HIGH ARCING — Steubenville Catholic Central’s Isabella Oliver attempts a shot past Weir High’s Bella Aperfine on Wednesday. (Photo by Joe Catullo)

STEUBENVILLE — Playing for the first time since earning a spot in the Ohio AP Division IV top 10, the Steubenville Catholic Central girls basketball team rolled to a 65-39 victory over Weir High Wednesday inside the Mickey Barber Gymnasium.

Four players reached double figures for the now 11-1 Crusaders, who lead the OVAC Class 2A standings and were rated ninth in the initial state poll.

Central, which completed the season sweep of the Red Riders (4-8), jumped out to a 19-5 lead after the opening quarter and never looked back in capturing its ninth consecutive victory. CCHS knocked off the Red Riders by eight in the last meeting, something it hoped it would improve on.

“We’ve been off for 11 days (Central last played on Dec. 30), and I was concerned that we would be a little rusty early on,” Crusader coach Jess Looman said. “But we came out strong and probably had one of the best opening quarters we’ve had all year.

“The girls continue to work hard. During our time off, we really stressed the need to get the ball inside, and it was nice to see our post players have big games tonight. We played very well on the defensive end also. Our goal is to keep opponents at or under 40 points, and we were able to achieve it tonight.”

Sophomore post Isabella Oliver paced Central in scoring with 14. She knocked down a half dozen during the initial eight minutes. Oliver also had a team-high 15 rebounds to complete her double-double. Junior guard Julia Zatta connected twice from behind the arc and finished with 12. Seniors Tia Taglione and Brantley Turnage evenly divided 20. Taglione drained three long balls. Junior Christine Dombrowski added eight and senior Grace Godich seven.

“Being state ranked is a real honor and a testament to the hard work these girls have put in since the summer,” Looman said. “They play very unselfish basketball, and they are committed to winning as a team. I can’t begin to say how proud I am of the way they work; we really push them in practice.

“I also feel the recognition will push them to work even harder over the coming weeks. We still have a lot of work to do, and we have to keep improving. We didn’t shoot it very well tonight but we crashed the offensive boards hard and got plenty of second chances. We’re excited about the challenges that lie ahead in our next eight regular season games, and we’re still looking to achieve our goal of making the final four in the OVAC.”

Taglione said the victory came thanks to a solid team performance.

“Everyone contributed, and that’s what makes us a team,” she said. “It’s a real honor for us to be state ranked but we know we have to keep working and focus on one game at a time. We’re getting better and we have to keep pushing ourselves, especially in practice.”

Turnage, who had nine rebounds to just miss a double-double, also stressed the importance of team work.

“I’m proud of how we played tonight as a team,” she said. “We all contributed in our own way. We’re so excited about being state ranked and, hopefully, tonight we proved we deserve that recognition.”

Bailey Stead, Weir’s lone senior, paced the Red Riders in scoring with 11. Sophomore Sophia Mikula and junior Julia Gianni netted eight apiece.

“We didn’t shoot it well tonight, neither team did really,” Weir coach Rick Stead said. “Sometimes that gets in their heads and bothers their overall performance. They sometimes forget that even when they don’t make a basket, they still have to hustle on defense, follow the shot and try to get a rebound.

“At times, we didn’t play well. To our credit, we did pressure the ball well at times and caused some turnovers. We’re struggling to be consistent. We have a young team, and it shows. We turn it over a lot, which leads to transition points for the other team. It was a team loss, and I have to take some of the heat, too. Maybe I didn’t have them ready to play. We’ll come back, practice hard tomorrow, Friday and Saturday and get ready for Monday.”

The Red Riders will host John Marshall Monday. Central is back in action Saturday with a home game against Indian Valley. The junior varsity tip is set for 1 p.m.

Game notes:

¯ In the junior varsity contest, Leah Maley knocked down 10 points as Weir rolled to a 41-16 victory. Morgan Green had six for the Crusaders.

Catholic Central 65, Weir High 39

Weir 5-13-9-12 — 39

Central 19-13-17-16 — 65

WEIR HIGH (4-8): Mikula 4 0-2 8; Fuscardo 2 0 0- 4; Webster 2 0-0 4; Aperfine 2 0-1 4; Kaczmarek 0 0-0 0; Gianni 4 0-0 8; Maley 0 0-2 0; Stead 3 4-6 11; Vuiller 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 4-9 39.

CENTRAL (11-1): Harold 0 0-0 0; A. Godich 0 0-0 0; Zatta 4 2-2 12; Turnage 4 2-3 10; Fayak 1 0-0 2; Dombrowski 4 0-0 8; Taglione 3 1-2 10; G. Godich 2 3-5 7; DiBenedetto 0 0-0 0; Oliver 6 2-3 14; Olszewski 1 0-0 2; Dorsey 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25 10-15 65.

3-POINT GOALS: Central (Taglione 3, Zatta 2); Weir (Stead).