STEELVILLE — Steelville High School’s girl’s basketball team competed in a trio of games in the 14th Annual Peoples Bank Holiday Tournament in Sullivan beginning on Dec. 15 against St. Borgia.

The Lady Cardinals fell to a dominant St. Borgia squad, but bounced back on Dec. 18 to defeat Salem. Steelville then lost to St. James in the third-place game of the tournament on Dec. 19 to take fourth place in the tournament. St. Borgia went on to win the tournament championship over Sullivan. Steelville junior Emeri Perkins was named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 13.3 points per game.

The Lady Cardinals (2-5) will have a week off before competing in the 70th Annual Bob Sechrest Jr. Central Christmas Tournament in Park Hills. Steelville is seeded eighth and will play top-seeded Festus at 10 a.m. on Dec. 26 in the first round of the tournament. The rest of the Lady Cards’ schedule in the tournament is TBD based on the results of the matchup against Festus.

Dec. 15 vs St. Borgia

The Lady Cardinals ran into a buzzsaw of an undefeated St. Francis Borgia team on Dec. 15 in the opening game of the Peoples Bank Holiday Classic Tournament in Sullivan. The Lady Knights came into the game 5-0 and had won all of its previous games by at least 28 points. St. Borgia continued that streak and defeated Steelville 56-26 in a game they led from tip-off.

St. Borgia got out to a 8-0 start before Lady Cards’ head coach Phillip Gambill called a timeout to settle his team down. The Lady Knights used a full-court press to continuously force turnovers and keep Steelville from finding its rhythm. Borgia led 20-5 after the first quarter and 35-11 at halftime. The Lady Cards had their best scoring quarter in the third frame with 10 points, but couldn’t contain the Lady Knights’ potent attack at Borgia scored 21 in the quarter. Borgia led 53-21 after three quarters before pulling its starters in the fourth quarter while playing with a running clock. 

The Lady Knights were led by standout junior Taylor Scheer, who poured in 22 points in three quarters before sitting out the fourth quarter. Scheer went on to win the tournament’s MVP award. Emeri Perkins was the only Lady Cardinal to have any consistent offensive success — scoring half of Steelville’s points to finish with 13. Steelville point guard Jazmyn Hurd was harassed full-court for most of the game by taller defenders and finished with four points. Marley Eilert also scored four, Claire Settles scored two on a nifty reverse layup, Brooklyn Thomas added a basket and Sylvia Davis hit a free throw to finish with one. 

The Lady Cardinals had a couple days off before returning to Sullivan to take on Salem on Dec. 18 in their second game of the Tournament.

Dec. 18 vs. Salem

Steelville looked like they were going to run the 2-1 Salem team out of the gym in the first quarter. The Lady Cardinals scored the first 17 points of the game before the Lady Tigers scored a basket with two minutes left in the quarter. But the scrappy Salem squad hung around and turned the matchup into a closer game than the Lady Cards would’ve hoped for.

Steelville led 19-6 after the first quarter but its offense sputtered in the second frame, scoring just four points to keep Salem in the game — as the Lady Cards went into halftime with a 23-14 lead. Steelville regained its rhythm in the second half, scoring 10 points in the third and 17 in the fourth. The Lady Tigers scored a valiant 19 points in the final frame, but it wasn’t enough as Steelville walked away with a 52-44 victory for their second win of the season.

Perkins continued to show her All-Conference and All-District form and scored a game-high 19 points. Hurd scored seven of her 11 points in the second half and hit five clutch free throws in the fourth quarter. Davis scored a season-high nine points, giving Steelville much needed baskets in the paint. Decker scored all five of her points in the first quarter on a three-ball and basket in the paint.

Eilert, Settles, Thomas and Adalei Perkins all scored two points to round out the scoring for the Lady Cardinals.  Salem didn’t have a double-digit scorer, but Paisley May scored nine points and Trista Dooley added eight points for the Lady Tigers. 

The Lady Cardinals had little time to celebrate and played the following evening in the tournament’s third-place game against St. James. This is the second time the two teams faced off as St. James won the Dec. 8 matchup 37-24 in Steelville. 

Dec. 19 vs. St. James

The Lady Cardinals went toe-to-toe against the Lady Tigers early in the game. St. James led 11-9 after the first quarter and 19-14 at halftime. But the third quarter was the difference in the game as the Lady Tigers outscored Steelville 18-4 in the frame to pull away and take a 37-18 lead into the fourth quarter. The Lady Cardinals mustered just two points in the fourth quarter and just six points in the second half as they eventually fell to 41-20 to St. James.

St. James focused its attention to stopping Steelville’s leading scorer Emeri Perkins from getting going, and held her to just two points. Despite the low outcome against the Lady Tigers, Perkins still made the All-Tournament Team for her performance as a whole during the three games. Hurd, Davis and Eilert each scored five points in a variety of ways. Hurd knocked down a three-pointer and made a two-point basket. Eilert made a pair of close-range shots and knocked down a free throw. Davis made a trio of free throws and a basket in the paint. Decker drained a three-pointer in the first quarter and finished with three points. 

St. James was led by Avery Campbell, who knocked down five shots from long distance and finished with a game-high 16-points.