MONROE CENTRAL’S Malachi Rose-Burton shoots for two points in the Seminoles win Tuesday night over Barnesville.

BARNESVILLE — Monroe Central got challenged twice Tuesday night. The first came from a pesky Barnesville team. The second from its head coach at halftime. The Seminoles responded to both.

After soundly beating the Shamrocks several weeks ago in Woodsfield, the Seminoles (6-2) used a pair of key plays by Malachi Rose-Burton down the stretch to hold off the hosts, 60-56, in western Belmont County.

With the visitors clinging to a 56-54 advantage and time winding down, Rose-Burton stole the ball near midcourt and drove in for a left-handed slam that gave the Seminoles a 58-54 lead with 30 seconds showing on the fourth-quarter clock.

Barnesville’s Asa Geillinger scored while being fouled for a 58-56 reading, but the ensuing free throw was off the mark as Rose-Burton rebounded and was quickly fouled with 21.4 remaining. The junior calmly sank both free tosses as the margin increased to 60-56.

The Shamrocks (3-7) couldn’t get a shot off before turning the ball over as time ran out.

“We challenged him to step up and I think he’s relished that role for us,” Perkins said of his cat-quick point guard. “He came up big tonight.”

“That was a huge deal there. We tried to throw it towards the backcourt. It was one of the few mistakes we made tonight,” Barnesville head coach Johnny Hines said of Rose-Burton’s steal and slam.

Monroe Central (6-2) led 16-13 after one quarter but watched Barnesville rally for a 33-31 edge at the half on a late Geillinger basket.

However, Perkins told his squad what he didn’t like at the half, and they responded.

“We challenged our guys at halftime defensively,” he admitted. “We have a goal as to where we want to hold certain teams point-wise and we weren’t doing that in the first half. We kind of got on them and I think they came out and answered the bell on the defensive end of the floor.

“Offensively, we haven’t been able to get in a rhythm because this is only our third game in a week-and-a-half,” Perkins noted. “We play a game and then we’re off for extended time, for various reasons, and we just can get it going. You’re always worried about a layoff.”

The Seminoles held the Shamrocks to 4-for-10 shooting from the floor and forced a trio of turnovers as they took a 46-41 lead into the fourth quarter.

Barnesville took a 49-48 lead on two free throws by Hayden Skinner but Monroe Central went ahead for good at 53-52 on a conventional three-point play by mammoth center Garet Cramer with 3:50 left to play. Following a Shamrock turnover, Luke Burkhart drained his fifth trey of the night for a 56-52 advantage, but Jeremy Hunkler kept the hosts in contention with a bucket at the 2:21 mark.

Monroe Central showed some patience and poise in the waning moments before Rose-Burton took over at the end.

“It was a defensive battle in the second half. Both teams were getting after it … it got physical,” Hines said. “It was a very good defensive effort by everyone in the second half.

“We tried to get some isolations for our scorers but they made some adjustments,” he added. “We made some adjustments, too. It was a back-and-forth game there in the second half. We were a little banged up but they (Monroe) was coming off a break where they haven’t played much lately. They executed.”

The Shamrocks’ Kason Powell led all scorers with 25 points while Geillinger added 13 and Kolton Hines 11. Cramer paced Monroe Central with 16. Burkhart chipped in 15 and Rose-Burton a dozen.

Auston Hogue grabbed seven rebounds as the Seminoles held a 25-17 margin off the glass. The Seminoles had seven turnovers, six less than the Shamrocks.