The Red Bud Musketeers hosted the Steeleville Warriors last Tuesday, in hopes of increasing their lead in the conference. In the first quarter the Musketeers came out with a lot of intensity and hoped out to an early 12-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. Griffin Ziebold had a three point field goal, and two made free throw baskets in the quarter. In the second quarter the Musketeers’ offense began to collapse. The offense became stagnant, and was difficult for the home team to put the ball in the basket. Along with their struggle on offense, Owen Gross of the Warriors was making everything. Gross did a nice job of dribbling off ball screens, and nailing the contested looks. Red Bud trailed the Warriors 21-19 at the half. In the second half, the Musketeers could not seem to gain any type of momentum. Every time Red Bud would go on a run, Gross would answer back with a bucket of his own. Red Bud continued to struggle on offense only scoring nine points in the each of the last two quarters. Gross completed his night with 24 points leading the Warriors to a 45-37 win over the Musketeers. Ziebold led the home team in scoring with 12 points.  

The Musketeers had to put their game against Steeleville behind them and focus on their next opponent. On Friday, the Musketeers traveled to Lebanon to play the Greyhounds. The Greyhounds found themselves third in the conference coming into this matchup, only trailing the Musketeers and the Steeleville Warriors. In the opening quarter the Musketeers shot the ball incredibly well. Blake Cowell nailed a pair of three point field goals, and Ziebold contributed a three of his own in the first quarter to help Red Bud jump out to an early 16-8 lead. In the second quarter the Musketeers continued to move the ball on offense and create high percentage shot opportunities for themselves. The Musketeers were able to extend their lead by one, and carry a 25-16 lead into halftime. In the third quarter the Musketeers were looking to put the Greyhounds out of reach and really take it to them in the quarter. Caleb Reichmann had a nice half on the glass, continuously being relentless to haul in rebounds on both sides of the floor.  The Musketeers continued to keep their foot on the gas and suffocate the Greyhounds on defense. In the final quarter Red Bud was able to put the game on ice. They went seven of eight from the charity stripe and Reichmann was able to tally six points in the final quarter. The Musketeers boat raced the Greyhounds 50-35. Blake Cowell led the Musketeers in scoring with 14 points, and Caleb Reichmann tallied 13 points to go along with 18 rebounds.

The Musketeers split the week against two conference opponents and have a record of 6-2 conference record. Red Bud will spend the next week competing in the Sparta Mid-Winter Classic.