A Tiger Courtwarming victory allowed the St. James High boys’ basketball squad split a pair of non-conference games last week.

   The Tigers opened the week on a sour note, falling to School of the Osage 66-40 Tuesday, Jan. 6 at Osage Beach. In the St. James Courtwarming Game Friday, Jan. 9 the Tigers held off Steelville 51-41 at the STJ gym.

   The split left St. James’ record at 6-5.

   This week the Tigers play two more non-league games, hosting Cuba Tuesday, Jan. 13 and traveling to Dixon Thursday, Jan. 15 to take on the Class 3 state-ranked Dixon Bulldogs (5 p.m.).

   Jan. 9 - STJ 51, Steelville 41: Between the junior varsity and varsity games the Tiger Courtwarming Queen and King were crowned. They were seniors Sophie Deluca and Tate Gruver, who are members of the Lady Tiger and Tiger basketball squads as well.

   On the court the Tigers survived a sloppy game against the Steelville Cardinals.
After the two teams swapped baskets to open the game, the Tigers went on a 14-3 run to close out the first quarter. A layup by junior forward Jaxen Spurgeon inside the final minute gave STJ its largest lead of the of the period - 12 points. St. James would go into the second quarter up 16-5.
Steelville would close the gap to as little as seven points midway through the second period. However, the Tigers closed the half fast, and a pair of free throws by senior guard Nick Gleason with 40 seconds remaining in the half gave St. James its largest advantage of the game, 17 points. Steelville would later end the half with a pair of free throws to cut its halftime deficit to 31-16.
St. James came out for the second half sluggish, allowing the Cardinals to trim their deficit in half. Steelville outscored STJ 10-3 to open the third period, and a free throw by senior guard Malakai Bruno at the 2:52 mark brought Steelville to within eight of the host team, 34-26.
St. James recovered the final three minutes of the quarter and would take a 39-29 edge into the final period.

   A 6-0 run to begin the fourth quarter allowed St. James to regain the 16-point advantage it began the half with. Gleason converted a layup with 6:56 left following a Cardinal turnover to give the Tigers a 45-29 cushion.

   St. James would need most of that cushion, as another run of sloppy play helped Steelville reel off nine unanswered points. And a three-pointer from the right corner by senior guard Nate Gambill - the Cardinals’ third trey of the period - cut the Tiger lead to six with 2:34 left, 47-41.

   However, Steelville, bogged down with foul problems, would not score again. St. James hit on four-of-six free throws in the final :38 to make the final score.

   King Gruver tallied a game-high 15 points for St. James while sophomore guard Isaac Smith added 11. J. Spurgeon grabbed eight rebounds while Smith dished out seven assists and made four steals.

   Bruno led Steelville with 12 points.

   St. James easily won the junior varsity game 62-22 while the Cardinals won the freshman contest 40-32.

   The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):

   Jan. 9 at St. James

Varsity

   STJ 51, Steelville 41

   St. James (6-5): Boone 2-2-6, Gruver 4-4-15, Gleason 2-3-7, Smith 4-3-11, O. Spurgeon 0-2-2, Meurer 1-0-2, J. Spurgeon 4-0-8, Totals 17-14-51.

   Steelville (4-7): Woods 1-1-4, Rutledge 3-0-8, Bruno 4-4-12, Gambill 3-0-9, Starbeck 2-3-7, Grayson 0-1-1, Totals 13-9-41.

   The score by periods:

   Steelville    5 11 13 12-41

   St. James 16 15    8 12-51

Junior Varsity

STJ 62, Steelville 22

   St. James: Driskell 1-1-3, Ridenhour 4-3-11, O. Spurgeon 1-1-3, Deluca 5-0-11, Jones 2-0-4, Huffman 5-2-14, Jenkins 0-1-1, Byfield 2-1-6, Recker 2-2-8, Giacolone 0-1-1.

   Steelville: Wallis 1-0-2, Halbert 2-1-6, West 1-0-2, Midyett 1-0-2, Grayson 4-2-10.

Freshmen

Steelville 40, STJ 32

   St. James: Shields 3-0-6, Otto 3-3-9, Engelbrecht 2-0-6, Hodge 0-2-2, Siders 1-0-2, Pruitt 0-2-2, Earney 2-0-5.

   Steelville: L. West 2-0-4, Riley 1-0-2, Carter Wallis 3-0-7, Halbert 2-0-4, J. West 1-0-3, Midyett 1-0-2, Evans 9-0-18.

   Jan. 6 - Osage 66, STJ 40: It was all the Osage Indians from the start, doubling the score on the Tigers 18-9 after the first period and leading the rest of the way. A tough first half didn’t get any better for STJ in the second period, as Osage outscored the Tigers 19-7 to head into intermission up 37-18.

   The Tigers hit just four-of-27 field goal attempts over the first half.
St. James cut its deficit by outscoring the Indians 18-13 in the third quarter. However, Osage again doubled up STJ in the final period 16-8.

   Gruver paced St. James with 19 points - the only Tiger to score in double figures. Senior JV Meurer and J. Spurgeon each had five rebounds while senior guard Aiden Boone had four assists and four steals and Smith three assists and three steals.

   The Tigers committed 19 turnovers.

   St. James won the junior varsity game by nine points.

   The individual scoring:

Varsity

Osage 66, STJ 40

   St. James: Boone 2-0-4, Gruver 6-4-19, Gleason 2-1-5, Smith 2-0-4, Driskell 1-0-2, O. Spurgeon 0-1-1, Meurer 0-1-1, J. Spurgeon 1-2-4, Totals 14-9-40.

   Osage (7-4): Harrison 4-0-8, Long 3-0-9, Marshall 3-0-6, Trusty 5-0-12, Butler 1-0-2, Clark 2-0-4, Wall 3-0-6, Wolf 5-1-11, Willoughby 3-0-8, Totals 29-1-66.

   The score by periods:

   St. James    7   7 18   8-40

   Osage       18 19 13 16-66