Steeleville vs. Waltonville - 1A Marissa Regional Championship Game

1A Christopher Regional

Steeleville

Waltonville

Steeleville (51) - Fiene 1 1 0-0 5, Rednour 0 1 0-0 3, Vallett 0 1 0-0 3, Ruby 3 2 4-5 16, Ingles 0 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0 0-0 0, Witthoft 5 0 1-2 11, Sternberg 6 0 1-2 13.
2FG-15/3FG-5/FT-6-9/PF-18.

Waltonville (54) - Devor 1 0 1-2 3, Cooper 3 1 4-6 13, Lamke 0 0 0-0 0, Klingler 0 0 0-0 0, Mayville 3 0 2-3 8, C. Stewart 0 0 0-0 0, Peterson 4 2 4-5 18, R. Stewart 4 0 4-4 12.
2FG-15/3FG-3/FT-15-20/PF-9.

Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Waltonville survives late scare
Spartans hold off fourth quarter Steeleville rally, win regional title

02/28/2025
BY JACK BULLOCK
MARISSA - The state-ranked Waltonville Spartans took what appeared to be a comfortable 29-19 halftime lead against Steeleville in the title game of the 1A Marissa Regional on Friday night.

Coach Anthony Lowery's club, going for back-to-back regional championships, looked as if they would made quick work of the Warriors for an easy title game triumph.

But the second half was anything but easy.

Steeleville rallied to tie the game in the fourth quarter and had the Spartans in trouble.

However, as all experienced championship teams seem to do, Waltonville found a way.

Junior forward Gage Peterson came up with some big baskets in the final minutes, including a huge three-point play to break the final tie score, as the Spartans fulfilled another of the season goals and celebrated a 54-51 victory over Steeleville to take home the title.

This is the eighth regional championship for the program and the first consecutive titles since Coach Ed Belva led the Spartans to two in-a-row back in 1989-90 and 1990-91.

Peterson scored 18-points and grabbed nine-rebounds to lead the scoring while classmate junior guard Kyle Cooper added 13 for the now 28-4 club.

The Spartans have won their last nine games and will now face 1A rival Mounds Meridian on Wednesday night at the 1A Cobden Sectional.

The Bobcats thumped Hardin County 77-57 to win the 1A Crab Orchard Regional Friday night.

Junior Riley Stewart also helped out tremendously on Friday night for Waltonville, netting all 12 of his points in the first half as the Spartans led by as many as 13-points.

Sophomore Jagger Mayville was saddled with foul trouble in the first half but he scored eight important points, all in the final two quarters, to help spark the Spartans to the championship game win.

Sophomore Witten Devor added three-points for Waltonville to round out the scoring.

“All the credit in the world goes to Steeleville. We thought we had a good game plan coming in but their physicality messed that up a little bit,” said Coach Lowery. “But down the stretch we found a way to get the ball to Gage (Peterson). I thought he did a great job of steadying everybody. He is tough as nails. When we see him successful then it makes everyone else feel great. We made enough free throws at the end. We gutted one out tonight.”

Steeleville mentor Aaron Fiene had his team ready for the title game and it showed in the second half as they forced a poor shooting third quarter by the Spartans as his club put the pressure on the state-ranked squad.

Senior Canon Ruby led the Warriors with 16-points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter.

Hayden Sternberg, another senior, added 13-points and junior Nate Witthoft scored 11.

Junior guard Parker Fiene added five important points, including a key 3-pointer to end the first half.

Two other juniors; Colin Vallett and Carson Rednour, canned 3-pointers in the second quarter for the Warriors.

“I thought we guarded them really well, that's a very high-powered offense and we really got after them tonight. I'm proud of that,” said Coach Fiene. “Give our guys credit, we never quit.”

A mistake filled first quarter by both teams (10 total turnovers) ended at 13-12 Spartans.

Cooper hit his only 3-point shot in the first minute and Stewart scored six of his points, hitting 4-of-4 free throws.

The Warriors ended up putting Waltonville on the foul line too many times in the contest and the charity stripe turned out to be one of the major differences in the contest.

Steeleville took the ball right at the Spartans early, getting scores inside by Sternberg and Witthoft.

Sternberg coaxed the second personal foul from Mayville, sending the sophomore to the bench with 6:24 left in the first quarter.

Witthoft scored his second basket on a drive to cut the margin at the end of the first quarter.

