MartinsFerry Takes Down St. Clairsville
Purple Riders outscore Red Devils, 19-9 in third
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- There are a lot of reasons why a coach may deem a January regular season game as a 'big win.'
Martins Ferry coach Dave Reasbeck seemingly covered them all after watching his team pull out a hard-earned 62-53 victory on John Jenkins Court inside St. Clairsville High School Monday night.
Whether it was the Buckeye 8 and/or OVAC 4A standings, the fact that his team had lost two in a row coming into the game or the manner in which they had to go about pulling out the win, the Riders left the Belmont County Seat quite excited.
"We needed (this win)," Reasbeck said.
"Last week (against Bellaire), we folded and lost. We figured out that we're done with that one and told ourselves, 'Let's go win a game,' and I couldn't be happier with how we won the game because it's the first time all year we came back.
"We made progress by coming back and getting a win."
The Riders (6-4) appeared to have taken full control of the game after outscoring the Red Devils, 19-9, in the third and then the lead swelled to as many as 14 after Jaden Stalder, Richella Spielvogel and Madison Ging scored consecutive baskets for the Riders in the early moments of the fourth.
However, St. Clairsville wasn't about to quit.
The Red Devils proceeded to score 16 of the game's next 19 and after a run-out basket from Alexis Thoburn, who led the Devils with 15, St. C. found itself down just one with two minutes to play.
"We battled back and we'll learn from this," St. Clairsville coach Stacey Agnew said. "We dug down deep to come back, but you have to keep pushing.
"I thought Martins Ferry came out with a purpose to win and we need to do that.
"They did and took it to us."
During the course of the run, St. C. received 3-pointers from senior Keri Klinskoski and a pair from Thoburn as it continually took advantage of turnovers and Rider misses from inside.
"They made a heck of a run," Reasbeck said. "I think they made every 3 they shot (in the fourth)."
St. Clairsville had the ball coming out of a time with a chance to go ahead, but the Red Devils were victimized by a turnover of their own. Martins Ferry got an inside bucket from Spielvogel, who led the Riders with 18, to stop the bleeding.
Ging, who chipped in 11, got a steal and basket to stretch the Riders cushion back out to five at 57-52.
All told, the Riders closed on a 9-1 run.
"We were playing well in the third and early in the fourth, but they made some shots, so give them credit," Reasbeck said.
"We missed a couple of layups, threw it away a couple of times, but we settled down and responded to get a much-needed victory. We needed this (win) bad."
Along with the aforementioned scoring of Spielvogel and Ging, talented sophomore Maria Clark put forth an impressive performance. She knocked down four bonus goals and finished with 17 points.
The Red Devils, meanwhile, had a trio of double-figure scorers. Joining Thoburn were Klinkoski (14) and Katie Strama (11).
Both teams are in action Thursday. Martins Ferry returns home to take on unblemished Union Local, while St. C. visits Bellaire.