Steelville Holds on to Defeat Cuba, 45-43 to Advance to Consolation Game
- RoMoAthletics
- Jan 23
- 3 min read
January 23, 2026
After rough first round match-ups where both teams struggled, they were able to right the ship in the Consolation Semifinal match-up. Steelville, coached by former Bulldog All-Stater and Evangel University All-American, Josh Pritchett coached his team to a 45-43 against Cuba and will be playing in the Consolation game tonight against Waynesville. “It was nice to see our team come out with a win last night. I didn’t feel like we necessarily did what we needed to do in order to make that a more comfortable win.”
It was a defensive battle in the opening quarter as both teams managed just 7 points each. In the second quarter, the Cardinals spread their wings and found buckets from 5 players to put up 14 points while again holding the Wildcats to 7.
In the first half, Steelville got points from 7 players led by Sr guard Trentin Garrison with 6 points. The balanced scoring attack was in contrast to Cuba who only had 3 people on the scoreboard with Sr guard Cameron Carnal scoring all 7 of the points in the 2nd quarter.
If the Cardinal faithful were feeling comfortable with the 21-14 halftime lead, the Wildcats came out of the intermission with a renewed sense of purpose. Carnal went for 8 points in the quarter and Jr guard Braden Gipson jumped in with 7 points, as Cuba put up 20 points in the quarter to head into the final quarter trailing by 2, 34-36.
Senior guard Jackson Woods, who had not scored since the opening minutes of the game on a 3 point shot, countered the Cuba firestorm with 10 3rd quarter points including 2 more from behind the arc.
The final quarter became a strategic defensive battle as neither team could pull away. With each team putting up 9 points in the quarter, it was the balanced scoring attack by the Cardinals with a total of 8 players contributing the points that was the difference in the game.
Coach Pritchett wants to be sure to build upon this win heading into tonights game with Waynesville. “We need to make sure that we are taking care of the ball on offense. We’ve been too careless with the ball lately, and it shows on the scoreboard. I would love for our team to come out and play hard and be intense from the start. Waynesville is a good team and we’re gonna need to play our game in order to win.”
Carnal finished with a game high 22 points after going scoreless in the first period. Gipson finished with 12 for Cuba. For the Cardinals, Woods was the only player to reach double figures as he recorded 16 points.
Steelville will play Waynesville tonight in the Consolation Game with a tip-off scheduled for 3:30pm and the location has been moved to the St. James Middle School.
STATS Steelville 45, Cuba 43
The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):
Steelville (6-9): Woods 6-0-16, Garrison 4-0-8, Rutledge 1-0-2, Bruno 2-0-4, Gambill 1-1-4, Starbeck 1-1-3, Grayson 2-0-4, Bailey 1-2-4
Cuba (2-14): Carnal 9-1-22, Gipson 4-2-12, Noltkamper 3-0-7, Brown 1-0-2
The score by periods:
TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 F
Steelville 7 14 15 9 45
Cuba 7 7 20 9 43
St. James Tournament Results
Final Tourney Match-Ups - Friday the 23rd at St. James Middle School
Consolation at 3:30pm - Waynesville vs Steelville
3rd Place at 5:00pm - Salem vs St. James
Championship at 6:30pm - Blair Oaks vs Rolla
First Round Tourney Results - Monday the 19th
#1 Blair Oaks - Bye
Semifinal Results - Thursday the 22nd
Steelville defeats Cuba, 45-43
Blair Oaks over Salem, 66 -31
Rolla handles St. James, 64-51
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