LONG RANGE — Steubenville’s Nicco Bracone attempts a 3-pointer over Edison’s Alec McBane on Tuesday. (Photo by Andrew Grimm)

RICHMOND — After a quick start, the Steubenville boys basketball team went flat in Tuesday’s road game at Edison. Coach Mike Haney pushed all the right buttons late, however, and Big Red quickly erased a halftime deficit to pick up an 81-64 win over the Wildcats.

After Steubenville (12-9) jumped out to a 10-2 lead, Edison (6-16) raced back with a 17-4 run to end the first quarter. Haney took out his starters and put in five players off the bench, spurring a Big Red surge that put it back in the lead at 31-30.

“The first half wasn’t how we planned it,” Haney said. “We went up 10-2 and gave up 3s and were down. I took out the whole first team and put the second group in. They actually played harder and better. We rotated them. It was to wake (the starters up) because we played lackadaisical and flat. It was just to show them ‘Hey, we’ll get guys in there that will play hard.'”

Big Red used 13 different players, 12 of whom found the scoresheet.

Edison scored the last four of the half for a 34-31 advantage at the break. Early in the third quarter, Haney got fired up over a call, and his team came to life in response, rattling off a 20-2 run to completely take over. Steubenville outscored the Wildcats 31-8 in the third.

“Sometimes you do that to get a little fire in the game and get them back focused,” Haney said. “It adds a little intensity.”

One of the highlights of the run was a Calvin Bickerstaff slam dunk. He finished with a team-high 12 points and tied for another team-high with three rebounds.

“I saw we got the steal, and I was already down (at the offensive end),” Bickerstaff said. “I got the ball and I was like ‘It is go time, throw it down.’ It was pretty exciting.

“We knew we had to come out with out energy and get rolling. It was a little slow in the first half, but once we got our energy and the momentum going, we got pretty excited.”

As far as what got he and his teammates going, he cited both of Haney’s moves.

“Whenever that happens, we do get fired up,” Bickerstaff said. “We know we’ve got to get going.”

Also for Big Red, Josh Zimmerman had 10 points. James Roundtree finished with nine. Dajuan Jones, Nicco Bracone and Jorian Jones each scored eight.

Getting back in the win column was something important to Haney after dropping the OVAC Class 4A title game to Meadowbrook on Saturday.

“It was good,” Hayne said. “It was a quick turnaround which you like after a loss like that.”

On the flip side of things, Edison coach Nate Moses thought the turning points were a few key fouls called on his Wildcats during the first part of the run, though not making it an excuse.

“We came out, and I thought we got after it in the first half,” Moses said. “The third quarter did not go the way we wanted it to. The effort is always there. There are points in the game where certain guys get calls and certain guys don’t. I thought there was a point in the game where that happened, and it swung the momentum.

“Steubenville is a good basketball team, probably the most athletic team we’ve faced.”

Moses was assessed a technical foul for arguing a call, and Steubenville’s Da’von Smith stepped to the line and sunk both shots to make the run 13-0 at that point.

“The game is never won or lost by the guys wearing the stripes,” he said. “Certain guys get calls and can get away with things that other guys can’t. It felt like we were playing in Steubenville tonight at times, but it is what it is.”

Edison’s Anthony Sinicroppi finished with a game-high 20 points, including six shots from beyond the arc. Isaac Schmitz scored 11, while the Wildcats lone senior Connor Hyndman ended his home career with 10 points and a game-high six boards.

Big Red plays in another big game on Friday night to conclude the regular season, traveling to cross-town rival Catholic Central for the city championship before sectionals.

“It’s another quick turnaround,” Haney said. “Central has some good shooters and if we come out playing lackadaisical we’ll get down and it’s hard to come back against them. Friday is going to be a good atmosphere in a small gym with a lot of people and noise so we have to be ready right from the tip.

“You throw the records out the window for the city championship. These guys grew up together. The first game (a Big Red win) doesn’t matter; they’re going to be ready to go.”

Edison’s regular season is over, and it travels to Ridgewood on Tuesday in sectional action for its next game.

Game notes:

¯ Steubenville won the jayvee contest, 34-15. Jordan Wallace led Big Red with seven, while Brandon Boyd also had seven for Edison.

Steubenville 81, Edison 64

Steubenville 14-17-31-19 — 81

Edison 19-15-8-22 — 64

STEUBENVILLE (12-9): D. Jones 4 0-1 8; Davis 1 2-2 5; Zimmerman 5 0-2 10; Roundtree 3 3-4 9; Bickerstaff 5 2-2 12; Smith 2 2-2 6; Zane 0 0-0 0; Biasi 1 0-0 2; Rauch 3 1-2 7; Bracone 2 3-3 8; Mitchell 2 0-0 4; Clevenger 0 2-2 2; J. Jones 4 0-1 8. TOTALS: 32, 15-36, 81.

EDISON (6-16): Sinicroppi 7 2-2 20; Hyndman 5 0-0 10; Schmitz 3 4-7 11; Kinney 1 3-3 5; McBane 1 5-6 7; Easter 1 2-2 4; Pugh 0 0-0 0; Mayle 1 0-0 2; Boyd 1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 20, 16-20, 64.

3-POINT GOALS: Steubenville 2 (Davis, Bracone); Edison 8 (Sinicroppi 6, Schmitz, Boyd). REBOUNDS: Steubenville 27 (D. Jones 3, Zimmerman 3, Roundtree 3, Bickerstaff 3, Rauch 3, Mitchell 3); Edison 20 (Hyndman 6, McBane 6). ASSISTS: Steubenville 19 (Zane 5); Edison (Easter 5). TURNOVERS: Steubenville 16; Edison 25.