Big Red Pulls Away From Central To Open With Win
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STEUBENVILLE – Coming into the season with most of his team fresh off a deep playoff football run, veteran Big Red head coach Mike Haney knew his team was going to have to rely on its defense early in the season while the shooting catches up.
It used that philosophy to take a 45-28 victory over city rival Catholic Central Friday night on the road inside a packed Mickey Barber Gymnasium.
"We knew it was going to be tough, this was their fourth game and we had four practices," Haney said. "After football we gave the guys a week off to get their bodies and minds right … our shooting wasn't very good, but that will come.
"Defense is going to be our thing. We created turnovers in the first half, but didn't get points off of them. Hopefully going forward we're able to get more points off of those."
Getting a rivalry win in front of the packed house to open the season on the hardwood is a good way to get into basketball mode.
"It's good to start with a game like this, these guys are all friends, they played little league together, they see each other all the time," Haney said. "You always want to win this game, these are the games you remember for the rest of your life."
For Catholic Central (0-4) head coach Don Ogden, his team's effort in what had been just a seven-point game going to the fourth quarter was something he could be happy about despite the result.
"I wasn't (pretty offensively), but I think a lot of that is jitters, it's a rivalry game, there's a lot on the line," Ogden said. "This game goes back generations, you're not just playing for yourself or your school, you're playing for everybody that ever went to your school, so I understand (there being some nerves). Overall I thought we played pretty well, we lost our poise a couple times, but overall we played hard to end and that's all I asked of them in the pregame was to go out and fight to the end – and they did.
"We lost, but if we can play like this the rest of the season, good things should happen for us.
"Coach Haney is a good coach and they have a good squad … We had to respond and step up to that level of competition, we we pretty much did."
Big Red opened a 13-8 lead after the opening quarter thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from senior Phaeton Hill, who led all players with 23 points, and another long-range bomb from Cole Bowers.
Big Red held a 22-15 lead at the halftime break, and led 32-25 going to the fourth quarter.
In the final eight minutes, though, Hill and Keith Lewis knocked down triples and Big Red out-scored the Crusaders 13-3 to pull away for the 17-point victory.
Hill finished with four makes from beyond the arc, while connected twice and also reached double digits with 10 points.
Tommy Pergi led the Crusaders' efforts with 11 points, seven of which came from the foul line. Andrew Dorsey hit Central's lone triple and finished with seven points.