Orchard Farm Hoping to Ride Momentum to District Title

The Orchard Farm boys basketball team has a shot at a district championship on Friday night thanks to its senior class, which is showing much resistance in allowing their collective high school basketball careers to come to a conclusion

The Eagles will battle Whitfield at Whitfield High School at 8 p.m. on Friday in the Class 3, District 6 championship game. The winner will play next Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Florissant Valley Community College in Ferguson, MO.

Fourth-seeded Orchard Farm (23-4) defeated top-seeded Lutheran North, 61-54 on Wednesday.

Coach Duane Stuermann will, once again, be relying on his seniors to carry the Eagles. Senior sharpshooter Preston Steinhoff, who scored a team-high 19 points on Wednesday, leads the team with an average of 14.3 points per game. The team’s next three best scorers are also seniors in Zach Jones (9.5 points per game), Jake Beeson (8.8) and Delk Webb (8.6).

Orchard Farm, which plays in the Eastern Missouri Conference, was 17-1 at one point this season. The Eagles defeated Principia in the first round of district action, 71-55 on Monday, as Steinhoff poured in a game-high 22 points.

Preston Steinhoff’s mother, Robin, coached her final game as head coach of the Orchard Farm girls program on Tuesday in a 30-29 loss to Whitfield. She was the girls coach for the past 27 seasons. Daughter Paige Steinhoff, a senior, was unable to play in the final game of her own career because of lingering symptoms from a recent concussion.

Paige Steinhoff was the team’s leading scorer this season at 11.2 points per game.

The Orchard Farm girls finished at 12-12. Robin Steinhoff walks away with a career record of 377-322.