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WINTERSVILLE -- The Martins Ferry boys' basketball team was on a mission Saturday afternoon against Harrison Central, and the Purple Riders succeeded in their goal of bringing a championship back to Belmont County.
Sparked by a big third quarter, Martins Ferry defeated Harrison Central, 59-49, on Coach D Court in the championship game of the annual Buckeye 8 Tournament.
"It means a ton," Martins Ferry (9-4) head coach Derek Edwards said. "For me, it's about the players and our tradition. These are the things we want to do. We want to play in these games. We want to put ourselves in position to win championships, and we were able to do that today.
"We have dealt with adversity this season. We have lost games to really-good opponents. They were close games, but we were not able to come away with a win.
"Our message has been 'one percent,' and that means we want to get one percent better every day in basketball and in life. We were able to do that today, and it showed. We want to continue that message.
"I can't say enough about how good Harrison Central is. They are state ranked. We have a lot of respect for them.
"We have come a long way. We are going to enjoy this."
The Huskies struggled from the floor at times and also had some costly turnovers, however, but the Huskies' head coach pointed at another reason his team came up short of capturing the league title.
"It was more about offensive rebounds," Harrison Central (14-2) head coach Aaron Foldi said. "We did a good job offensively rebounding in the first half. In the second half, they out-rebounded us offensively. It was the little things that hurt us.
"Give Martins Ferry credit. Their kids played really hard. They have some good players. I have a lot of respect for the coach.
"We just have to bounce back and stay together. We have the OVACs coming up. This game will make us better."
The boys from Harrison County led at halftime, but the boys in purple produced a big second half to pull out the victory.
"That was our message at halftime," Edwards said about coming out and having a big third quarter. "We knew it was going to be a close game. They hit a lot of 3s in the first half. I think they hit six 3s."
The Purple Riders turned their deficit into a lead entering the fourth, and they withstood every challenge put forth by the Huskies.
"I have to give credit to our players," Edwards said. "They executed the game plan."
A trio of players produced double digits in points for Martins Ferry. Individually, Alex Reese recorded a team-high 16 points, Anthony Booth tallied 14 points and Turner Krol collected 10.
Daniel Ody delivered a game-high 21 points to lead the way offensively for the Huskies, while Hayden Cassidy contributed 14.
After a back-and-forth first quarter, the victors took a 16-14 lead into the second. The back-and-forth affair continued in that stanza before the boys in white were able to take a 28-27 lead into the locker roo at halftime.
"We have watched them play, and they are really well coached," Foldi said. "They're patient, and they do a good job. They held the ball, and we had to scramble. Coach Edwards does a great job. We play them again Wednesday. They did a good job of executing their offense."
The Purple Riders stepped up in the third as they outscored the Huskies, 19-11, in the quarter to take a 46-39 lead into the fourth.
The Huskies fought back and closed to within five points on two occasions, however, the Purple Riders were able to hold the lead and extend it before winning the game by 10.
"When you walk into the gym and see the Harrison Central players, the first thing you think is they are huge," Edwards said. "They're massive. A lot of the things they do revolve around their size, and rightfully so. They're physical, and we are undersized.
"Our defense did a fantastic job. They're physical. They present a massive problem, but our guys did a great job."
The loss snapped Harrison Central's 11-game winning streak.
"I told the guys we have to learn from it," Foldi said. "We will get better."
The two teams are scheduled to play again Wednesday out at Harrison Central.