Night one of the Trico Pioneer Invitational Tournament was a successful one for local squads.
Defending tournament champion Red Bud breezed past Elverado 86-31.  Steeleville knocked off a tough Egyptian team 60-45, and Trico topped Shawnee 60-35 Monday night.
Trico 60, Shawnee 35
Trico’s depth and intense man-to-man defense prevailed Monday night, as the Pioneers rolled to a 60-35 victory over Shawnee without one of its top players.
Without Logan Thies, who has to miss the season’s first two games for violating team rules, the Pioneers did not miss a beat in its season debut.
Jesse Smith scored eight points in the first quarter to lead Trico to a 19-9 advantage at the end of the opening eight minutes of play.
“Jesse was very good tonight,” said Trico coach Shane Hawkins. “He attacked the press and was able to get to the basket. He also needs to adjust on how team’s play him now, as they will try and mix it up on him.”
It was a total team effort in the first half, as nine different players scored for Trico in the first half, including six in the second quarter. The Pioneers used a 9-2 run to start the quarter, as the team cruised to a 31-17 halftime advantage.
The momentum stayed with Trico in the third quarter as the squad opened the frame with a 6-0 run. Following a five-point spurt by Shawnee, the Pioneers closed out the quarter with a 12-2 run to lead 49-24.
Each team scored 11 points in the fourth, as 11 different players find their names in the scoring book for Trico in the 25-point win.
“We wanted to play a lot of guys in the first game, and because of early foul trouble, we had to do that,” said Hawkins. “The effort was very good, and Shawnee is a hard team to play in your first game of the season. They are a physical team that likes to try and take you out of your rhythm. Our defense was good tonight, but we have to adjust our play on how the officials are calling the game. We got too many early fouls, and that affected us throughout.”
Smith finished with 14 points to lead a very balanced attack. Chase Heins and Patrick Heller each had eight points, while Dylan Witthoft finished with seven.

Steeleville 60, Egyptian 45
Solid post play led Steeleville to its first win of the season, a convincing 60-45 victory over Egyptian Monday night.
Coire Reel and Colin Smith combined to score 35 points, with 18 and 17 respectively.
“Coire and Colin both played well for us tonight,” said Steeleville coach Gerald Mumbower. “We still have to work on our defensive rebounding, but they defended well and gave us our offense against an athletic and quick team. We were able to take care of the ball tonight, and against Egyptian’s pressure, that was huge.”
Steeleville took control right from the start as Reel scored eight points in the opening frame to lead his team to a 20-10 advantage.
The Warriors used a 7-2 scoring run to start the second quarter for a 27-12 lead, but Egyptian answered by outscoring Steeleville 10-5 over the rest of the half to trail just 32-22 at halftime.
Nick Potter scored five points in the quarter, while Smith added four to pace the Warriors’ offense.
Steeleville’s front-court player continued to get it done in the third quarter as Reel tossed in eight points in the quarter, while Smith added seven as the Warriors’ lead increased from 10 points to 14 points, 50-36, heading into the fourth quarter.
In the final quarter, Steeleville was able to slow down the game and end all Egyptian’s hopes for a comeback. An 8-2 scoring run by the Warriors gave the team a 20-point lead, 58-38, with just 2:10 to play in the game.
Both teams were able to clear their benches as Steeleville held on for the 15-point win.
“The team did a nice job of closing out the game for the win,” said Mumbower. “It took them a little bit to realize how to play with a lead, but they did a good job late in the game. Torrey Gerberding did a nice job off the bench for us and gave us a lot of good minutes.”
Gerberding finished with 10 points for the Warriors.
Steeleville improved to 1-1 on the season and 1-0 in tournament play.

Red Bud 86, Elverado 31
Red Bud’s speed and full-court trapping defense was too much for Elverado to handle, as the Musketeers ran away for a 86-31 win Monday night.
The Red Bud defense forced 46 turnovers and scored the game’s first 13 points en route to the lopsided victory.
“When a team is small like we are, you have to create as many opportunities as you can in transition,” said Red Bud coach David Gillingham on the success of his team’s full-court press. “We were able to extend our defense, force some turnovers, and convert transition buckets.”
Red Bud’s ability to force turnovers turned the game into a layup drill for the Musketeers.
Red Bud scored the game’s first 13 points and led by as much as 16-2 in the first quarter. However, Elverado ended the opening period with an 8-1 run to trail just 17-10.
The Musketeers practically put the game out of reach in the second quarter with a 17-0 run to start the frame. Junior guard Adam Kunkel led the Red Bud attack in the second quarter, scoring 12 points as his team led 44-13 at the intermission. Elverado committed 21 turnovers in the second quarter alone.
Red Bud would go on to outscore Elverado 42-16 in the second half for the 55-point win.
“We did a lot of good things tonight,” said Gillingham. “The intensity was good, and everyone got a chance to play in the season opener. They have been working very hard in practice, and it was good to see them in game competition. Each game we want to get better, but I am pleased for this being the first game out for us.”
Kory Liefer finished with a game high 25 points with 16 of that coming in the third quarter. Kunkel and Jake Hoffman each added 16, and Tyler Magruder came off the bench to score 10 points.
Dalton Porter scored 10 points to lead Elverado.