STEUBENVILLE – One thing could be stated for sure about Friday evening’s contest between visiting Bellaire and Steubenville Catholic Central: It wasn’t pretty.

That said, when wins and losses are counted up, there is no category for “pretty wins.” The Crusaders gutted out a 37-35 victory that saw the teams combine for 37 turnovers and the hosts go 12:10 without scoring a field goal.

“I think the reality set in and the finality that this was the fourth quarter, and if they didn’t start playing with more focus, and as a team…and give credit to Bellaire. A big reason we didn’t score is because of their defense, and I think both of us had a hard time. We couldn’t have thrown a ball in the ocean, but in the fourth quarter we got a little bit of focus. We were fortunate enough to get a little bit of a lead, and then just fought to keep that lead. It was one of the ugliest games I’ve ever seen.” stated Steubenville Catholic Central boss Don Ogden of his team’s struggles and victory.

When asked about his team keeping SCC at bay for 12:10, Bellaire coach J.R. Battista noted “You would think that would be enough to win, but as I told them we didn’t deserve to win. We didn’t make enough shots, and I don’t mean great shots or great plays. I mean we didn’t make shots we’ve made throughout the season, we made Tuesday night against Bridgeport. I’m not talking about hard shots, I’m talking about jump-stop layups. You can’t fault our effort and grit, we played really hard, we played real good on defense. I thought that is the best we have played defensively using our foot speed and length, but you’ve got to give (SCC) credit, they made plays when they had to, they made free throw to keep us at bay and they made plays on defense to keep us at bay. It’s just how it goes. In a close game like this everything is close. It comes down to who can make a play at the end, and they obviously made one more than us. The good news is we get to go back out and compete tomorrow.”

The first quarter saw both teams struggle offensively, as the first bucket wasn’t scored until the 5:13 mark when Owen Ward hit a three for the Bellaire (3-13). The home team saw four of their first six trips down the floor end with turnovers. Still, the Crusaders (5-10) kept their composure, getting balanced scoring from four different players in the opening frame. Bellaire was limited to another Ward three-pointer, leaving Catholic Central up 8-6 after one. The frame saw the teams combine for 13 turnovers.

Steubenville Catholic Central came out on a tear to start the second, reeling off a seven-zip run behind Luca Connor that forced Bellaire into a timeout at the 6:15 mark trailing 15-6. Bellaire managed to weather the storm however, and regained their composure receiving timely buckets from David Zwack and A.J. McCarthy. The hosts were held without a field goal for the final five minutes of the second quarter, leaving the score 21-16 in favor of the Big Blue.

The Big Reds started asserting themselves on the boards at the start of the second half as they held an early 6-1 edge on the glass. Keeping the hosts in it was a 3-0 advantage in forcing turnovers in the same timeframe to slow the Bellaire onslaught. Still, Catholic Central received just one bucket in the quarter, a lay-up off of a steam from Charles Miller. The Belmont Countians chipped away at the lead, closing the gap to 23-22 on a tough basket from Creed Rhodes on an offensive rebound at the 2:04 mark, then tying it at 23 on a free-throw from David Zwack with :54 seconds left in the third. The Big Reds faithful who made the drive erupted 36 seconds later as A.J. McCarthy drilled a three, putting the Big Reds up 26-23, which held true at the third period buzzer. One contributor to this was the Big Reds holding a 13-4 edge on the glass in the quarter.

The hosts broke out of their scoring slump at the 6:50 mark of the fourth on a bucket from Connor and were able to find the bucket with some frequency in the quarter between Miller and Cole Maragos. Bellaire kept at it behind buckets from Trenton Wilson and McCarthy, who hit another bonus bomb, however Bellaire was plagued with inconsistent shooting across the board. Catholic Central salted the game away with four free throws in the final minute, bringing the game to a 37-35 ending.

Connor finished with a game-high 16 for Steubenville Catholic Central and Miller added 10 to go with eight rebounds.

Ward and McCarthy each netted 10 for Bellaire with each hitting a pair of three pointers, while Zwack scored nine.

Bellaire held a 26-23 edge rebounding and were guilty of 22 turnovers to 15 for the Crusaders.