In a game that saw 27 fouls called in the first half, Trico rolled to a 65-35 victory over Valmeyer in the quarterfinal round of the Marissa 1A Regional Monday night.

“It wasn’t a pretty win, but we are moving on and that is what is important,” said Trico coach Steve Vogt. “We played well tonight and shot the ball good, but we had too many fouls and that can’t continue.”

Stephanie Cochran scored seven points in the opening quarter, while Chelsea Jarrett added four as the Lady Pioneers ran out to a 16-11 first quarter lead.

Trico made 6-of-12 shots in the opening quarter, while Valmeyer made 5-of-11, but were 0-of-6 from the foul line.

Kendra Williams sank two three-pointers in the second quarter to ignite a 13-2 scoring run as Trico turned a nine point lead into a 20-point, 38-18 halftime advantage.

Trico continued to roll in the second half as the team outscored Valmeyer 17-7 in the third to turn its 20-point lead into a 30-point advantage.

Cochran added six points in the frame, while Jarrett had four as the Lady Pioneers put the game out of reach.

Each team scored 10 points in the fourth quarter for the 65-35 final score.

Cochran finished the game with 18 points, while Jarrett had 12, Williams added nine and Mikayla Reid chipped in eight.

“Stephanie played real well for us tonight and Beth Daniels did a little bit of everything for us,” added Vogt. “We need to play a little tougher defense, because the game are just going to get harder from here.”

With the win, Trico advanced to take on Okawville, the two seed, in the regional semifinals.

In their first ever regional contest, the Steeleville Lady Warriors pulled out the program’s first ever victory as well with a 37-28 win over New Athens in the quarterfinal round of the Marissa 1A Regional Monday night.

“We had some jitters early, but we settled down in the second quarter and started to play much better,” said Steeleville coach Darryl Winkelman. “We didn’t shoot the ball real well tonight, but we defended well and got that first regional win for this team.”

The Lady Warriors made just 3-of-9 shots in the opening quarter and turned the ball over nine times, but their defense kept New Athens in check for an 8-2 lead. New Athens made just 1-of-17 shots in the opening quarter.

Jill Winkelman and Alex Gale each had three points in the first to pace the Steeleville offense.

Winkelman added eight more points in the second quarter as Steeleville outscored New Athens 12-6 for a 20-8 halftime lead.

The Lady Warriors pulled down five offensive rebounds in the second quarter and turned those second chances into eight points as Steeleville was in total control at the break.

Steeleville threatened to run away with the game in the third quarter as the team opened up play with a 9-3 scoring run to go up by 18 points, 29-11. Megan Lalis had two baskets to help spark the run.

New Athens battled right back and used a 7-0 run to end the third quarter down just 11 points, 29-18.

The Lady Yellowjackets continued to battle back in the fourth quarter. They cut the lead down to six points, 33-27, with 3:23 remaining in the game, but couldn’t get any closer as Steeleville made enough free throws down the stretch to clinch the nine-point win, 37-28.

“New Athens didn’t give up and they came to play in the second half,” added Winkelman. “We missed several easy shots, but Jill scored some big baskets when we needed her to. Kassee Theobald played very tough defense and Alex Gale caused a lot of problems for them upfront as well. I am pretty pleased with the win. It is always hard to beat a team three times in a season.”

Winkelman finished with a game high 17 points, while Lalis added eight and Gale had seven.

With the win, Steeleville improved to 11-11 overall and advanced to the regional semifinals against top-seeded Marissa-Coulterville.