The opening night of the 10th annual Trico Pioneer Invitational Tournament saw a wide array of results Monday night..
Red Bud pulled away from Shawnee late in the first quarter and coasted to a 41-point win.
Trico withstood a late rally from Egyptian to capture a comfortable 11-point victory.
Steeleville led Sparta by 20 points in the second half, but managed to escape with only an one-point victory.
Steeleville 62, Sparta 61
Sparta nearly erased a 20-point second half deficit to knock off Steeleville, but a last second shot by the Bulldogs fell short and the Warriors escaped with a 62-61 victory.
“We played about as well as we could have through the first three quarters,” said Steeleville coach Gerald Mumbower. “We shot the ball well and we took care of the basketball. We got up 20 by 20 points and I don’t know if we relaxed or lost focus. We got into foul trouble and learned that we need another leader on the floor when Andrew (Pokrzywinski) is out. We are fortunate to get a win tonight”
Colin Smith scored six points in the opening quarter for Steeleville to lead the Warriors to an 18-12 lead. Weslen Kiner has six points for Sparta and London Oliver added four.
Steeleville used a 12-5 scoring run to end the first half with a 30-21 lead. Smith added six more points in the second quarter including a basket at the buzzer to give the Warriors the momentum. Kiner also added six points and Jordan Thompson nailed a three-pointer to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance.
Coire Reel tallied seven points, Torrey Gerberding scored six points and Nick potter knocked down a three-pointer to give Steeleville a commanding 52-32 lead late in the third quarter.
However, Sparta stole back some of the momentum by finishing the third with an 8-0 run to trail just 52-40 heading into the fourth.
Over the final eight minutes, Sparta’s Austin Peck drained three three-pointers, while Steeleville went 2-of-11 from the foul line down the stretch.
After a steal and a basket by Darius Jackson, the Bulldogs were down 62-61.
Sparta had a chance to win the game with 2.3 seconds left after Potter missed two free throws. But a shot by Thompson fell short and the Warriors escaped with the victory, their second over Sparta.

“If you would have told me we would be 2-0 on the season with  two wins over Sparta, I definitely would have took it,” said Mumbower. “We are usually a good free throw shooting team, but tonight things just did not bounce our way.”
Smith finished with 17 points to lead the Steeleville offense, while Reel added 40.
Kiner had a game-high 19 points for Sparta, while Peck tossed in 13 and Oliver finished with 10.
Trico 71, Egyptian 60
Trico built up a large lead over three quarters of play but had to withstand a late rally from Egyptian in a 71-60 victory.
“We did a lot of things right the first three quarters of play,” said Trico coach Shane Hawkins. “Then we threw it all out the window in the fourth. We were trying too hard and forcing things. You can’t do that against a team like Egyptian. When we were patient, we had a lot of success.”
With the game tied at 10-10, the Pioneers finished the opening quarter with a 12-0 run for a 22-10 lead. Egyptian missed its final seven shots during that span, while Dylan Witthoft and Daron Meyerhoff sank important three-pointers for the Pioneers.
Trico would hold on to its double digit lead throughout the second quarter, outscoring Egyptian 15-14 for a 37-24 lead at the intermission.
Chase Heins scored six points and Tyler Coleman tossed in four points to lead the Trico offense in the second.
The Pioneers opened the third quarter with an 8-4 scoring run to push their advantage to 17 points.
Egyptian responded with a 7-0 run to cut the Trico advantage down to 10 points, 45-35 halfway through the quarter.
Trico answered with an 8-0 scoring run to keep command of the game. The Pioneers led 55-39 after three quarters of play. Coleman scored six points in the third period, while Jesse Smith added four.
Five different Pioneers scored early in the fourth quarter to increase their lead to 18 points, 66-48.
However, Egyptian had one final run left and scored the next eight points to trail 66-56 with 1:17 remaining in the game.
Egyptian would go on to cut the lead to nine points, but couldn’t get any closer as the Pioneers hit 5-of-7 free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
Witthoft finished with 17 points to lead Trico, while Heins added 16 and Coleman and Dennis Froemling each had 12. Smith tossed in eight points for the balanced Trico attack.
“With Logan injured, we have to be balanced to be successful,” said Hawkins. “The guys were unselfish on offense and played hard on defense, if we continue to do that, we will be all right. Dylan really attacked the basket tonight. He didn’t do that a lot last year and when he did, he didn’t do it well. He has worked on that part of the game and really put a lot of pressure on the defense.”
Darmez Nelson and Devantae Price each scored 21 points to lead Egyptian, while Jhermarien Terry had 10.
Red Bud 75, Shawnee 34
Trailing 8-7, Red Bud finished the first quarter on a 14-5 scoring run and never looked back en route to a lopsided 75-34 win over Shawnee in its season opener.
“The first game of the season, you never really know what you are going to get,” said Red Bud coach Dave Gillingham. “Teams usually feel each other out until the jitters go away. Shawnee made some tough shots in the first quarter. I think once we settled down, we were fine. I was really pleased with the way we shared the ball. And the guys did a good job of moving the ball around on offense. We also had good intensity on defense. Overall, it was a good effort for our first game out.”
Red Bud senior Adam Kunkel scored 12 points in the first quarter to lead the Musketeers to a 21-13 lead. He added eight more in the second quarter for 20 first half points.
The Musketeers scored the first 15 points of the second quarter to take total control of the game, 36-13, and led 44-19 at the break.
Behind Tyler Magruder’s seven points in the third quarter, Red Bud outscored Shawnee 19-10 to put the game away, leading 63-29.
Kunkel finished with 25 points, while Magruder added 13 in the win.
Shawnee was paced by Andrew Livesay and Dylan Smith with eight points each.