Photo/KRISTIN MAZGAJ ST. CLAIRSVILLE junior Ryan McCort celebrates after the Red Devils rallied in the final couple of minutes to post a 70-66 victory against East Liverpool and win the Buckeye 8 championship Saturday night at Union Local.

MORRISTOWN — As it pertains to big games, St. Clairsville and East Liverpool have become familiar foes.

The two tradition-laden programs added another chapter Saturday night at Union Local High School when they met for the third straight year for the Buckeye 8 Athletic League championship.

As expected, it came down to which team was going to make the last run and for the second time in three seasons, it was the Red Devils.

St. Clairsville closed the back-and-forth game on a 13-4 run to snag a 70-66 victory and claim the school’s eighth league title in boys hoops.

“This (kind of game) is what you’d expect when you’re playing for something,” St. Clairsville head coach Ryan Clifford said. “Geeze o wheeze! Both teams just kept making play after play, especially down the stretch and we were just fortunate to make a few more at the end.”

Indeed.

St. Clairsville — at a juncture in the fourth — looked like it may run away and hide. With the Potters battling trouble, the Red Devils extended to an eight-point lead at 55-47 when junior Ryan McCort connected on a floater in the lane.

The Potters were far from finished, however. Fueled by junior Cole Dalley, who scored three buckets in the spurt, East Liverpool proceeded to reel off 15 of the game’s next 17 to take a 62-57 lead with less than two minutes to play.

“We had a five-point lead with like a minute-and-a-half to go,” lamented East Liverpool coach Nate Conley, who was back with his team for the first since a COVID-19 quarantine paused the program for two weeks, said. “We have to win that game. Good basketball teams finish that off and we didn’t do that. That’s something we’ll definitely have to work on.”

The Red Devils began to chip away when McCort got two at the line to stop the bleeding. After an empty Liverpool trip, senior Will Balgo, who finished with 10 points, scored on an offensive rebound, shaving the Potters lead to one at 62-61.

Junior spark plug Drew Sefsick, who carried the load early for the Devils with 12 points in the first, picked the Potters’ pockets twice. He took one in for conventional three-point play himself with 62 seconds to play and on the ensuing steal, he found junior Colin Oberdick who got an and-one, making it a 67-62 St. C. lead.

“We knew this wasn’t going to be easy,” Clifford said. “Each guy took a turn making a big play down the stretch. We rode Avery (Henry) for a while in the fourth, Drew was big on the glass, had those huge steals and on the offensive end, Ryan McCort was outstanding. It was just a pretty impressive performance by our kids.”

Again, though, East Liverpool wasn’t going to go away quietly. Zavea Green, who led the Potters with 20 and had an impressive two-handed dunk in the second quarter, scored going to the basket and a Red Devil turnover resulted in a bucket for Cameron Beverly to slice the deficit to one at 67-66.

The Red Devils got the ball to Balgo, who sank a pair at the line. East Liverpool’s three-point try was too strong, St. C. rebounded and Balgo went back to the line and got one-of-two to ice it.

“We’ve made no secret about it,” Clifford said. “Winning this was our goal. The OVAC is a paper champion and there isn’t much you can do about it, but this you controlled your own destiny. It’s been our number one goal since the start of the season.”

While Sefsick led the way early, McCort came up huge in the third quarter. Each time it seemed East Liverpool was gaining more and more traction, it simply couldn’t stop McCort on the other end. He pumped in 15 of his game-high 28 in the third.

All told, St. Clairsville got four starters into double figures. Junior post Avery Henry was another that the Potters had trouble stopping at times. He finished with yet another double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“When it looked like things could get away from us a little bit, Ryan just took upon himself and said, ‘I’m going to score the ball,'” Clifford said. “We talk all the time that if we can get five guys in double figures, we don’t think anyone can beat us.”

The Potters, meanwhile, were paced by Green, but he was one of four double-figure scorers. Dalley was next in line. Junior Devin Toothman added 12 and Beverly posted 10.

“I was nervous to see how we were going to play after being shutdown for two weeks and we came out a little flat,” Conley said. “This felt like a tournament game. Every possession mattered, but we have to be better. Give St. Clairsville credit because they played well and made plays when they needed to. They could have laid down, but they never panicked and stepped up and made plays.”

The win improves the Red Devils to 12-7 on the season. They’ll return to action Monday to take on Indian Creek in a game that’s been moved up to a 10 a.m. tip to hopefully beat the weather that’s being predicted.

Here’s a look at other Buckeye 8 crossover games:

Harrison Central 75, Beaver Local 61

The Huskies used a strong second half in which they outscored the Beavers, 50-30 to pull out the victory and earn third place in the league.

After a slow start, senior standout Kobe Mitchell came alive to spark the second-half run, scoring 20 of his game-high 29.

Talented freshman Hayden Cassidy added 15 and junior Jonathan Vermillion chipped in with 14.

Beaver was paced by Nathan Barber’s 19 and Ethan Agnew’s 14.

Union Local 47, Indian Creek 40

For the second time in less than 12 hours, the Jets posted a victory over the Redskins. However, the second one was much more challenging to accomplish.

Union Local (15-4) needed a late 7-0 spurt to close the door on Creek to finish fifth in the Buckeye 8 overall.

Senior Luke Merritt led the way for the Jets with 23 points. Classmate Nathan Meyer finished with 10.

Logan Schaffer paced the Redsins with 12 points.

Martins Ferry 81, Edison 43

The Purple Riders continued their strong week by cruising past the Wildcats in the seventh and eighth place game.

Senior standout Logan Smith led the Riders with 27 points. Junior Peyton Hores posted 19 points and classmate Jaizen Miles donated 12.

Edison was paced by Gage Cline’s 24.