Patriots Defeat Red Devils, 74-61
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WHEELING -- Michael Jebbia was very cognizant of the rate of regularity at which St. Clairsville has been scoring the ball in the first month of the season.
More specifically, the veteran Wheeling Park coach was well aware of the Red Devils' ability to shoot the 3-pointer.
Thus, entering their matchup Friday night inside the 'Basketball Palace on the Hill' at Wheeling Park High School, the Patriots worked on chasing the Red Devils off the line to try to disrupt their offensive flow.
Park's players executed the game plan to a tee on the defensive end and offensively took advantage of their definitive length and foot speed advantage en route to a 74-61 victory in their home opener.
"They've been scoring a lot of points and we knew they had some guys who are going to score because they're good players, but we had to challenge their looks from 3," Jebbia said.
The Patriots limited St. Clairsville to four bonus baskets and the inside looks the Red Devils did get didn't fall as often as was needed.
"That was especially true during what proved to be the decisive second quarter in which the Park outscored St. C., 20-5 and closed the half on a 16-2 run.
"When the ball is going in for us, I'll take our chances against anybody, but when it's not, and it wasn't there for a while (in the second quarter), we have to find another way to win," St. Clairsville coach Ryan Clifford said. "We didn't do that in the second quarter. It wasn't like the shots we were taking were bad, but they just weren't going in. On the other end, we gave them some easy baskets."
Talented junior Alex Vargo, who was a handful all night long for the Red Devils, scored eight straight points during a spurt in the second. All told, he finished with a team-high 22.
He was complemented in that second quarter by senior Keondre King, who hit a pair of corner treys and had eight of his 15 in that chapter.
While those two were doing it on the offensive end, it was the likes of senior Jack Stakem, David Croft and Xavier Morris who supplied the energy on the defensive end, which led to many of the scoring opportunities Park capitalized on.
"(Croft and Morris) came off the bench and really gave us a lift (defensively)," Jebbia said. "We were able to extend the lead a little bit because of that."
The Patriots carried a 39-22 lead into the half and swelled to as many as 23 on two occasions during the third quarter.
St. Clairsville battled and actually got as close as 13 with 5:36 to play in the game, but after a quick Park time out, King drilled another trey and Stakem, who was pesky on both ends, scored on a drive to the bucket to push the lead back to 18.
"The last four or five minutes was a little disappointing because we didn't take good care of the ball and we missed some easy shots, but you have to give credit to St. C. because they didn't throw in the towel either," Jebbia said. "They're similar to us where their seniors have been playing two or three years. Some of our guys took some lumps two years ago and they've been really good the last couple of years."
The hole for the Red Devils was simply too deep.
"Against a team that has guys who can score like Park does, it's going to be hard to string together enough stops," Clifford said. "The second quarter was the downfall, but I liked how we did a lot of different things, but when the ball doesn't go in the basket, it's hard to win."
The Red Devils were led by senior standout Craig Bober. Fresh off a 27-point outburst in a win against Philo last week, he scored a game-high 26 and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Matt Busby added 15, while Nate Harris had eight.
Vargo and King combined for 37, while De'Vaughn McWhorter finished with 17.