Big Red beats Claymont in sectional opener
STEUBENVILLE-Mike Haney knows things are going to get tougher for his Big Red as it moves further along the Division II tournament trail.
“This is the time of year when you win and move on or you lose and go home,” Haney said after watching his top-seeded Big Red whip Claymont 65-39 Friday night inside the Crimson Center. “We don’t want to pack our stuff away yet and say goodbye to our seven seniors.
“We need to work on a little bit of everything. We thought, for example, our offense tonight was really stagnant in the third quarter. It seemed like we were coming down, making one pass and taking a three in a hurry with no one underneath to get rebounds. We only scored nine points. Then we picked up our defense and generally, our defense gets our offense going.
“So we have to work on that along with continuing to get better on the defensive end. We have a chance to play two more tournament games at home. In order to do that, we have to keep getting better.”
Against Claymont, which entered the post-season as the 17th seed, Big Red used a 7-0 first quarter scoring run to take control. Charles Reeves started the burst with two from the paint, Javon Davis buried a triple and Josh Zimmerman finished things with a deuce. Steubenville led 13-8 after one.
Haney’s crew opened the second with an 11-0 run and never looked back. Pookie Pettaway drilled a triple to open the period before sweet-shooting Jack Marx connected twice from behind the arc. Claymont’s Terrin Harris knocked down a jumper to make it 24-10. Reeves then ignited the crowd with a one-handed flush and followed it with a two-handed stuff.
The Pitt football recruit finished the first half with 12 markers as Big Red took a 37-15 lead into the locker room.
“We started out a little slow,” Haney admitted. “We played zone early and they pulled the ball out and held it. I think with three minutes left in the first, the score was only 4-4. We then switched to our man defense and were able to get a little run going.
“In the second quarter, I thought we played well on both ends of the floor. We got our transition game going, had a lot of steals, rebounded well and limited them to one shot. That stretch made the difference.”
Reeves took game scoring honors with 19. He hauled down five rebounds and swatted away four Claymont shots. Marx added nine while Petteway and J. Davis evenly divided 14. Every player in uniform cracked the scoring column for Big Red, now 18-5.
Jake Smith bagged a team-high 16 points for Claymont, which drops the curtain at 5-18. Joe Cottis added 11, nine coming via the long ball.
Next up for Big Red is a sectional semifinal game with 14th seeded St. Clairsville on Tuesday. The tip is set for 7 p.m. inside the Crimson Center.
“St. Clairsville is playing much better now,” Haney stated. “They have improved throughout the whole year. We’ll need to be ready for the offense they run and the intensity I’m sure they’ll bring to the game.
“(Michael) Scarnecchia does a great job of scoring for a big guy. He can hurt you inside and he can drain the three from all the place. Because of his outside shooting, he’s able to pull your taller defenders out of the paint. It definitely will be a strong test for us.”
Big Red ousted St. Clairsville in the opening round of the sectional last season.
Steubenville 65, Claymont 39
Claymont 8 7 12 12—39
Big Red 13 25 9 18—65
CLAYMONT (5-18): J. Holmes 1 0-0 2; Cameron 1 1-1 3; Mooneyham 1 0-0 2; Smith 6 3-4 16; Cottis 4 0-0 11; T. Harris 2 0-0 4; Porco 0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 15 5-7 39. 3-pointers: Cottis 3; Smith; Rebounds 19 (Cottis 4); Turnovers: 15.
BIG RED (18-5): Petteway 3 0-0 7; J. Davis 2 1-1 7; Lee-Granatir 1 0-0 2; Zimmerman 2 1-1 5; Reeves 7 5-5 19; Marx 3 1-2 9; Gulan 1 0-0 2; Robinson 1 0-0 2; A. Davis 2 0-0 5; Roundtree 0 1-4 1. TOTALS 24 10-15 65. 3-pointers: Marx 2; J. Davis 2; Petteway; Smith; A. Davis; Rebounds 29 (Smith 6); Turnovers: 11.
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