jan. 5 in the first round of the tournament. Steelville will play in the tournament the following night on Jan. 6, but their opponent and tip-off time is to be determined based on the result of the first round matchups. 

Dec. 26 versus Festus

The Lady Cardinals were tested the morning after Christmas, battling a Festus team that ranked seventh in the state for Class 5 schools.

Steelville, a class 3 school that entered the game with a 2-5 record, went toe-to-toe with the Lady Tigers until the final buzzer. 

The game was dictated by runs from both teams, which started right from the jump ball. Festus scored the first eight points of the game before Steelville scored the following seven points. The Lady Tigers responded with a 12-3 run to end the first quarter up 20-10. 

The second quarter was the Emeri Perkins show, as the junior forward knocked down four shots from long distance and scored 16 points in the frame. Festus still led 36-21 with 2:28 left in the half but the Lady Cardinals responded with a 7-0 run and Steelville went into halftime trailing 36-28. 

The Lady Cardinals and Perkins continued to attack the mighty Lady Tigers in the second half, but Festus seemed to absorb every blow Steelville gave and respond with one of their own. Festus led 50-40 at the end of the third before both teams continued to exchange baskets in the fourth quarter. Steelville got as close as five points with 30 seconds left, but Festus was able to make crunch time free throws to hold on for a 65-58 victory. 

Perkins has been Steelville’s top scorer throughout the season but elevated her game to a new level against Festus to finish with a season and game-high of 34 points. 

Jazmyn Hurd knocked down a trio of shots from deep and finished with 13 points as the trusty sidekick to Perkins’ superhero. Marley Eilert posted a near double-double and finished nine points and 10 rebounds. Sylvia Davis knocked down two free throws and snared a whopping 17 rebounds, as she continuously outbattled Festus’ front court players for extra possessions throughout the game.  

Festus used a balanced attack to take down the Lady Cardinals. Eight Lady Tigers scored baskets compared to four Steelville players who reached the scorer’s sheet. Olivia Madden led Festus with 21 points and Alyzah Skaggs added 14 points. 

Despite the loss for the Lady Cardinals, it was a hard fought competitive effort against a larger school that is one of the better teams in the state. It was also a good sign for Steelville’s offense, who scored just 20 points against St. James on Dec. 19 and 26 points against Borgia on Dec. 15 in its previous losses. 

The Lady Cardinals made the trek back to Park Hills the next morning to take on Fredrickstown in the consolation semi-finals of the tournament. 

Dec. 27 versus Fredericktown

Steelville showed that they still had some gas left in the tank after leaving it all out there the morning before against Festus. The Lady Cardinals got out to a 16-8 lead in the first quarter against the Lady Cats. Fredericktown then settled in stayed within 10 points throughout the rest of the game. Steelville led 25-19 at halftime before both teams fired in 21 points in the third quarter to enter the fourth quarter with a 46-40 Lady Cardinal lead. The two teams continuously traded baskets in the fourth quarter and the game ended with a six point Steelville victory — the same margin after the second and third quarters. 

The Lady Cardinals found their rhythm from beyond the three-point arc, knocking down 11 by the afternoon. Steelville had seven players score baskets compared to just four against Festus. Perkins continued her scorching shooting, draining six from long range and finished with a game-high 26 points. 

After going scoreless against Festus, Aaleigha Decker found her shooting touch against Fredericktown and knocked down four trey-balls and a free throw to end the afternoon with 13 points. Hurd was focused on getting her teammates involved and added eight points and seven assists. Davis continued to be a solid post presence and gave Steelville eight points and nine rebounds. Eilert scored three, Alex Helms scored two and Claire Settles added one. 

Sydney Dunnahoo scored 16 points and Laila Stephens added 13 points for Fredericktown. 

Steelville’s Head Coach Phillip Gambill said that he was proud of how his team handled the back-to-back morning games an hour away, right after Christmas. 

“I was very pleased with our effort in our first two games. It’s difficult to play two games on back-to-back days at 10 a.m.,” Gambill said. “I thought our girls executed well on both ends of the floor in both games. They brought effort and fought through adversity. I couldn’t have been more proud of our girls.”