Juniors Logan Thies and Jesse Smith combined to score 42 points to lead Trico to a 57-51 win over Steeleville Wednesday night to advance to the finals of the Trico 1A Regional.

“At this point of the year, it is all about winning and moving on,” said Trico coach Shane Hawkins. “We didn’t play our best, but we are happy to play another day. Logan got us going early and carried us throughout the game. Jesse had a great fourth quarter and rally gave us a spark. Steeleville is a tough team, but the only thing that matters now is that we won and advanced. Now we have to get ready for Friday night.”

Smith had just four points coming into the fourth quarter, but the Trico point guard took things into his own hands to help the Pioneers rally from a early five-point deficit in the quarter.

After two free throws by Andrew Pokrzywinski gave Steeleville a 41-36 lead to start the final period, Trico answered with a 12-2 run that was sparked by a three-pointer from Tyler Coleman and seven points by Smith. The 12-2 run gave Trico a 48-43 lead, a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

“We let Steeleville have too many good looks at the basket in the first half,” added Hawkins. “Nick Potter got into a rhythm and made some big shots for them. We played better defense in the second half and made Potter really fight and work for his shots. We took control of the game in the last three to four minutes because we attacked the basket and we played the way we wanted to.”

“We missed a couple of makable shots at the end and we lost the momentum,” said Steeleville coach Gerald Mumbower. “We just couldn’t get the shots to fall late in the game. The team played really well, we controlled the tempo until about the three minute mark of the fourth quarter.”

Thies put his mark on the game right from the start scoring eight points in the first quarter to held Trico take a 14-11 lead.

Steeleville stayed close early on by making three-point shots. The Warriors drained three three-pointers in the first quarter as Josh Diercks sank two and Potter made one.

Steeleville’s hot long-range shooting continued in the second quarter, as Potter nailed three three-pointers and finished with 12 points in the quarter. The Warriors made 7-of-10 shots in the period to outscore Trico 17-11 for a 28-25 lead at the break.

Thies continued to be unstoppable for the Pioneers as he posted eight points in the second quarter and finished the first half with 16 points to keep his team close.

The Warriors kept its lead throughout the third quarter as their zone defense made it hard for the Pioneers to score points in the paint.

Each team scored 11 points in the third as Steeleville led 39-36 going into the decisive fourth quarter.

Thies finished with a game-high 27 points, while Smith added 15 in the win.

Potter tossed in 19 points to lead Steeleville, while Pokrzywinski had 14 in the loss.

With the victory, Trico advanced to take on Okawville in the regional finals. Okawville knocked off the Pioneers in the regional finals last year and defeated them in sectional finals two years ago.

Okawville edged New Athens Wednesday night with a last second shot by Ryan Burrough.