03/04/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
OKAWVILLE - From the opening tap in Friday night's 1A sectional championship game at Okawville, the Steeleville Warriors were in trouble.

Big trouble.

Nothing went right in the first quarter and very little went right in the second.

The dream of winning the program's first ever sectional championship was fading away like a bad dream.

Head coach Aaron Fiene watched in dismay as his team fell behind 10-0 at the end of the first quarter and trailed 16-7 at halftime.

Offensively stagnant in the first 16-minutes, their basketball epitaph was being written as a sad ending to a wonderful season.

But then it happened.

The Warriors defense, as it had before in key games for this mentor, showed up and rescued the team and their postseason run.

Forcing Christopher into turnovers and converting transition chances, Steeleville finally got things going in the second half.

In a low scoring affair in which they struggled in the half-court on offense, the Warriors got one final defensive stop in the final seconds to secure a heart-pounding 32-31 win in front of a large crowd at Okawville's O-Rena Gymnasium.

After a Christopher timeout with :10.6 left, the Bearcats worked for a final shot but Steeleville's Reid Harriss deflected a pass for a steal and the 6-4 junior instinctively threw the ball towards the backcourt in hopes of killing off the rest of the clock.

Christopher sophomore Scout Hudgens, however, grabbed the pass but his desperation 3-point attempt from nearly 40-feet was well short of the mark as the horn sounded on the Bearcats heart-breaking defeat.

“You have to give them (Christopher) credit. They got out on us early and contested our shots. I'm proud of our boys for battling back tonight,” said Coach Fiene. “Defense is out 'M-O'. They scored 31-points. We needed one more point than them and that's what it had to be. I think they (Christopher) wore down some in the second half.”

Head coach Eric Stallman and his Bearcats, a Cinderella of sorts in this postseason, did everything they needed to do to complete the seeding upset.

Except win.

For most of the contest they out played and out maneuvered Steeleville.

But the turnovers, mostly caused by the athletic Warriors, turned out to be the difference.

“They (Steeleville) really didn't score much in the half-court, most of what they got was on run-outs in transition,” said Coach Stallman. “We did a really good job with our zone. We did everything but win the game. Their offense was almost completely off of their defense.”

The game plan for Christopher frustrated Steeleville as their zone defense disrupted the Warriors offense.

The Bearcats got 11-points and five-rebounds from senior forward Peyton Mazur along with seven-points from Hudgens and five-points from senior guard Colin Sveda.

Senior Mason Goins, who was battling a foot injury, ended up with just two-points but six rebounds for Coach Stallman.

It all added up to a brilliant game-plan that was nearly executed perfectly.

But five fourth quarter turnovers doomed the Bearcats who finished the season 24-9.

The Warriors were led by senior Zach Mevert with nine-points.

Junior guard and defensive catalyst Carter Wasson scored eight-points (all in the fourth quarter) while junior guard Jacoby Gross added seven.

Defensively the Warriors forced the mistakes (13-turnovers) that led to the victory as six of them were steals.

Offensively Coach Fiene's club managed just enough points in transition and from the foul line.

Steeleville was 0-of-7 from the field in the first quarter, 0-of-5 from the 3-point arc and added a couple of turnovers to their woes.

Christopher took an early lead but, as it turned out, it needed to be a much bigger margin.

The first points of the game didn't come until 4:34 remaining in the first quarter when Hudgens hit his only 3-pointer in the contest from the left wing.

Sveda followed up with a trey from nearly the same spot before Goins and Mazur each got points in the paint for a 10-0 spread in a calculated first quarter.

The Bearcats were 4-of-7 from the field and didn't allow an offensive rebound in the first eight minutes.

Christopher managed to extend the lead to 11-points twice in the second quarter but could get no further ahead.

Junior guard Trey Cole scored his only basket of the game in the second quarter while Hudgens and Mazur also scored.

Gross got the Warriors on the board with a 3-pointer and Mevert added two free throws and a score inside.

Neither team scored in the final four minutes of the half which ended at 16-7 Bearcats.

In the third quarter, the Warriors finally got some things to work on offense.

Steeleville closed the quarter on a 9-2 run, with guard Lane Lazenby having a hand in two of the scores.

The 5-10 senior nailed down a 3-pointer from the left wing and made a steal that turned into a Gross fast break lay in as the Warriors were down just 22-18 heading to the fourth quarter.

Wasson, who Coach Fiene calls upon for his defense against the other team's top guard on most nights, came up with two huge plays in the early part of the final quarter to give Steeleville it's first lead.

A steal and a fast break lay in for a conventional three-point play opened the fourth quarter.

Wasson grabbed a defensive rebound and sprinted the length of the floor for another lay in and a 24-23 Steeleville lead with 5:01 left in the contest.

Mevert also came up with a big offensive play in the fourth.

His drive in the paint off of a nice crossover dribble turned into a basket while being fouled.

Although the senior missed the free throw, the Warriors led 30-27 with 2:45 left.

As if the game needed more pressure, most of the fourth quarter was spent with the teams shooting free throws.

Steeleville was 8-of-14, Christopher was 7-of-9.

That one free throw difference turned out to be the deciding factor.

Harriss made the second of a two-shot opportunity with :20.3 left.

It provided the margin of victory as he also added to the defensive effort to secure the win with the key final steal of the game.

“They (Steeleville) are so good defensively that they are never out of the game,” said Coach Stallman. “Our kids did everything right and they played so hard. I'm so proud of them. We made some adjustments heading into the postseason and we played well.”

Neither team, as the score would indicate, shot the ball well.

Steeleville ended up 9-of-29 from the field, 2-of-11 from the 3-point line while Christopher managed just 11-of-27 overall, 2-of-13 from long range.

The difference in the contest on in the scorebook was the Warriors hitting 12-of-18 free throws compared to 7-of-11 for the Bearcats.

Christopher held a 19-16 rebounding edge and the turnover ended up seven for Steeleville and 13 for Coach Stallman's club.

The Warriors, the ABV preseason number-two teams, will make their first ever Carbondale Super-Sectional appearance on Monday night where they will face state-ranked and ABV preseason number-one team Macon Meridian.

The Hawks won a wild one Friday night, beating Tuscola 82-79 in double-overtime on a 70-foot shot by senior guard Graham Meisenhelter.