photo by: Kim North

St. Clairsville’s Brady Schafer (4) drives to the basket for a layup during Wednesday night’s Ohio Division V District semifinal inside the ECO Center. He scored 13 points in the Red Devils’ 50-33 victory over Barnesville.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – It wasn’t a masterpiece by any means, but it didn’t matter to St. Clairsville boys basketball Ryan Clifford.

Clifford watched his top-seeded Red Devils (18-6) get off to a sluggish start but pull away slowly but surely, in a 50-33 victory over No. 11 Barnesville Wednesday night in the nightcap of an all-Belmont County Division V Eastern District Tournament semifinal doubleheader inside the jam-packed ECO Center.

“At this point in the year, we’ll take one more point than whoever we play,” Clifford admitted. “There are only 32 teams left in Ohio in Division V, and we’re one of them. We’re excited about that.

“It doesn’t have to be a work of art this time of year, it’s all about outscoring your opponent,” he added. “It will be exciting in Cadiz on Saturday.”

The contest was deadlocked twice in the first half as the Shamrocks, fresh off their upset of Ridgewood last weekend, hung tough until the early portion of the second quarter. There were four lead changes in the first quarter.

“We played to our game plan in the first half, but they hit some shots in the second and third quarters when they needed to,” Barnesville head coach Shane Stephens said. “They stung us and we didn’t respond to it.”

Leading 15-13 with a little under six minutes remaining in the first half, the Red Devils went on an 8-0 run and scored 16 of the next 22 points to grab a 31-19 advantage two minutes into the third quarter.

Tyson Pastor, who has scored more than 1,500 points in a Red Devils uniform, netted nine of his game-leading 21 points in the second quarter. He finished with four three-pointers and 10 rebounds.

A 9-0 run by St. Clairsville to start the fourth quarter all but sealed the deal as Barnesville went ice-cold from the floor in the second half. The Shamrocks were 5-for-19 from the field, including 0-for-8 in the fourth quarter.

“I don’t think anyone but the 16 guys in that locker room had us even being here,” Stephens noted. “This is a special group of kids and I’m proud of every one of them.”

Joining Pastor with a double-double was 6-7 Griffin Straub. The junior had 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Red Devils enjoyed a commanding, 41-25, advantage off the glass. He also blocked five shots. Brady Schafer finished with 13 points.

Luke Burkhart came off the bench to pace Barnesville with nine points – all in the second half. Casey Carpenter added seven, while Dylan Blon had a team-high six rebounds.

Barnesville only turned the ball over six times, which was five less than St. Clairsville. However, five of those 11 came in the first quarter.

With the win, the Red Devils set up a rubber-match with No. 5 Martins Ferry, which shocked No. 4 Union Local, 58-48, in last night’s opener for the district title. That contest will tip at 7 Saturday night inside the ‘Huskies’ House’ at Harrison Central High School in Cadiz.