Photo by Nick Henthorn Martins Ferry’s Giana Chirpas goes up for a shot inside Thursday against the Wheeling Central Maroon Knights. Chirpas and the Purple Riders survived for a 67-65 road win vs. Central.

WHEELING — Fans inside the Central Catholic Athletic Center were treated to a down-to-the-wire nail-biter on Thursday as the Martins Ferry Purple Riders held off the Wheeling Central Maroon Knights, 67-65.

Down 60-53 in the final minute, Central’s Seneca Heller proceeded to score the Maroon’s next seven points, while Martins Ferry was sent to the free throw line on each of their possessions. The Purple Riders split on each of their final three trips to the foul line, leaving the door cracked open for the Knights.

After Bella Fitzsimmons’ 3-pointer brought Wheeling Central to within one point, 66-65, Ferry’s SJ Koller shot 1-2 from the line, and with six seconds left, the Maroon Knights got a 3-point shot off, but couldn’t connect.

“We just came to a place where, their team doesn’t lose here,” Martins Ferry head coach Dave Reasbeck said. “Wheeling Central, I don’t know the last time they lost on their home court. Their whole athletic program doesn’t lose. I respect the heck out of Wheeling Central and to come into their gym, really not play that well, and get a win, I mean, I can’t be happier.”

It was a rough shooting night for both teams– Martins Ferry shot 36 percent from the floor, and Wheeling Central 31 percent. The Riders’ SJ Koller helped smooth out Ferry’s offense in the fourth quarter though, drilling a pair of 3-pointers in the final frame and scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter in total.

Koller finished with 22 and also nabbed three steals Thursday. Giana Chirpas, who converted two key baskets out of the post in the fourth, scored 17 with eight rebounds.

Heller was Wheeling Central’s leading scorer, pouring in 27 points despite dealing with foul trouble Thursday. Heller picked up her third foul in the second quarter.

The senior also had six steals.

Bella Fitzsimmons scored 16 for the Knights and pulled down eight rebounds. Erin Maxwell posted an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double.

“I thought our girls played hard tonight,” Wheeling Central head coach Roberta Olejasz said. “I thought they played until the last minute. Losing Seneca in the second quarter with three fouls, having to take her out, That hurts our team. When she picked up her third, we were kind of on a run. I felt like if she was able to stay in the game, we had already gone up five, I feel like we probably would’ve gone on a run at that point.”

The two teams ended in a dead-heat in the rebounding battle with exactly 38 rebounds each, though it was a tale of two halves, with Wheeling Central dominating the glass in the first half, and Ferry edging the Knights out in the second.

“We played really entitled in the first half,” Reasbeck said. “We didn’t want to be touched, we didn’t play hard, and they just destroyed us on the boards. They played harder than us and that can’t happen. We had a talk at halftime and we went back to what we do, because I think we’re really athletic– and [Central] battled, and they’re really athletic too. But we turned that around, we turned our energy up and that’s what got us a win.”

Along with Chirpas’ eight rebounds, freshman London Hodor grabbed 10 rebounds, and Maddie Lucas collected eight along with 12 points and five assists.

For Central, Maxwell’s 12 rebounds were followed by Fitzsimmons, who had eight, and Haley Severn’s seven.

Martins Ferry led 15-11 after the first quarter, but Wheeling Central had regrouped to lead 30-25 at halftime.

“We played really entitled in the first half,” Reasbeck said. “Real lazy, real ‘don’t yell at me.’ Missed a ton of layups. But, we figured out who we were in the second half and we got back to what we do. We made a couple dumb mistakes at the end, but we held on and won.”

“Martins Ferry is a good basketball team,” Olejasz said. “I thought Koller played extremely well tonight, and Giana Chirpas, she is a tremendous basketball player, so I thought Ferry played extremely well. They played tough. They were physical, they matched our intensity really well and they came out of the gate fast. We didn’t quite come out as fast as they did, but I thought we played hard until the end and we had a shot to win it. We just didn’t make it.”

Wheeling Central had 13 turnovers Thursday to the Purple Riders’ 16.