Steelville High School’s boys’ basketball team split a pair of road games on Feb. 3 and Feb. 5 in Union and in Kingston, respectively. The Cardinals fell to Union, handedly defeated Kingston and are now 9-11 on the season. Both games are detailed below. 

Steelville will play three out of its last four games at home to finish off their regular-season schedule, starting with senior night on Feb. 10 against Belle, which will be detailed in next week’s edition. The Cardinals will then play in Salem on Feb. 12 before hosting Bourbon on Feb. 13 and Pacific on Feb. 18.

Steelville’s junior varsity team will play on six straight days from Feb. 9 to Feb. 14. The Cardinals will compete in Bourbon’s Junior Varsity Tournament as the fourth seed and will take on fifth-seeded Owensville at 4 p.m. on Feb. 11 in the first round of the tournament. Steelville will play again in the tournament on Feb. 14, but times and opponents are dependent on the results against Owensville.

Feb. 3 vs. Union

The Cardinals got off to a slow start against the Union Wildcats, but battled back as the game progressed. Steelville trailed 11-6 after the first quarter and went into halftime down 22-15. The Cardinals’ offense picked up in the third frame, as Steelville netted 16 points — more than its first half total.

Union’s offense also hummed in the period, as the Wildcats drained a trio of threes en route to 19 points in the quarter. Steelville trailed 41-31 going into the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to seven early in the final frame on a Jackson Woods three-ball. But the Cardinals missed eight shots from the free throw line in the fourth quarter alone, and couldn’t narrow the gap further. Union was able to pull away with a 56-41 victory for its tenth win of the season. Steelville dropped to 8-11 on the season with the loss.

Woods knocked down three shots from deep en route to a team-high 15 points. Malakai Bruno was the only other double-figure scorer for the Cardinals and finished with 10 points on four baskets near the rim and a pair of free throws. Hunter Starbeck chipped in eight points, Blaze Alexander scored three, Landon Rutledge and Trentin Garrison scored two apiece and Will Bailey added one point for Steelville. Junior Cameron Servais netted 15 points and senior Cannon Brown scored 12 to lead the Wildcats.

Steelville junior varsity team lost 44-39 in the first matchup of the evening.

Feb. 5 vs. Kingston

Steelville came out of the gates looking eager to play in the finale of three games between the Cardinals and the Cougars. The white and red were firing on all cylinders in the first frame, pouring in 25 points to take a 25-15 lead. Steelville’s defense stepped up in the second quarter and gave up just five points, allowing the Cardinals to stretch their lead. Bruno buried a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the period and the Cardinals took a 41-20 advantage into halftime.

Kingston attempted to fight back in the third quarter, cutting its deficit down to 14, but that was as close as they would get. Steelville brought its lead back up to 18 heading into the final frame, before cruising to a 74-50 victory.

Nine Cardinals scored baskets, and three put up season-high scoring efforts in the win. Bruno knocked down a trio of shots from deep and scored a season-high 25 points to lead Steelville. Starbeck made six baskets from close range and drained five free throws to finish with a season-high 17 points. Blaze Alexander came off the bench to knock down a pair of treys en route to a season-high eight points. Rutledge also scored eight points on a couple close range shots and four made free throws. Woods added five, Bailey chipped in four, Nate Gambill scored three and Chace Grayson and Trey Gambill each scored two for the Cardinals. Senior Brady Thompson netted 14 points to lead the Cougars.

Steelville’s C team won 51-27 and the Cardinals junior varsity team picked up a 55-22 victory as the Cardinals swept the Cougars in the triple header.