DRIVING — Weir’s Rayna Hoover drives to the basket Tuesday night as John Marshall’s Kayli Derrow defends during their game inside the John Marshall Fieldhouse in Moundsville. - Kim North

MOUNDSVILLE — Sometimes it’s not the star players that a head coach raves about after a lop-sided victory. That’s exactly what John Marshall girls basketball coach Brock Melko did following Tuesday’s game against visiting Weir.

Kayli Derrow recorded a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds, Rilee Strom added 20 points and Kaylee White handed out 10 assists as the Monarchs (5-1) slowly, but surely, pulled away from the Red Riders, 64-41, inside the John Marshall Fieldhouse.

“It’s getting close to Christmas and roles are starting to be defined. Kayli, Rilee and Kaylee (White) know they have to score for us,” Melko said. “What I was really proud about was between Masyn Inclan and Kaylee, they kind of steadied the ship for us early on. I thought Masyn had her best game of the season as far as handling the ball, guarding the ball on defense and setting hard picks.

“She can and will score for us. She just makes all the right plays,” he added. “Masyn and Kaylee were big keys for us tonight.”

The Red Riders (4-4) shot to a 11-4 lead as all five starters scored in the first quarter, but the Monarchs battled back and drew even with a 7-0 run to close the quarter. Four quick points to start the second quarter gave them a lead they would never relinquish as a 20-6 second quarter scoring advantage built a 33-19 lead at the half.

“It was a slow start — our first game back after our trip to Charleston last weekend and there were no classes today so it was a different atmosphere to start,” Melko noted. “We needed to create our own atmosphere and I told the girls I was prepared to burn all five of my timeouts in the first quarter if I needed to.

“We spotted them a 11-4 lead, not to take anything away from what they were doing, but the majority of what was going on was we weren’t playing any defense,” he added. “After the slow start, I give our girls credit for responding like they did.”

“I thought this was one of our better played games recently,” Weir head coach Rick Stead said. “We get those second chances but we don’t capitalize upon them. That has been a recurring issue. We can’t stay in a game where we have to trade baskets. We need to do a better job in the paint.”

Rayna Hoover was the lone double figure scorer for the Red Riders with 13. She completed a double-double with 11 rebounds. Olivia Baker added eight. Janai Turner and Maleea Faulks evenly divided 16 rebounds as Weir led 40-27 off the glass.