The St. James High girls’ basketball team opened its Four Rivers Conference schedule by defeating New Haven 33-28 Friday, Dec. 12 at the St. James High gym.

Also last week the Lady Tigers split a pair of road games with neighboring schools this week, winning at Steelville 37-24 Monday, Dec. 8 and falling at Cuba 41-35 Tuesday, Dec. 9

That leaves the Lady Tigers with a 3-4 overall record.

This week St. James is to play in the Sullivan Peoples Bank Holiday Classic. In pool play St. James was to play Owensville Monday, Dec. 15 and Sullivan Tuesday, Dec. 16. In the other pool are St. Francis Borgia, Steelville and Salem.

In the tournament finals Friday, Dec. 19 the consolation final is set for 4:30 p.m., the third-place game for 6 p.m. and the championship game for 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 12 - STJ 33, New Haven 28: It was a low-scoring game throughout, with the Lady Tigers holding a slim lead most of the way. STJ led 7-5 after one period and went into halftime up 14-11. St. James went into the fourth quarter ahead 23-19.

In the final period the Lady Tigers hit a three-pointer and three free throws, which helped them hold on.

In two quarters of a junior varsity game St. James won 19-15.

The individual scoring:

St. James (3-4): Kemnitzer 2-1-6, Richardson 3-0-8, Campbell 3-0-7, Smith 2-2-6, Roark 2-1-5, Costoplos 0-1-1, Totals 12-5-33.

New Haven (1-6): Payne 4-3-11, Hook 3-2-9, Guehne 2-2-6, Hoerstlecamp 1-0-2, Totals 10-7-28.

The score by periods:

New Haven    5  6  8    9-28

St. James        7  7  9  10-33

Dec. 9 - Cuba 41, STJ 35: A flat first half proved costly for the Lady Tigers. Cuba, which improved to 5-0, doubled up the score on St. James in the first period 18-9. The two teams halved 14 second-quarter points and St. James trailed at intermission 25-16.

The Lady Tigers closed the gap in the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Wildcats 13-5 in the period to cut their deficit to 33-29 entering the fourth quarter.

And early in the fourth period St. James took its first lead of the game. However, Cuba hit four free throws down the stretch and finished with 11 points to regain the edge and hold on.

“I give Cuba credit because they came ready to play,” said St. James head coach Terry Wells. “They just hit us in the mouth. We didn’t take care of the ball and didn’t defend with any effort (in the first half).

“I’m proud of my kids for their second-half effort. We actually took the lead in the fourth quarter, but ran out of steam. That happens when you dig yourself a hole you have to fight out of. I hope we learn from this one.”

Senior guard Avery Campbell paced St. James with 12 points while junior guard Adalee Richardson added 10 points.

Junior Jaylen Haffer led Cuba with 11 points.

No JV game was played.

The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):

St. James: Kemnitzer 2-0-6, Richardson 7-1-10, Campbell 4-2-12, Smith 2-1-5, Roark 0-1-1, Foust 0-1-1, Totals 15-6-35.

Cuba (5-0): Schmidt 3-2-9, Haffer 4-3-11, Garbo 2-2-8, McGinnis 2-0-4, Tate 2-2-7, Dulany 1-0-2, 14-9-41.

The score by periods:

St. James    9    7  13    6-35

Cuba         18    7    5  11-41

Dec. 8 - STJ 37, Steelville 24: The Lady Tigers clamped on the defense against the Steelville Lady Cardinals. Steelville managed just five points in the first quarter and three the rest of the half, as St. James went into intermission up 22-8.

The Lady Cardinals had their best quarter of the game in the fourth, netting 10 points. But it wasn’t enough, as St. James kept a double-figure advantage.

“We got off to a good start,” Wells said. “Our defense was really on point the entire game. Steelville came out in a junk defense on Payge Kemnitzer and I thought she did a great job of not forcing and getting teammates involved. She also affected the game defensively. I’m really proud of her

“We did a good job of being patient offensively in the second half. In the first half we turned the ball over way too much. It is an area of concern we will continue to focus on.”

St. James won a two-quarter junior varsity game 16-12.

The individual scoring:

St. James: Kemnitzer 1-0-3, Richardson 3-2-9, Campbell 3-0-8, Smith 1-2-4, Roark 3-0-9, Foust 2-0-4, Totals 13-4-37.

Steelville (0-3): Decker 1-2-4, Helms 0-2-2, Hurd 4-1-11, E. Perkins 2-1-6, Davis 0-1-1, Totals 7-7-24. 

The score by periods:

St. James  10  12    7  8-37

Steelville    5    3  10  6-24