Photo by Kim North St. Clairsville’s Griffin Straub (14) pulls down one of his 10 rebounds against Union Local Friday night on John Jenkins Court. Straub also scored his 1,000th career point in the Red Devils’ 81-55 rout of the Jets. Whg cutline Photo by Kim North St. Clairsville’s Luke Schafer drives to the basket for two of his 15 points Friday night against Union Local. The Red Devils grounded the Jets, 81-55, on John Jenkins Court. St. Clairsville Takes Series Against Union Local, 81-55

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Union Local and St. Clairsville had met twice prior to Friday night’s OVAC WVU Medicine Boys Basketball Class 4A third-fourth place game on John Jenkins Court, with the visiting team prevailing in each of the two contests.

The third-seeded Red Devils (14-6) were not about to let the No. 4 Jets duplicate that earlier performance as they led wire-to-wire in an 81-55 rout before a packed house inside St. Clairsville High School.

“We took that first loss here a little personally because we thought we let one get away. Let’s be honest about that,” veteran St. Clairsville head coach Ryan Clifford said. “Give our seniors credit. They weren’t going to let that happen again.”

The victory was especially sweet for senior Griffin Straub. The 6-7 NCAA Division II signee with Indiana, Pa., surpassed the coveted 1,000-point mark for his career midway through the third quarter. Achieving the feat was surprising in that he has only played two full seasons.

“He was hurt most of his freshman year with an ankle and played some as a sophomore, but we had some senior scorers on an 18-win team. He waited his turn like good players do,” Clifford said. “He deserves everything he gets. I’ve been with Griff since he was in the second grade and we’ve been going to tournaments all over the place.”

St. Clairsville scored the first three points of the game and led 9-4 before Union Local could make its first basket. The Jets missed their first three shots and had five turnovers before Brody Gregor knocked down a two-pointer midway through the first eight minutes.

Despite Straub not scoring a single point, the Red Devils put up 25 points in the first quarter, with Ollie Muhly leading the way with nine, all coming on triples. Luke Schafer added seven and Niko Jacob had six.

“With the effort we started out with, we’re going to tough to beat down the stretch,” he added.

Straub got going in the second quarter as St. Clairsville kept pulling away. He finished with 10 of his game-high 21 in the period as the hosts held a 42-21 advantage at the half.

“We just got whipped. There’s no way around it,” Union Local head coach Zach Delman said. “You can’t start the way we did and expect to be in the game, especially when they are making shots and clicking on all cylinders.

“We got whipped,” Delman stressed. “That’s as good as I have seen them play this year. It was a great win for them at the right time of the year and we’ve got to go back to work. That’s the bottom line. We’ve got to get better and ready for the (sectional) tournament.”

St. Clairsville shot 60 percent (32-53) from the floor to 43 percent (23-53) for Union Local. The Red Devils led 30-18 off the glass and charted four less turnovers at 15-11. Straub completed a double-double with 10 rebounds. He also blocked four shots. Schafer had six boards and Jacob charted five steals.

In addition to Straub’s 21 points, Schafer chipped in 15, Jacob 10 and Muhly nine. Brody Clifford added eight off the bench while Griffin pastor had seven in a reserve role. The Red Devils drilled 11 bonus goals, with eight different players having at least one.

Union Local was led by Brody Kerns and Gregor with 12 points each. Bam Porter finished with nine. Levi Stroud grabbed five rebounds.

Both teams return to the hardwood on Tuesday as St. Clairsville hosts Wheeling Park on Senior Night and Union Local heads west on I-70 to meet Buckeye Trail.