Prep Hoops: Goreville blows past Steeleville in regional
Zeke Snell and Kyefer Cavins combined for 67 points as the Goreville Blackcats blew by Steeleville 94-69 in the semifinal of the Goreville Class 1A Regional Wednesday night.
The Blackcats improved to 17-12 with the win while Steeleville ends its season 15-15. Goreville will play either Trico or Zeigler-Royalton Friday night in the regional championship. Those teams play in the other semifinal Thursday.
Goreville raced out to a 10-1 lead, with Snell scoring all 10 points to start the game. Snell finished with 16 points in the first quarter as Goreville led 24-7. Cavins had the other eight.
"Those two came back tonight and Kyefer is feeling better from his injury," said Goreville coach Todd Tripp. "It all started with Zeke Snell in the locker room. He was getting talkative and getting ready and when he does that our guys look up to that. He's our leader. He's an all-state caliber player and Cavins just plays hard every night."
Following the first quarter, Steeleville never got any closer than 14 points the rest of the way. Snell had 21 in the first half and Cavins had 16 as the Blackcats stretched the lead to 43-24 at the intermission.
Steeleville pulled to within 69-52 after three quarters, outscoring Goreville 28-26 in a high-scoring third period. But the Blackcats won the fourth quarter 25-17, pulling away to the final margin.
Snell finished with a game-high 37 points while Cavins had 30. Daniel Lanham overcame first-half foul trouble to chip in with 11 points.
"Lanham stepped up, we had guys come off the bench and played good," Tripp said. "It was a team effort, even though if you look at the box score you might not think so. I think our focus and intensity tonight was better than it's been in two weeks, maybe longer."
A.J. Jeffers led Steeleville with 30 points. Steven Uchtman added 12 for the Warriors.
Steeleville 7 17 28 17 -- 69
Goreville 24 19 26 25 -- 94
Steeleville (69): Uchtman 6 0-1 12, Garlit 0 2-2 2, Smith 3 1-3 7, Hagel 3 0-0 7, Jeffers 13 3-5 30, Asbury 2 0-0 6, B. Ebers 0 0-0 0, Parker 0 0-0 0, Feldman 0 0-0 0, Dinkins 1 0-0 3, Lutz 1 0-0 3, Eisenhauer 0 0-0 0, Pim 0 0-0 0, C. Ebers 0 0-0 0, Wilson 0 0-0 0, 29 6-12 69.
<b>Goreville (94): Lanham 5 0-0 11, Cavins 10 6-9 30, Snell 15 7-7 37, Messmer 1 0-0 2, Melot 0 0-0 0, Vaughn 1 4-4 6, Seavers 0 0-0 0, Bishop 2 2-2 6, Madden 0 0-0 0, Kinder 0 2-2 2, Hill 0 0-0 0. Total 35 21-25 94.
3-point goals: Steeleville 5 (Jeffers, Asbury 2, Dinkins, Lutz), Goreville 3 (Lanham, Cavins 2). Turnovers: Steeleville 12, Goreville 12. Team fouls: Steeleville 19, Goreville 14. Fouled out: Smith. Records: Steeleville ends 15-15, Goreville 17-12.