×

St. C. defeats Brooke

WELLSBURG — The improving Brooke Bruins, down by as much as 19 points in the second quarter, clawed their way back and trailed St. Clairsville by only five points with less than six minutes left in the game before the Red Devils went on a 10-point run to close the game, winning 77-62.

The Bruins outscored St. Clairsville from the floor, 24-23 but, coach Ryan Clifford’s crew held a huge advantage at the foul line. They sank 26 of 36 chances, while the home-standing Bruins only went to the charity stripe 12 times, making eight of them.

“Yes, we were down five points in the fourth quarter, but that’s not good enough,” Brooke head coach, Mel Coleman said. “We didn’t turn the corner. I’m not very smart, but we work on things. We work on fundamentals. When you’re down, fundamentals will kick you. People don’t understand that. You can’t have turnovers. You have to box out. The little things like that are what wins games.

“And, they shot 36 foul shots. That’s too many. We didn’t make enough foul shots, we didn’t get enough foul shots and we gave up too many foul shots. That’s fundamental things. When you win, you have to take advantage of those situations.”

The Red Devil victory, the 11th in 19 games, may be enough to give St. Clairsville the fourth seed in the upcoming Class 4A division in the OVAC tournament.

“We were fourth going in tonight, and tonight is the cutoff date, so I’ll have to see some scores before I’m sure we’re in,” Clifford said. “We emphasized getting out fast. We really concentrated on getting out fast, and we did. But, we lost concentration there at times. We’ve lost the last three games by a total of five points, and it was due to a lapse in concentration at one point or another in those three games. Tonight, we had some of the lapses but, fortunately, we were good enough at the offensive end — at the foul line especially.”

When big sophomore Avery Henry sank a foul shot with 1:23 left in the first half, the Red Devils were in command, 43-23. The Bruins didn’t go away, however. Thanks to senior Alex Lilly’s 3-pointer and two deuces, Brooke went into the locker room with some momentum at the break but were still behind by 13 at 43-30.

“I couldn’t wait until the half,” Clifford said. “We had a heart-to-heart during the break, and we came out with a lot better concentration in the second half.”

Brooke did, too, and outscored the Red Devils, 19-16, to go into the fourth period behind 59-49.

Brooke junior Andrew Coursin opened the final frame with a layup off of a nifty pass from Lilly. He followed with a free throw, and Coursin made two. Those five points closed the St. Clairsville advantage down to 59-54 with 6:24 left in the game. A field goal by Red Devil junior Will Balgo, who had a huge game, ignited a St. Clairsville 13-7 run in the final three minutes. Nine of those points came at the foul line, as the Bruins were forced to foul going down the stretch.

“We got those foul shots at the right time, and that helps, too,” Clifford said. “But, I really liked the way we focused. We gave up the last six points of the second quarter, and I couldn’t wait to get into the locker room. We came out in the second half, played pretty well but, again, a lapse in concentration allowed them to get back into the game.

“I give them credit. They kept fighting and fighting but, eventually, we were able to make enough plays to stretch it out.”

Balgo recorded a double-double, scoring 29 points and hauling down 12 rebounds. He got ample scoring support from Henry, who scored 13. Senior Brett Vike checked in with 12 points.

Brooke sophomore Alex Isinghood also finished with a double-double. He scored 20 points and pulled down 11 missed shots off the glass. Lilly backed him up with 13 points.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today