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McShan, Big Red pull away from Weir High

IN THE PAINT — Weir High’s Rayna Hoover attempts a shot past Big Red’s Nylah McShan and Phynyx Fleming as they defend during Thursday’s game. - Andrew Grimm

WEIRTON — Big Red’s Nylah McShan and Weir High’s Rayna Hoover put on a show leading their teams early on in Thursday night’s game.

The duo traded buckets early and scored the first 14 points of the game and neither slowed down much from the torrid early pace on the way to combining for 57 points.

McShan, though, got some more help from her teammates and it proved to be the difference as nine Big Red players contributed on the scoresheet in a 75-50 victory over the Red Riders.

McShan scored Big Red’s first 13 points, all nine of Steubenville’s points in the first quarter, and her teammates picked up the pace around her from there. Backing McShan’s 32-point effort were Lucy Saccoccia with 16 — including a key stretch where she scored 6-straight points in the second quarter — and Phynyx Fleming with 13.

“Nylah played a great game from start to finish,” Big Red head coach Angie Forte said. “We come out flat, but she was rebounding and she was hustling.”

“Nylah was keeping us in it, then we got the spark from Lucy. She got things going for everyone, everyone was able to feed off of that. We went into halftime on a high and they took it back onto the court in the second half.

“We had a whole crew of kids contributing. Everyone made some major contributions.”

After being held in single digits in the opening quarter, Big Red (11-5) scored the first seven points of the second quarter to take the lead and did not surrender it, then closed the half on an 11-3 spurt to lead by seven at the break.

Big Red scored 22 in the second and 25 in the third in opening a 17-point advantage going to the fourth quarter. A 9-0 run early in the fourth pushed the lead to as many as 27 before both teams subbed out the starters.

“We were playing some different kids tonight, we lost some of our depth,” Weir High head coach Rick Stead said. “The first two and a half quarters, I thought we were playing some good basketball. They went into the press a little bit and got a quick 6-8 points and we were playing catch up from there. We got a little gassed in the third quarter when they put some pressure on us.

“We started a freshmen tonight in her first varsity game, we started a sophomore making her first start, I thought they did a good job with the position we were in.”

Hoover finished with a 25-point night for the Red Riders (4-8), while Eliza Utt tallied 12.

“Rayna did a really good job for us scoring some points,” Stead said. “I’m proud of the effort the girls put forth, we just have to keep improving from here. The young ones will get better as they get some reps and learn.

“Angie has a nice team, they have a couple really good players. The McShan girl did a good job for them, she always does. They didn’t miss many shots. (Fleming) had a really nice game for them, too.”

Big Red entered the week third in the OVAC Class 5A standings and the win should bolster their position with the cutoff to make the tournament field being set for Tuesday. They play one more time before then, a trip to Carrollton on Monday night.

Weir High, meanwhile, travels to Bellaire on Tuesday.

Big Red 75, Weir High 50

BR 9-22-25-19 – 75

WH 11-13-15-11 – 50

BIG RED (11-5): Saccoccia 8 0-0 16; C. Scurry 1 2-4 4; Fleming 6 0-0 13; McShan 12 6-7 32; Beall 0 1-2 1; Vein 1 0-0 3; Younce 1 0-0 2; Casinelli 0 0-0 0; Bickerstaff 1 0-0 2; A. Scurry 0 0-0 0; Lewis 1 0-0 2; Greene 0 0-2 0. TOTALS: 31, 9-15; 75.

WEIR HIGH (4-8): Ascenio 2 0-0 4; Faulks 2 0-0 4; Hoover 9 6-11 25; Weber 2 0-0 4; Utt 6 0-1 12; Hans 0 0-0 0; Jones 0 0-0 0; Cooley 0 1-2 1; White 0 0-0 0; Greathouse 0 0-0 0; Mallory 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21. 7-15; 50.

3-POINTERS: Big Red 4 (McShan 2, Fleming, Vein); Weir High 1 (Hoover).

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