After missing the first two games of the season due to violating team rules, Trico junior Logan Thies broke out big time Saturday night to lead the Pioneers to a 60-54 victory over Red Bud in the Trico Pioneer Invitational Tournament finale.
Thies had a game high 33 points in the win, including making 8-of-10 free throws in the final minute, as Trico outscored the Musketeers 22-13 in the fourth quarter for the six-point win.
“We didn’t close the game out well Friday night against Steeleville, but we did tonight,” said Trico coach Shane Hawkins. We made our free throws down the stretch, and we were patient enough to get good looks at the basket.”
Red Bud led 20-17 at the end of the first quarter, but the Pioneers battled back for a 29-28 halftime advantage.
The Musketeers outscored Trico 13-9 in the third for a 41-38 lead before the Pioneers sealed the win in the fourth.
“It is always good to start the season right,” added Hawkins. “There was good competition in this tournament, as every team presented different problems for us. However, winning this tournament can’t be the highlight of the season for us. We have to continue to grow as a team and continue to get better.”
With the win, Trico finished tournament play at 5-0, while Red Bud fell to 3-2 after suffering back-to-back losses Saturday. The Musketeers lost to Egyptian 80-71 earlier Saturday.
With Red Bud’s two losses Saturday, There was a three-way tie for second place with Egyptian (3-2), Red Bud (3-2), and Steeleville (3-2). The tie-breaker came down to free throw shooting percentage with Egyptian taking second, Red Bud third, and Steeleville fourth.
In other action from Saturday, Trico defeated Elverado, Steeleville topped Shawnee and Elverado, and Egyptian beat Shawnee.

Red Bud 63,
Shawnee 53
Adam Kunkel scored a game high 22 points to lead Red Bud past Shawnee 63-53 Friday night.
The Musketeers led 16-14 at the end of the first quarter, 31-27 at halftime and 48- 37 after three quarters of play.
Jake Hoffman finished with 19 points and Kory Liefer added 15, as the
Musketeers improved to 3-0 in tournament play.
Trico 63, Steeleville 61
A second half rally by Steeleville came up two points short, as Trico held on for a 63-61 win Friday night.
“We were up 13 points in the third quarter, we just didn’t close out the game well,” said Trico coach Shane Hawkins. “We missed too many free throws and didn’t get the shots we wanted late in the game.”
The Pioneers ran out to a 21-12 lead in the first quarter and held a 39-28 halftime advantage.
The Warriors battled back in the third, outscoring Trico 16-12 to cut the deficit to 51-44 heading into the fourth quarter.
Steeleville outscored Trico 17-12 over the final eight minutes of play but couldn’t get the big basket down the stretch.
Tyler Coleman led Trico with 17 points, while Chase Heins added 15, and Logan Thies scored 14 in his season debut after sitting out the first two games.
Trico improved to 3-0 in tournament play, while Steeleville fell to 1-2.
In other action from Friday night, Egyptian rolled past Elverado 84-32. Egyptian improved to 1-2, while Elverado dropped to 0-3.
Jess Smith’s consistent play throughout the tournament led to him receiving the most valuable player award. The rest of the all-tournament team included Adam Kunkel, Jake Hoffman, and Kory Liefer of Red Bud; Colin Smith and Coire Reel of Steeleville, Tyler Coleman and Chase Heins of Trico, Matt Petermichael of Egyptian, and Tyler Davis of Shawnee.