01-14-2020
BY JACK BULLOCK
STEELEVILLE - For the undefeated Steeleville Warriors, Thursday night's free throw shooting was as gloomy as the weather outside.

Coach Aaron Fiene's club had some issues shooting the ball from the foul line against foul-plagued Carlyle at home.

But as most coaches will tell you, defense should never take a night off.

In this case, the Warriors' work on the defensive end was the difference in a 67-55 victory.

Steeleville forced 17 Carlyle turnovers, 12 of which came in the second half, as the Warriors improved to 13-0 on the season with the victory over a Cahokia Conference squad from the other (Mississippi) Division.

Six-foot-one sophomore Evan Buch finished with 17 points to top the Steeleville scoring while Coach Fiene got 15 points each from junior guards Zach Mevert and Lane Lazenby.

The balanced attack also featured 11 points from sophomore Reid Harriss and nine points from sophomore Carter Wasson.

“We feel like our guards are elite defenders in this area. Carter Wasson is as quick and strong as any player we face and he gets the assignment of guarding top players we face and Lazenby has really played well defensively also,” said Coach Fiene. “We work a lot on defense at practice and that's what wins games.”

Lazenby has developed into a point guard that was needed this season after Gross went down with an injury.

“He (Lazenby) has really turned into our engine and throughout the summer (Jacoby) Gross was our point guard but he is out for the year (broken finger) and Lane has really stepped up and he has been our most important factor this year,” said Coach Fiene. “He is tough and can handle the ball well.”

Carlyle head coach Andy Palmer saw the reoccurring theme that has taken place for most of the season for his club.

Turnovers took away another chance for a win as the Tribe fell to 3-10 overall for the season.

The Indians miscues turned into a lot of easy second half points and their foul trouble, with three players fouling out of the game, paraded Steeleville to the charity stripe far too often.

The Warriors hit just 20-of-34 from the foul line, a stat that allowed Carlyle to stay within striking range for most of the second half.

“Yes, generally, we shoot free throws better than that. I don't know what we ended up but we are a good shooting team and I have confidence in them hitting free throws but we got to hit them,” said Coach Fiene.

By contrast, the Indians were a sharp 10-of-10 from the line but the struggles in other categories spelled trouble for the visitors.

“We have had turnovers at the most inconvenient times this year and tonight it was more of the same. We had big possessions tonight and we just turned it over,” said Coach Palmer. “We battled hard and gave ourselves a chance. We would get it back to five or so and then we would have a turnover or two and you can't do that against good teams especially on the road.”

Six-foot junior guard Hayden Hoffmann led all scorers on the night with 22 points for Carlyle.

Senior Quinten Jones added 12 points while junior Jayden McIntosh tossed in 10.

Hoffmann nailed two of the three 3-pointers made by Carlyle, both in the fourth quarter, as the Indians stayed close until the final minutes.

Carlyle made some runs in the game, using their athletic ability to get some easy scores in the lane.

Jones, a 6-foot-4 forward, scored six of his points in the first quarter.

Two of his baskets came on lob passes over the Steeleville defense for points.

Hoffmann and 6-foot-5 junior center Carson Beer scored early inside while Hoffmann scored on a fast break.

The second Jones score of the frame gave Carlyle its biggest advantage at 8-1 with 5:26 left in the first quarter.

Steeleville got going offensively to close out the quarter with a 14-12 lead.

Seven consecutive points, five by Lazenby on a 3-pointer and a mid-range shot and a score from Mevert, evened things at 8-8.

The Warriors managed to hit 5-of-6 free throws in the quarter and another Lazenby bucket on a steal and fast break closed the frame with Steeleville up by two.

After a Harriss basket gave Steeleville a 16-12 lead, Carlyle got four points from McIntosh and a score from senior Keegan Kampwerth to take back the lead at 18-16.

Hoffman (twice) and Jones added field goals for a 24-20 lead before the Warriors closed the half with a 7-0 move to get back on top.

Free throws by Harriss and Buch along with a conventional three-point play by Mevert on a drive in the paint turned the momentum around.

Lazenby closed the first half with a bucket at the horn for a 27-24 spread at the break.

But during the second quarter the missed free throws (five) kept the Warriors from expanding their lead.

However Coach Fiene saw his club force Carlyle into mistakes in the second half while getting to the basket and the foul line offensively.

An 8-2 run to begin the second half gave the Warriors some breathing room.

Balance was a key in the third quarter as four different Steeleville players scored four points each.

Wasson, Lazenby, Mevert and Harriss produced two baskets each for a 35-26 advantage.

Hoffmann continued to get points for Carlyle.

He scored twice on drives in the lane and McIntosh added a transition score as the Indians trailed just 41-36 late in the third.

But once again Lazenby made a key play with a steal on an inbounds play for a basket and then Mevert closed the quarter with a drive for a 45-36 lead.

Consecutive scores in the lane by Buch produced the largest lead for Steeleville, 49-36.

Carlyle, however, delivered one final run.

Hoffmann nailed two 3-pointers while Jones converted two free throws, closing the gap to just five points.

But as it turned out, six fourth quarter turnovers made it to where Coach Palmer's squad couldn't take advantage of the Warriors free throw shooting inaccuracies.

Steeleville missed six more free throws in the fourth quarter but they went into a spread offense that produced scores from Wasson, Harriss and Buch to close out the win.

“Not many teams can guard our three strong, quick guards so we like to spread the floor and penetrate,” said Coach Fiene. “We can usually find a mismatch somewhere, it might take us a while to find it but we normally do.”

Steeleville ended up 23-of-48 from the field and just 1-of-8 from the 3-point line while Carlyle was 21-of-39 overall, 3-of-13 from long range.

The Indians managed a 21-19 rebounding edge but they managed just one offensive rebound.

Coach Fiene's club took care of the ball as they had just three turnovers.

“There was a large disparity at the free throw line but they missed a ton of them but we had too many turnovers at the wrong time,” said Coach Palmer. “They turned our turnovers into points and that is what good teams do. They (Steeleville) are a nice ballclub. If you get behind them they are going to spread you out. They are just tough. All the 50/50 balls they got to and we gave up some offensive rebounds on free throws and you just can't do that and win on the road.”

The Warriors will end their season with a road game at rival Trico on Friday night and then a final conference game against Marissa-Coulterville on Saturday.

Carlyle finishes their campaign by hosting Greenville Friday night.

“I have to give a lot of credit to Carlyle. They came out and played hard and they are well coached,” said Coach Fiene. “They have some good athletes and good players. This was a good win for us.”