Steeleville girls finish 1-4 at Tip-Off Classic

Posted November 20, 2015 10:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

It's deja vu all over again for the Steeleville Lady Warriors.

A year ago, Steeleville finished 1-4 at the Du Quoin Lady Indians Tip-Off Classic to open a season that ended at the Class 1A Super-sectional in Salem.

Fast-forward a year and the result is the same for Steeleville, which defeated Elverado, 44-37, in Saturday's late session to earn its first victory of the season.

"Definitely our help defense and then on the offensive end, the ball movement," said Steeleville first-year coach John Antonacci, on what was key in the victory. "We had a lot crisper ball movement than we had the last couple of games."

Chloe Gerlach scored 12 points, eclipsing the 1,000 point mark in the process, and Steeleville outscored the Lady Falcons 14-3 in the fourth quarter to pick up the victory.

"It was a goal from freshman year and I couldn't have done it without my teammates and my coaches," Gerlach said. "It feels really good."

Gerlach needed five points coming into the contest to reach the milestone and got it on a 3-pointer with 6:49 left in the second quarter. She is the first Lady Warrior to reach four digits.

"I never keep track of my points," she said. "I had no clue. I knew that I had to be somewhat close, but definitely not that close."

It turned out to be twice as nice for the senior guard, as she was also named to the All-Tournament team after the contest.

"It feels awesome, actually," she said. "Really awesome."

Gerlach is now the all-time leading scorer for the Lady Warriors, in their seventh season of existence as a program.

"Chloe is the best because she works hard every day," Antonacci said. "She comes out, she's ready to go, she's the engine that keeps us going.

"When things look like they're going to start falling apart, she gets the ball and she just goes."

Steeleville led for the entire first half, but Elverado kept it close enough to be uncomfortable in trailing only 24-21 at halftime.

The Lady Falcons were the better team in the third quarter, taking a 30-28 lead with 1:48 left in the period thanks to five points from Brooke Whittington.

Elverado held a 34-30 advantage entering the final quarter.

"The girls talked about taking good shot selection and working the ball against a zone when we had a lead," Antonacci said. "When we got down, it turned it 'Let's point some points up, if you get open, put it up, crash your boards.'

"I gave them a gameplan, they executed it. All credit to them."

Sydney Hood also scored 12 points for Steeleville, which has a week off to prepare for its next opponent - Chester - on Nov. 30. The Lady Warriors won't have their home opener until Dec. 3 against Shawnee.

"Just working on, again, execution on defense," Antonacci said of the focus of practice leading into the Chester contest. "Rebounding, proper technique on boxing out, pressure situations, those kind of things."

Woodlawn 37, S'ville 35

Kiara Lueking scored a game-high 19 points to help Woodlawn edge Steeleville in the Saturday morning session.

Mackenzie Pim led the Lady Warriors with 10 points in the loss, while Chloe Gerlach added eight.

Johnston City 58, S'ville 31

Johnston City outscored Steeleville 30-15 in the first half en route to a 26-point victory over the Lady Warriors.

Bailee Pulley scored 12 points to lead four Lady Indians in double figures in the victory.

Murphysboro 62, S'ville 25

Chloe Gerlach scored 11 points to pace Steeleville, but Murphysboro broke open a close game with a 19-6 second quarter to rout the Lady Warriors on the second night of the Lady Indians Tip-Off Classic.

Mikayla Brasel scored a game-high 33 points for Murphysboro (2-0), which led 37-15 at halftime.

Du Quoin 55, S'ville 26

Steeleville fell behind 13-8 in the first quarter and trailed 33-13 at halftime in a loss to host Du Quoin to open the Lady Indians Tip-Off Classic.

Mackenzie Pim led the Lady Warriors with 13 points in the loss, with Bailey Gale adding four points.

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