Peterson, who according to Coach Lowery is now grown to 6-foot-6, showed that he has range by nailing down a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter as the Spartans took command.

He opened and closed a 10-2 run with the 20-footers that forced a Steeleville timeout at 23-14 Waltonville.

(CONTINUED)

Stewart added a score off of an assist from Peterson and Cooper hit a baseline shot before the Warriors got a couple of key plays to get back to within 10.

Sternberg scored on a cut to the basket and Fiene nailed down a 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

Fiene then stole the inbound pass from Waltonville but his runner in the lane missed the mark at the horn as the teams went to the break with a 10-point lead for the Spartans.

“Riley (Stewart) worked his way into the starting lineup late in the year and we're a better team when he is on the floor,” said Coach Lowery.

Conventional wisdom would lead the fans in attendance that Waltonville would finish the game with a big third quarter and head back to Jefferson County with yet another double-digit victory.

The third quarter, nevertheless, wasn't what Coach Lowery was wanting to see.

The Spartans missed their first six shot attempts and committed three turnovers in a five minute stretch.

This allowed Coach Fiene's squad to rally.

Three-straight baskets by Sternberg, Witthoft and Rednour forced a Waltonville timeout.

Both Sternberg and Witthoft scored on the inside and Rednour drilled home a 3-pointer from the left wing off of a Waltonville turnover to make it 29-26 Spartans with 5:04 left in the third quarter.

After a Devor free throw, Vallett hit his long range shot off of an assist from Ruby as the gap was now just 30-29.

Mayville picked up his third foul with 2:30 left in the quarter and Coach Lowery chose to leave the sophomore in the game.

This move paid off as the 6-4 forward converted a conventional three-point play late in the quarter, grabbing his own rebound and scoring in the paint while being fouled by Steeleville senior Tyler Ingles.

That was the final points of the quarter as Waltonville headed to the fourth up 36-32.

“I told them between the third and fourth quarter we want battles. This is what we want,” said Coach Lowery. “We don't want easy running clock games. We want battles all the way through. We got that tonight and it worked out great for us and I'm glad we came out on top. The guys earned it. Now we have to get back to work and get prepared for the next one.”

Ruby connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and consecutive baskets inside by Witthoft and Sternberg tied the game at 40-40 with 4:23 remaining.

As it turned out, the biggest basket of the contest came on the next possession as Peterson drove the left baseline for a score as he was fouled by Ruby.

The converted “And-One” gave Waltonville back the lead for good.

Mayville scored two important baskets in the fourth quarter, one on a fast break and again off of an assist from Peterson.

Two free throws by Cooper made it 50-44 as time was running out on Steeleville.

Waltonville added one free throw each from Peterson and Cooper and then a fast break basket by Peterson off of a Cooper assist gave Waltonville a 54-47 lead with just :20 left.

Ruby scored on a drive in the lane as the Warriors burned a timeout with only :07.6 left.

Cooper did turn the ball over on the inbound play with the ball going out of bounds with :06.3 remaining but a window dressing rebound basket by Sternberg finished the scoring as the buzzer sounded for the Spartans' win.

Most of the final stats favored Steeleville.

The Warriors held a 21-18 rebounding edge and they hit two more 3-pointers than Waltonville.

Coach Fiene saw his club hit 20-of-44 overall from the field, 5-of-13 from long range.

The Spartans ended up 18-of-36 from the floor, 3-of-4 from the 3-point line.

Both teams committed 12-turnovers.

The final difference proved to be the foul line as Waltonville hit 15-of-20 compared to 6-of-9 for the Warriors.

“They (Waltonville) are an elite team and they get the credit for the win tonight,” said Coach Fiene. “We do a lot right. We've been kind of an underdog all year. We had a couple of bad losses but we know how tough we are. We thrive off of defense and we have some guys who can hit some shots.”

Waltonville beat Mounds Meridian, 65-53 back on December 7 at the Marion Shootout.

Last season the Spartans lost twice to the Bobcats, including a sectional semifinal defeat, 52-45 at the Norris City-Omaha-Enfield Sectional.

Meridian went on to finish second at in the 1A finals.

“When your two best players (Cooper and Peterson) work that hard, it makes everything so much easier because everyone else follows suit,” said Coach Lowery. “The sophomores have really learned how to work from them. Every one of our guys contributed something tonight in the win. They know and love their roles on the team.”