photo by: Andrew Grimm

Steubenville’s Nylah McShan drives to the basket against Union Local during the two teams’ Thursday matchup inside the Crimson Center.

STEUBENVILLE — Big Red put the finishing touches on a historic regular season Thursday night inside the Crimson Center.

Facing off with perennial OVAC power Union Local in what was the regular season finale for both squads, Steubenville used a strong defensive game and a big night from standout Nylah McShan on her senior night to ground the Jets for an impressive 48-31 victory,

The victory was Big Red’s 21st of the season, tying a program record set more than three-decades ago as Steubenville heads to the postseason at 21-1 and as OVAC champs.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Big Red head coach Angie Forte said of tying the mark set by the 1984-85 team that went 21-2. “It means a lot to the program. It shows that, when you put the time and effort in, to be dedicated to the program, to work hard in the offseason, to come to morning practices, that it pays off. It shows the girls coming up what it takes to be this kind of a team. It’s special.

“The tournament would be a phenomenal time to break the record.”

McShan, one of two Big Red seniors honored prior to the game along with Bailee Beall, had another monster night, finishing with 27 points, 11 rebounds, seven steals and four assists, all of which were game-highs. She also had a block.

“It means a lot to win on senior night for Nylah and Bailee,” Forte said. “Those two young ladies have fought hard for four years. Nylah has been a four-year starter and Bailee is a four-year varsity player. For them to be a part of the season that we’ve had is special.”

While McShan lit up the scoreboard, the story of the night was defense. Big Red forced the Jets (18-4) into 19 turnovers, racked up 12 steals and kept UL under 30 percent shooting in three of four quarters.

“Union Local is a very good team and very-well coached,” Forte said. “I’m just proud of how my girls responded. Every time they would make a run, we did what we needed to do the other way to stay on top.

“It was a defensive battle and that’s what we said coming in. It was a lower scoring game and that’s what we expected. It came down to the defensive end. We knew coming in it was going to be a battle and it was.”

UL finished just 24.4 percent overall and went just 4 of 20 from beyond the arc. They were 1 of 10 from the field in the fourth quarter as Big Red turned an eight-point margin after three into a 17-point victory.

Laken Vinskevich led the Jets with 13 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Delaney Butler made three of the Jets four 3s in the game and finished with 11 points.

“We had some trouble against their zone,” UL head coach Scooter Tolzda said. “Give Steubenville credit, part of that was due to their athleticism. We have to do a better job scoring, we struggled scoring against the zone and that was the bottom line. We had our chances, I think the game was a lot closer than the final score, it got away from us at the end, but we have to do a better job of punching it in and collapsing the zone.

“We’ve got to re-discover ourselves (after losing Ameera Saunders four games ago) and do a better job of scoring.”

Big Red was just 1 of 8 from 3-point land — Beall hitting the only triple — but finished 42.6 percent overall and did a lot of their damage on the inside, turning a 30-19 rebounding edge into a lot of second chance points.

Big Red led 11-8 after one quarter. They scored the first six points, but the Jets came pushing back and had tied the game at 8-all late in the first. In the second quarter, Big Red led by as many as nine before the Jets again cut into the margin, but Beall’s long-range make made it 23-16 at the break. In the third, Big Red pushed the margin to double digits for the first time and led by eight going to the fourth, then pulled away from there, scoring the game’s final nine-straight points.

TOURNAMENT TIME

Both teams now shift their focus to the OHSAA East District tournaments.

Union Local is the top seed in the Division V, East 2 bracket and hosts No. 9 seed Claymont next Thursday.

Big Red is the top seed in the East District side of the Division III, East/Southeast bracket and hosts No. 5 Dover on Feb. 21.

“We talk about it being the real season now,” Forte said. “We’ve had a great regular season, but it’s the second season now. It’s win or go home now, this is when it counts. Now its a matter of if we can keep putting it together and continue this roll we’re on.”