The third-seeded St. James Lady Tiger girls’ basketball team broke for the holidays by capturing third place in the Sullivan Peoples Bank Holiday Classic, defeating fourth-seeded Steelville 41-20 in the third-place game Friday, Dec. 19.

In the championship game Friday, top-seeded St. Francis Borgia defeated second-seeded host Sullivan 58-33 and in the consolation final sixth-seeded Owensville got past fifth-seeded Salem 45-38.

Earlier in the tourney St. James blasted Owensville 54-15 in the first round of pool play Monday, Dec. 15 and lost to Sullivan 36-32 in the second round of pool play Tuesday, Dec. 16.

Named to the all-tournament team for St. James were senior guard Avery Campbell and junior guard Payge Kemnitzer.

The Lady Tigers are to return to the court at the 32nd annual California Tournament, to be held Jan. 12-17. Following that STJ is to host the St. James Invitational Jan. 19-24.

Dec. 19 Third-Place Game - STJ 41, Steelville 20: After a competitive first period, the Steelville Lady Cardinals were bottled up by the Lady Tiger defense.

Hitting three 3-pointers, St. James took a 11-9 lead after the first quarter. Steelville would be limited to just 11 points the rest of the game.

St. James scored just eight points the rest of the half but was still able to build a 19-14 halftime edge.

The Lady Tigers pulled away from long range in the third quarter, hitting five treys in the period, including three from senior guard Avery Campbell. It was 37-18 entering the fourth quarter.

“I thought my kids played a very solid game,” said St. James head coach Terry Wells. “They were so much more under control. We took care of the ball and got great shots. Every time Steelville would make a run we would answer. I’m proud of them. Our defensive effort was outstanding.”

Campbell netted five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 16 points to pace the Lady Tigers.

The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):

St. James (5-5): Kemnitzer 3-0-7, Richardson 2-2-7, Campbell 5-1-16, Roark 1-0-3, Costoplos 1-0-2, Hartley 1-0-3, Drennan 1-0-3, Totals 14-3-41.

Steelville: (2-5): Decker 1-0-3, Hurd 2-0-5, Perkins 1-0-2, Eilert 2-1-5, Davis 1-3-5, Totals 7-4-20.

The score by periods:

Steelville    9  5    4  2-20

St. James  11  8  18  4-41

Dec. 16 - Sullivan 36, STJ 32: Turnovers and a poor performance at the free throw line came back to haunt the Lady Tigers.

St. James committed 26 turnovers and hit just 9-of-18 from the foul line.

“I appreciate the kids’ effort,” Wells said. “We played hard and fought on the glass against a very physical team. We turned it over 26 times though; you just aren’t going to win many games if you do that. If we clean that up I believe we can be a dangerous team.”

It was a low-scoring defensive battle throughout the first three quarters. The game was tied 8-8 after one quarter and 15-15 at halftime.

The Lady Tigers limited Sullivan to just four points in the third period to take a 23-19 advantage into the fourth quarter.

However, the Sullivan Lady Eagles took advantage of several STJ turnovers and finally broke out offensively, outscoring the Lady Tigers 17-9 to come from behind for the victory.

Kemnitzer led St. James with nine points. Kemnitzer had eight rebounds and three steals while sophomore Kaelyn Smith had eight rebounds and Campbell seven rebounds and three steals.

Junior Karlee Head netted 11 points to pace Sullivan.

The individual scoring:

St. James: Kemnitzer 3-1-9, Richardson 2-0-4, Campbell 1-3-5, Smith 2-1-5, Roark 2-2-7, Costoplos 0-2-2, Totals 10-9-32.

Sullivan (5-3): Barton 3-0-7, Miller 2-1-5, Hayes 1-0-2, Head 3-4-11, Lambert 1-1-3, Kirk 1-1-4, Schmuke 1-1-4, Totals 12-8-36.

The score by periods:

St. James  8 7  8   9-32

Sullivan    8 7  4 17-36

Dec. 15 - STJ 54, Owensville 15: It was all St. James from the start. The Lady Tigers smothered the Dutchgirls for 31 turnovers, resulting in several Lady Tiger transition points.

St. James built a 16-2 lead after one period and went into halftime up 33-7. The Lady Tigers were up 49-15 entering the fourth quarter.

“It was a great win,” Wells said. “We hit some shots, which always helps. However, we also took care of he ball, which has been a weakness so far. I think if we can get better in that area we will show great improvement.”

St. James hit 11 three-pointers.

Kemnitzer led the way with 18 points - including four treys - while Smith had three 3-pointers and 15 points and Campbell three 3-pointers and 13 points. Sophomore Brynlee Costoplos grabbed eight rebounds while junior Adalee Richardson made four steals and Campbell had five rebounds, three steals and three assists.

Junior Cameron Ryerson led Owensville with 10 points.

The individual scoring:

St. James: Kemnitzer 7-0-18, Richardson 0-3-3, Campbell 5-0-13, Smith 6-0-15, Costoplos 0-2-2, Hartley 1-0-3, Totals 19-5-54.

Owensville (2-6): Ryerson 3-3-10, Koelling 1-0-2, Moss 1-1-3, Totals 5-4-15.

The score by periods:

Owensville    2    5   8  0-15

St. James     16  17 16  5-54