photo by: Lauren Florence

St. Clairsville’s Griffin Straub rises for a shot during the Red Devils’ home contest Friday against the Union Local Jets, defended by the Jets’ Brody Kerns.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Union Local turned in a superb first-half performance against homestanding St. Clairsville Friday night. The Jets soared to a 35-19 lead at intermission.

Coach Zach Delman’s charges, however, still needed to exhibit a large amount of poise and character in the fourth quarter to turn back a valiant Red Devil comeback in earning a 54-51 win on John Jenkins Court.

The win evened Union Local’s mark at 7-7 and avenged an earlier 67-58 setback at the hands of St. Clairsville. The Red Devils, meanwhile, lost for just the fourth time in 15 starts.

“We executed very well with our halfcourt offense in the first half,” Delman said. “When we do the little things and pay attention to detail we can be a very good team.

“Give St. C. credit. They played with a lot of energy in the third quarter and their press hurt us at times,” he added. “But we did a good job in the fourth quarter at the foul line and making the plays when we needed to. We didn’t crack.”

Union Local stormed out to a 17-9 lead after the first quarter. Senior Dylan Verbeck led the way with six points while savvy junior Bam Porter added five. St. Clairsville standout Griffin Straub countered with seven markers.

The Jets remained red-hot in the second frame, getting scoring from four players. Junior Brody Kerns had eight tallies in the quarter for Union Local. Straub added seven more for the hosts despite being saddled with three fouls.

St. Clairsville seized the momentum in the third frame.

Extending their pressure fullcourt and getting eight more points from Straub, the Red Devils took a 40-39 lead with 26 seconds left in the quarter on an Ollie Muhly hoop. Union Local responded to take a 42-40 lead into the final hectic chapter.

Union Local clung to a 48-45 lead with 3:10 left after junior Brody Gregor meshed two free throws. Muhly netted two free throws with 2:05 left to bring St. Clairsville back to within one.

After a Union Local turnover, Straub goaled for a 49-48 Red Devil lead with 1:05 remaining. Nine ticks later, Gregor put the Jets back on top with two free throws.

St. Clairsville subsequently misfired before Union Local junior Jacob Stroud meshed two charity tosses with 29 seconds remaining for a 52-49 Jets’ advantage. A Red Devil turnover led to a Porter free throw with 12.9 second left, pushing the Union Local to four.

Muhly quickly dove the length of the floor for a layup with 7.1 seconds showing, cutting the deficit to 53-51.

Verbeck added a free throw for the visitors with 5.6. seconds left for a 54-51 lighting. He missed the second but Union Local got the rebound which sent the Jets to the line again with 2.4. seconds left. The Jets, however, misfired on both, giving the Red Devils one final chance.

After a timeout, St. Clairsville was able to make a long pass to inside halfcourt but a hurried three attempt failed to find the mark.

“I am very proud of our effort tonight. We came out and played a really good first half,” Delman said. “And we hung together when things got tough. This is a really nice win against a very good team.”

Kerns led the Jets with 19 points. He also grabbed 10 boards. Verbeck delivered 11 points and 10 rebounds while Porter added nine points.

The loss spoiled a brilliant effort by Straub. The 6-7 dandy finished with 27 points. Muhly was his top support with 14 points. The Red Devils played minus the services of Luke Schaffer. The talented sophomore guard is nursing an injury.

“We have no excuses,” St. Clairsville head coach Ryan Clifford said. “We came out and played a terrible first half. We played with no energy.

“We did come back and play much better in the second half and we had our chances down the stretch,” he added. “This is our sixth game in a nine-day stretch. That is a lot of basketball. But when I go to bed at night I feel really good about my basketball team.”

Delman’s squad will welcome Magnolia Tuesday. St. C., meanwhile, returns to action on Monday against Columbus Bishop Ready at Ohio Dominican at 2:30 p.m.in a shot-clock event.