T-L Photo/SETH STASKEY ST. CLAIRSVILLE’S Matt Busby goes up for a shot during the first half of Tuesday’s game against River on John Jenkins Court. Busby scored 27 of his game-high 33 in the first half as the Red Devils picked up a 70-59 victory.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Senior night hasn’t always been kind to St. Clairsville.

The Red Devils used a late first-half surge to gain some separation from River Tuesday evening to ensure that the Class of 2019’s showcase was one for the memory banks.

St. Clairsville (12-4) scored the final 12 points of the first half and went on to post a 70-59 victory against River on John Jenkins Court.

As has been the case for much of the season, seniors sparked the Red Devils. Matt Busby scored 27 of his game-high 33 in the opening half. He scored in a bevy of ways, too.

“I’m not sure you can draw up a senior night much better,” St. C. head coach Ryan Clifford said. “We lean on our seniors a lot. Winning on senior night is always good because it’s sometimes tough to tell how it’s going to go with the emotion of it.”

Busby was the beneficiary of a stretch in which St. Clairsville forced River turnovers on four consecutive possessions and converted those into baskets. Busby had three of the runouts, while senior Craig Bober, who scored 16 points, had one as well.

“St. Clairsville shoots it very, very well here and they shot lights out for much of the first half,” River coach Mark Romick said. “They were shooting a couple of steps behind the arc. I thought our kids did an excellent job in the second half and changing the pace.”

The Red Devils, who were never seriously threatened in the second half, saw their lead shrink to as little as eight, but as he did so frequently in the first half, Busby hit a shot. This one was a corner trey.

“Not every piece of art is a Picasso and we didn’t win any style points tonight, but we’re happy to get the win,” Clifford said. “We were able to get the pace going our way a little bit, which can be tough against River and how they play defense and want to muck it up.”

The Pilots, who have lost three out of four, continue to navigate a tough stretch of their schedule, entering a game at cross-river rival Magnolia on Friday.

“I thought we did a nice job in a lot of areas tonight,” Romick admitted. “Their pressure got us out of kilter at times. I do think we’re starting to take better care of the ball and do some good things. We had to gamble with some guys because of some foul trouble, so we had to play guys in foul trouble to stay with them.”

River (10-6) was led by senior John Murphy’s 26 points. Colton Lawrence went for 15, all of which came in the first half. Sophomore Michael Johnson added 13.

Because of the polar vertex gripping the Ohio Valley, today’s re-scheduled game with Martins Ferry has been postponed once again. By virtue of that, St. C. will meet East Liverpool Saturday evening at 7 in its friendly confines for the Buckeye 8 championship.

“It stinks to not be able to play (Martins Ferry), but we’re still going to play them,” Clifford said. “We are excited to be in the title game, however. It’s been a few years since we’ve been in that game and it’s going to take a few good days of preparation because Liverpool is a solid team.”