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JM Clobbers Big Red, 79-57

Derrow, Straughn lead the way

John Marshall’s Shay Straughn (4) takes the ball up between Steubenville’s Rhiannon Petrisko (54) and Madison Fields (15) on Thursday night.

MOUNDSVILLE — The keys to John Marshall’s success is no secret. The Monarchs are going to go as far as Avery Derrow and Shay Straughn will take them.

When they are on, they are a pain to stop and John Marshall is going to be a tough out. Just ask Steubenville.

The duo combined for 55 points — 70 percent of the offense — in a 79-57 Monarchs victory against Big Red on Thursday at the Moundsville Field House.

“The game is fun when you are making shots,” John Marshall coach Brock Melko said. “Our defense wasn’t great, but we made the shots. They didn’t do anything different than normal. The shots just went through the hoop.”

Derrow made 13 of 17 shots for 31 points. Straughn was 7 of 16 with three 3-pointers on her way to 24. They combined for 10-for-13 at the free-throw line.

Transition baskets were a key for the Monarchs. Much like John Marshall (11-7), Steubenville didn’t hide who it was trying to get the ball to.

Rhiannon Petrisko is a force inside for Big Red and her teammates were trying to get her involved early. Petrisko had a solid game with 21 points, but Big Red had its share of turnovers that led to easy layups for Monarchs.

When Steubenville (6-13) was able to get back and defend, the Monarchs calmly drained 3-pointers with a hand rarely in their face.

“We knew we were coming in here against a well-coached team that is very young, but very talented,” Steubenville coach Jeff Lombardo said. “Defensively, we had to be perfect and we weren’t. Combine that with them being 6 of 9 from 3 in the first half. It makes it easier when most of those looks are open. They put us in a hole and and we couldn’t get out of it.

“At some point in the third quarter we went into a triangle-and-two to see if we could slow (Avery and Derrow) down, but they are good players. Some of their buckets were just them outhustling us for a rebound, getting after us defensively and getting steals and we struggled to match up with them man-to-man. Zone, we didn’t rotate fast enough to disrupt them.”

Straughn made two of her 3s in the first quarter to increase the Monarchs lead to 15-8.

The Monarchs were able to get the advantage into double figures but Steubenville continued to stay alive, picking at the lead behind Petrisko freshman Madison Fields.

John Marshall honored its two seniors — Isabelle Harr and Kaylee McMullen — before the game. And while Straughn and Derrow provided most of the offense, the biggest bucket may have come from McMullen.

With three minutes remaining before half, McMullen drained her only basket — a 3-pointer — while being fouled. She connected on the ensuing free throw for a four-point play to push the lead back to double digits.

After a 3-pointer from Big Red’s Seana Ragusa put the JM lead back into double digits, Derrow showed off her hustle.

Following two missed free throws by McMullen, Derrow came away with the rebound, scored while being fouled and hit the free throw to put the Monarchs in front 41-30. It was the closest Steubenville came the rest of the way.

John Marshall opened the second half on an 11-2 run and stretched the lead to as many as 26 early in the fourth quarter.

“The biggest thing coming into the game was trying to limit Petrisko,” Melko said. “She is really tough underneath the basket and, whether we were man or zone, we felt if we could front her and have help side, we could shut down their offense. We did a decent job of fronting her, but our help side was terrible. In the third quarter we went to a trapping zone and pressed them and that helped us pull away.”

John Marshall forced Steubenville into 23 turnovers.

In addition to Petrisko, Fields was the only other Big Red player in double figures with 16.

“She is coming along and getting more and more confident,” Lombardo said of Fields. “Madison coming in as a post player and seeing how Rhi works at practice every day, she is starting to match that intensity and she is picking up all the things that she does and it is starting to show in games.”

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