Steeleville @ Johnston City - Non-Conference

Warriors pick up road win
Ruby nets 29-points in Steeleville victory at Johnston City

02/10/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
JOHNSTON CITY - Two teams coming off of losses on Friday night on the road were needing to get back on track in the worst way on Saturday night in Johnston City.

The host Indians were throttled by Waltonville and Steeleville lost a 41-40 decision at Marissa/Coulterville.

Coach Scott Burzynski got a much better showing by his club at home on Saturday night but they didn't do enough to come away with a win.

Steeleville mentor Aaron Fiene saw his team gut out a 64-53 victory behind 29-points from 6-2 junior Canon Ruby and four 3-pointers from 5-10 senior Noah Fiene, 14-points total.

Six-four junior Hayden Sternberg netted 15 for the Warriors as the club improved to 15-14 overall.

“We missed a lot of easy shots but it was our fourth game in five nights and it showed,” said Coach Fiene. “We're showing some fatigue right now but they played hard tonight. We had a difficult game last night. But it is better to get them out of our system now instead of two weeks from now.”

Johnston City saw its mark slip to 10-19 overall.

The Indians were topped by 6-2 senior AJ Butler and 6-foot junior Nolan Causey who each scored 15-points.

Six-two sophomore Carson Murrah scored nine-points for JC.

In a game that neither team shot the ball well, Steeleville did what they needed to pick up the road victory.

Although the rebounding edge was slim (31-27) the Warriors produced 14-offensive rebounds that gave the club second chance opportunities that they took advantage of.

Steeleville made just 13-of-35 attempts inside of the 3-point line but beyond they connected on 6-of-11, 19-of-46 overall.

The Warriors also got to the foul line, converting 20-of-31 overall, 10-of-15 in the final 6:40 of the game.

Ruby was successful 9-of-15 from the stripe while Sternberg added 7-of-9.

Johnston City made just 19-of-47 overall and just 2-of-14 from long range.

“There are times that we struggle to score. Opposed to last night (loss) the kids came out tonight and competed. The energy level was pretty high,” said Coach Burzynski. “Overall our kids responded but sometimes we need a bucket and we can't get it. In the last couple of weeks we've executed offensively. We got shots we wanted and I'm proud of the guys for that but you have to make them, too.”

The Warriors never trailed and the game was tied just twice in the early going.

Steeleville used a 13-2 scoring run to break away.

Ruby scored on a cut to the basket and Fiene nailed down his first 3-pointer to get the run going.

Sternberg also scored in the lane and Ruby converted a conventional three-point play for a 21-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Johnston City was just 2-of-9 from the field in the first eight minutes and were 0-of-4 from the foul line.

The Indians best run of the night offensively was a brief 6-0 move to begin the second period.

Causey hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring burst and he made 1-of-2 free throws on the next trip as Steeleville sophomore Nathan Witthoft went to the bench with his third foul.

A bucket by Murrah made it 21-16 with 5:15 left before halftime.

That was as close as JC would get the remainder of the contest.

Steeleville used more cuts to the basket by Ruby and another 3-point bomb by Fiene to get back control and the team combined for 4-of-8 foul shots as they led at intermission 30-18.

Johnston City had chances to dig into the Steeleville lead in the third quarter but failed to do so.

The Indians committed five of their 14-turnovers in the quarter and hit just 2-of-8 field goal attempts.

Steeleville missed 13-field goal attempts, 11 inside, but still managed to keep the lead at double-figures.

Ruby added two more baskets and Sternberg hit four free throws as the Warriors led 42-29 at the end of the third quarter.

Fiene added two back-breaking 3-point bombs in the fourth quarter, stopping any sort of Indians' run and Ruby made 7-of-8 free throws to help close out the win.

Causey and Butler combined for 13 of the JC 24 fourth quarter points but they never got the deficit under 10.

Both teams have work to do before the postseason begins.

Johnston City will host state-ranked Goreville on Tuesday night and then Sesser-Valier comes to town on Friday.

Steeleville can win the Cahokia Conference Kaskaskia Division outright with a win at Dupo on Tuesday.

It will mark the ninth division title for the Warriors since the Cahokia split into divisions back in 2006-07.

“Anytime you can go on the road and get a win. They're a strong team and it was a test tonight,” said Coach Fiene. “We guarded pretty well tonight and limited them to one shot. We hit some 3's but we couldn't make lay ups.”

Non-Conference	1	2	3	4	-	F
Steeleville	21	09	12	22	-	64
Johnston City	10	08	11	24	-	53

Steeleville (64) - Rednour 0 0 0-0 0, Tr. Ingles 1 0 0-0 2, Vallett 0 0 1-2 1, Newby 0 0 1-2 1, Ruby 7 2 9-14 29, Ty. Ingles 0 0 0-0 0, Witthoft 1 0 0-0 2, Fiene 0 4 2-4 14, Sternberg 4 0 7-9 15, Brown 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13/3FG-6/FT-7-9/PF-21.
Johnston City (53) – Galbraith 0 1 0-0 3, Causey 5 1 2-7 15, Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Butler 3 0 9-12 15, Sanders 2 0 0-3 4, Rice 2 0 1-1 5, Murrah 4 0 1-2 9, Moore 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-17/3FG-2/FT-13-25/PF-26.
Fouled Out – Witthoft - Steeleville; Galbraith/Butler/Murrah - Johnston City.
Technical Fouls – Butler - Johnston City.