photo by: Kim North

Martins Ferry’s Giana Chirpas (2) guards Bellaire’s Kayla Edgar as she attempts to bring the ball up the floor Monday night. Chirpas had 22 points in the Purple Riders’ 64-55 victory inside the ‘House of Champions.’

BELLAIRE – Not one individual – players or coaches – on the Martins Ferry bench had ever walked out of ‘House of Champions’ a winner until Monday night.

The Purple Riders (2-2) ended years of frustration with a hard-fought, 64-55, victory over the Big Reds (5-1) in girls’ basketball action.

“We’ve never won down here. Two years in a row we get a big lead and they come back on us,” veteran Martins Ferry head coach Dave Reasbeck said. “We had a 23-point lead and they came storming back. The only difference this year is we’re walking away with a win.

“This is going to sound stupid, but we scored 64 points and our offense is so bad right now,” Reasbeck offered after his team shot 23 of 56 from the floor. “We’re not doing anything on offense right now, but we’re going to get better and we’ll be there at the end of the year. It got a little intense there in the fourth quarter, didn’t it?”

Giana Chirpas scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down a game-best 10 rebounds to lead Martins Ferry. She netted half of her points in the first quarter when the visitors ran out to a 26-17 lead against turnover-plagued Bellaire, which charted 12 of its 28 miscues in the initial eight minutes.

A 16-4 second quarter scoring advantage gave the Purple Riders a 42-21 halftime lead.

The margin was 22, 48-26, after Chirpas sank two free throws with 3:40 on the third-quarter clock.

That’s when Bellaire made its move.

The Big Reds, behind the scoring of Aubree Hines, Tamya Morgan and Kayla Edgar, slowly but surely sliced into the deficit, cutting it to 52-39 after three quarters.

Bellaire got to within five, 56-51, on a Hines layup at the 3:30 mark of the fourth panel. However, it would get no closer.

“We were down 23 and could’ve folded but we battled back like we always do,” Bellaire head coach John Farrier said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them. We got it to within five, but Martins Ferry made the plays when they had to to keep us at bay.”

Chirpas connected on four free throws and Maddie Lucas hit 1-of-2 freebies for a 61-51 count.

Lucas supported Chripas with 16 lightings while Savanah Koller and London Hodor each scored eight.

“My big girls grew up tonight,” Reasbeck said of 6-2 freshman London Hodor. “She made a couple of big buckets when we needed her to and she closed down the lane on defense.”

Hines led Bellaire with 21, while Morgan added 17 and Edgar 12.

“Nobody expected us to go 22-0, so we’ll regroup and get back at it on Monday,” Farrier said.

Martins Ferry also held a 34-22 margin off the glass as Chirpas completed her double-double with 10 boards. Alivia Reese had eight rebounds to go with six points.

Morgan snagged nine rebounds. Hines and Edgar evenly divided a dozen.

Bellaire finished with 28 turnovers, eight more than Martins Ferry.

Martins Ferry hosts Barnesville on Thursday inside Tolbert Gymnasium high atop the Purple City. Bellaire travels to Barnesville on Monday.