CADIZ, OH- Most rivalry games have their fair share of drama and lead changes. Harrison Central and St Clairsville gave all the fans in attendance a show Monday evening from Cadiz. The Lady Red Devils were able to make one final stop on their way to a 47-44 victory over the host Lady Huskies. St Clairsville Head Coach Stacey Agnew got to enjoy the team’s first road victory of the season. “These types of games make you better, plain and simple they make you better. In the Buckeye 8 when you get a win on the road it’s huge. We’re in the north, they’re in the north, it was a very big win. They play hard, they play extremely hard. We’ve had some bad losses, but this is a huge win, “stated Coach Agnew. The Lady Red Devils improved to (2-5) on the season while Harrison Central is still in search of their first victory of this season.
It was youth night for the Harrison Central faithful as youth players in grades 4,5, and 6 were introduced by Lady Huskies Head Coach, Chace Smith. As play got underway, St Clairsville took an early 2-1 lead with 7:01 to go in the first quarter. Coach Smith called a quick timeout. Almost immediately after the timeout, the Huskies got their first two-pointer of the night to lead 3-2 as St Clairsville took their first timeout. Harrison Central went on a 7-1 run after the timeout to take an 8-2 lead on a three by senior leader Angi Ferri. However, just 12 seconds later, Red Devils’ junior Kesslee Barrera answered with a three of her own to make the score 8-5, Lady Huskies. Less than a minute later Rensi weaved through defenders for a contested layup to extend the Harrison Central lead to 10-5 with 2:23 to go in the first quarter. The next eight points would belong to the visitors. St Clairsville retook the lead with 1:23 to go in the quarter as sophomore sensation Anna Kain nailed a three to make it 11-10, St Clairsville. Kain’s classmate Kendal Sall wrapped up the scoring in the first quarter with a two-pointer to give the Red Devils a 13-10 lead after one. Harrison Central controlled the boards pulling down 12 rebounds to St Clairsville’s four.
St Clairsville kept the pedal down in the second quarter only allowing two Huskie points in the first five minutes of the quarter. The Red Devils held a 20-12 lead with just over three minutes to go in the half, before another Coach Agnew timeout. Both teams exchanged more baskets and at the half St Clairsville had a 25-17 lead. The Huskies continued their dominance on the boards in the second quarter, for a total of 28 in the half. Rensi was stellar for Harrison Central all evening and pulled off a double-double in just the first half. She collected 11 points and ten rebounds. St Clairsville was led by Kain who scored the first ten Red Devil points in the second quarter and finished the half with 13 total points and two rebounds. She was also 3-6 from behind the arc in the half. Barrera collected eight points in just the first quarter, pulled down two rebounds, and grabbed a steal.
Harrison Central came out flying in the second half grabbing the first three points. After a St Clairsville bucket, Harrison Central scored on back-to-back fast breaks as both Mikayla Pelegreen and Maddie Sedgmer grabbed the ball and took it coast to coast for layups. St Clairsville would respond and ended the quarter with a 38-29 lead.
There’s an old saying that reads “Anything can happen in a rivalry game.” The fourth quarter was classic basketball between these two schools. St Clairsville flipped the script and began the fourth quarter with a 4-0 run to extend their lead to 42-29. The two teams would exchange baskets again and with St Clairsville leading 45-33, Harrison Central Coach Smith turned up the heat on the Red Devils. The Huskies defense forced St Clairsville into many turnover situations and contested all their shots. Harrison Central capitalized on the turnovers and cut the deficit to 45-40 with 2:06 to go. The points went quiet until under a minute to play. Harrison Central would get another two points and Coach Smith took another timeout. The Red Devils missed four straight free throws with under a minute to go and Harrison Central got the ball back with 14 seconds to go. The St Clairsville defense stood strong and Harrison Central got called for a travel with 6.2 seconds to go. Coach Agnew called a timeout to call his inbound play. Despite heavy pressure from the Huskies, St Clairsville was able to inbound the ball and force Harrison Central to foul. Barrera sunk both free throws and Harrison Central got the ball back with 2.2 seconds to go. On the ensuing inbound, the Huskies tried to launch the ball down the court but it was thrown out of the reach of Sedgmer and went out of bounds. St Clairsville inbounded the ball and held on for a 47-44 win.
Kain and Barrera both finished the evening with 19 points. Barrera pulled down five rebounds, dished out three assists, stole the ball three times, and blocked a shot. Kain pulled down three rebounds and had a block. Sall chipped in with four points, four rebounds, and a block while freshman Kiya Kyer had four points, three steals, and three rebounds. The Huskies saw two players collect double-doubles on the night. Sedgmer led the way with 18 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal. Rensi finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds and a block. Kennedy Dunlap had a great game on the boards pulling down eight rebounds and also had seven points. Pelegreen led the team in assists with four but also dropped in two points of her own. Ferri collected five points and grabbed three rebounds. Harrison Central dominated on the boards pulling down 43 total rebounds to St Clairsville’s 16.
Harrison Central will hit the road before heading into the Christmas break as they will take on Bellaire, on Thursday at 7:30 pm. St Clairsville will remain on the road making the short trip over to Martins Ferry to take on the Lady Purple Riders on Thursday.
Photo by Kayla Crum
Story by Chris Thoburn
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