Central-Weir game halted in fourth quarter
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WEIRTON -- In the grand scheme of things, a score does not really matter all that much.
The score -- or whether or not the game would even officially count -- did not matter to anyone as they left the gym following the game between Weir High and Catholic Central Thursday night.
It was stopped with 4:13 to go in the fourth quarter when a Crusader appeared to fall unconscious.
Those in attendance at Ron "Fritz" Williams Court fell silent as Central senior Ellen Rohde was immediately attended to trainers and coaches, sat up at one point and was helped off the court before being transported to the hospital by EMTs who arrived on scene a short time later.
Central coach Jess Looman and Red Riders' coach Rick Stead, along with the officials, decided not to resume to the game.
"This is the first time in probably 15 years experiencing something like this coaching basketball," Stead said. "We're all sending our thoughts and prayers to the young lady and hope she doesn't have any serious injuries or ailments and can make a return."
For Stead, who has been the Red Riders' coach for eight years and has two daughters of his own, it was a situation that spurred multiple emotions.
"It's scary, because you just don't know," Stead said. "People have thought a lot about things like the last two weeks since what happened in the Buffalo-Cincinnati (NFL) game.
"It's an unfortunate thing to see the young lady pass out or be unconcisious or whatver she has going on. We just hope she's OK."
Stead's team was ahead on the scoreboard when the game was stopped, 48-32. He said he believed the contest would be final since both parties agreed to stop it and not continue at a later date, which would give the Red Riders their third-consecutive victory.
The National Federation of State High School Associations basketball rules, which are cited in the West Virginia Secondary Schools Athletic Commission handbook as the official rules, states, "Whenever a game is interrupted because of events beyond the control of the responsible administrative authorities, it shall be continued from the point of interruption unless the teams agree to terminate the game with the existing score, or there are conference, league or state association rules to cover the situation."
Though it was far from the most important thing to Stead, he was happy to see his team continue their trajectory of improvement.
"Our girls' goal from the beginning has been to improve," he said. "We knew we were young and going to take our licks early in the season, but starting with the overtime losses to Oak Glen and Burgettsown, then winning against Madonna, we've started to turn the corner and found the bottom of the net.
"We've changed up defenses and the defense we're playing now seems really well suited to the girls we have. We have continued to make strides and we hope to continue to keep improving. We've really improved since the beginning of the season. We want to be our best at the end of the season."
The Red Riders led 11-10 after one and 22-20 at halftime before taking control with a 17-0 run to start the third quarter.
Olivia Baker tallied 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, for the Red Riders. Janai Turner had 10 points and seven assists.
Rohde had six points and 12 rebounds at the time of the stoppage. Theresa Kerker led Central with 13 points and three 3-pointers.
Neither team is scheduled to play again until Monday, Weir heading to Wheeling Central and Catholic Central traveling to Buckeye Local.