Steeleville frosh stay unbeaten, beat Chester
<span>Bradley Mevert scored a game-high 14 points, and Steeleville took control of the game early and again late in a 45-25 win over Chester on Saturday at Colbert Gymnasium.</span>
<span>The Warrior frosh led 19-15 at halftime, but a trio of 3-pointers - two from Mel Mulholland - late in the third quarter gave Steeleville a 34-21 lead.</span>
<span>"Defending the basketball full-court, pressuring the ball, making sure they don't get easy baskets, transition defense, running the floor on offense and really being efficient trying to get layups," said Steeleville coach Aaron Fiene on what was key for his team in the contest.</span>
<span>After finding themselves down 9-2 to start the game, the Yellow Jackets (0-4) fought back to stay within striking distance for much of the first half.</span>
<span>Chester closed to within a bucket, 14-11, on a 3-pointer from Colin Wingerter with 3:21 left in the second quarter.</span>
<span>"We struggled to take care of the ball and usually, the most important part of the game is ball possession and ball security," said Chester coach Aaron Halstead. "We've gotten better at it, they put a lot of good pressure on us full-court and we couldn't really handle the pressure."</span>
<span>Steeleville (3-0) took a 36-21 lead into the fourth quarter and outscored its Randolph County rival 9-4 in the final stanza.</span>
<span>"We hit a couple of shots (in the third quarter) and that's always key, but defense is where it starts," Fiene said. "We pressured their guards a little bit more, we doubled more guards and tried to create turnovers to get easy baskets.</span>
<span>"And that's the key, pressuring the ball, getting steals and getting down the court to score."</span>
<span>Mulholland finished with nine points (all 3-pointers) for the Warriors, while Gavin Conway and Zack Kothe each chipped in six.</span>
<span>As a team, Steeleville finished with five 3-pointers.</span>
<span>"We just lost their shooter," Halstead said, referring to Mulholland. "We had a few kids mental lapse and forgot where he was and he got open looks.</span>
<span>"Open looks are good looks."</span>
<span>Jacob Wingerter and Colin Wingerter each scored nine points for Chester, which won't play its next freshman game until Jan. 9 at 10 a.m. against Red Bud.</span>
<span>Steeleville travels to Pinckneyville on Monday for a 6:15 p.m. contest.</span>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-84ec7046-bc41-fbe3-f4f7-b7206eb324b6"><span>"They're big and fundamental and I think we're going to try to pressure the ball and run the floor and try to beat them," Fiene said.</span></span>