STEELVILLE — Steelville High School’s girl’s basketball teams hosted a pair of games on Dec. 8 and Dec. 11 against St. James and Richland, respectively.

The Lady Cardinals lost to St. James and defeated Richland to earn their first victory of the season. Steelville (1-3) then competed in the Peoples Bank Holiday Classic Tournament in Sullivan as the No. 4 seed, beginning on Dec. 15 in a matchup against St. Francis Borgia, which will be detailed in next week’s edition. The Lady Cards will play Salem at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 18 before competing on Dec. 19 in the tournament’s finale of games. The opponent and time of the game Dec. 19 is TBD, as it’s dependent on the results of the Dec. 15 and Dec. 18 games.   

Dec. 8 vs. St. James

Steelville’s JV team played a half-game against St. James on Dec. 8 before the varsity teams faced off. The Lady Cardinal’s JV team fell 16-12 in the first matchup of the evening. Adalei Perkins led Steelville with seven points, Kendall Brinkley knocked down a three-pointer and Kaylee Pitts added two to round out the scoring for the Lady Cardinal’s JV squad.

Steelville’s varsity team found themselves in a low-scoring defensive battle against the Lady Tigers. St. James took a 10-5 lead after the first quarter in a game that initially looked like it would come down to the wire. But the Lady Cardinals were held to three points in the second quarter as St. James outscored them 12-3 in the frame to take a 22-8 lead heading into halftime.

Steelville valiantly fought in the third quarter, outscoring St. James 10-7 in the frame but still trailed 29-18 heading into the fourth quarter. However, the Lady Tigers’ defense clamped up in the fourth quarter and the deficit was too much to overcome for the Lady Cardinals, as they fell 37-24 to go to 0-3 to start the season. This was the best defensive game of the season for Steelville who gave up 57 and 68 points in their first two games of the season. 

Jazmyn Hurd led the Lady Cardinals with 11 points and knocked down a pair of shots from three-point land. Steelville’s leading scorer Emeri Perkins appeared to roll her ankle in the first half. Perkins had it taped up, returned to action and finished with six points as the Lady Tigers seemed to focus on making sure she didn’t find a rhythm offensively. Aaleigha Decker chipped in four points, Alex Helms knocked down a couple free throws to finish with two points and Sylvia Davis added one point. Adalee Richardson and Jolie Roark each scored nine points and Avery Campbell chipped in eight to lead St. James’ balanced attack. 

The Lady Cardinals had a couple days to regroup before their Dec. 11 matchup against Richland. 

Dec. 11 vs. Richland

The Lady Cardinals received some much needed reinforcements for their Dec. 11 matchup against Richland. Senior forward Marley Eilert and freshman Brooklynn Thomas both returned after missing the first three games of the season. 

Steelville’s JV team set the tone for the evening and dominated the Lady Bears 38-12 in two quarters of action. The Lady Cardinals were in rhythm from the start, outsourcing Richland 26-3 in the first quarter. Steelville never looked back as Adalei Perkins erupted for 16 points and knocked down a pair of shots from beyond the three-point arc. Thomas scored eight in her season debut and Kendall Brinkley hit two shots from deep to finish with six points. Kaylee Pitts added five points, Alex Helms scored two and Claire Settles knocked down a free throw to round out the scoring for Steelville’s JV team.

The Lady Cardinals’ varsity squad was in for a closer matchup in the finale of the two games. Steelville got out to a 17-9 lead after the first quarter and led 32-25 at halftime. But Richland came out with urgency in the third quarter and outscored Steelville 20-12 in the third quarter to take a 45-44 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Lady Cardinals didn’t waver and outscored the Lady Bears 15-8 in the final frame to win their first game of the season 59-53 and give head coach Phillip Gambill his first victory as Steelville’s head coach. Gambill spoke afterward about how his team was able to emerge victorious.

“I was really proud of our girls tonight. We jumped out early executing our defense game plan,” Gambill said. “We hit some shots early, which allowed us to build a lead. Richland came back to take a 4-point lead in the fourth quarter. I was most proud of our girls for stepping up and digging in deep when we got down in the fourth quarter to fight back for the victory.” 

Emeri Perkins returned to star-like form and knocked down five shots from downtown on her way to scoring a team-high 23 points. Jazmyn Hurd scored seven of her nine points in the fourth quarter including knocking down all four of her attempts from the free throw line during crunch time. Aaleigha Decker knocked down a trio of treys to finish with nine points and Sylvia Davis scored an early season-high eight points. Alex Helms scored six points on three baskets and Eilert scored four points while giving Steelville a much needed presence in the paint on both sides of the ball. Mallory Moss scored a game-high 24 points for Richland in the losing effort.

Gambill spoke about the benefits of having his full roster for the first time this season.

“Having our full roster back was very helpful. It allowed us to be more versatile on both ends of the floor. We are hopeful with our effort the last week and the successes we have had will give us needed momentum going into next week.”

Dec. 13 JV vs. Rolla and St. Clair 

Steelville High School’s girl’s JV team competed in a doubleheader in the St. James JV Tournament on Dec. 13 against Rolla and St. Clair. These were the first full games the Lady Cards’ JV team played this season after playing half-games in their first few matchups.

The Lady Cards lost the first game against a tough Rolla team 52-40 in the matinee game. Steelville was behind throughout the game and trailed 14-6 after the first quarter and 28-17 at halftime. Adalei Perkins knocked down four shots from downtown and finished with a game-high 16 points. Kaylee Pitts scored 11, Brooklyn Thomas chipped in five, Alex Helms added four and Claire Settles and Kaylee Piersall each scored a basket to finish with two points.

The Lady Cardinals quickly turned the page in their matchup against St. Clair and put on a dominating performance. Steelville led from the tip-off and got out to a 16-3 lead after the first quarter. The Lady Cards kept their feet on the gas in the second frame, scoring 19 points to balloon its lead to 35-8 at halftime. Steelville never looked back en route to a 52-15 victory. 

Pitts poured in a season-high 15 points to pace the Lady Cardinals. After being held scoreless in the first game, Kendall Brinkley erupted for 13 points and knocked down a trio of shots from deep. Perkins continued her consistent play with 10 points, Thomas added six, Helms scored five, Settles chipped in two and Piersall knocked down a free throw to finish with one.