LOOKING LOW — Steubenville’s Makayla Abram readies herself to drive past Catholic Central’s Morgan Green during Thursday night’s contest.

STEUBENVILLE — In any basketball contest, it is critical for a team that is trailing all game long to make a comeback and take the advantage rather just tie.

Catholic Central put the scare of a lifetime in Big Red Thursday night. It erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime and fought all the way until the final buzzer.

However, the Crusaders never took the lead, and Steubenville did just enough to hang on for a thrilling 68-64 victory.

“There were some highs and lows. It’s always going to be competitive going up against Central. We knew they were going to put their best foot forward, and they have some speedy players,” Big Red head coach Angie Forte said. “They did a good job of knocking down some 3-pointers and running in transition. We’re just glad that we were able to pull it out and the girls coming together to finish in overtime.

“When our backs were against the wall, we did enough little things to keep us from tipping over. I’m just glad that they were able to withstand the lows of the game.”

On the other side, Central head coach Jess Looman felt her squad did not do all of the little things properly. They missed some clutch free throws in the fourth and were out-rebounded, 45-35.

Focusing on the bigger picture, the Crusaders (3-9) fought and clawed after Steubenville (8-10) had multiple opportunities through the first three quarters to run away with a lopsided win.

“This team is so unpredictable. Even if we’re down 10, 15 points, we’re not out of a game,” Looman said. “They feed right into that. We’ve had teams in the past where we’d be down and out and not able to fight back. It’s a testament to their grit and heart. They wanted to play tough against this school.”

The Crusaders sprinted to a 10-0 scoring run to open the fourth and tie the game at 51-51 with 5:54 remaining. The game went back and forth from that point on. Steubenville would go ahead by two or three points, while Central kept tying it.

Then, with 9.5 seconds left, the Crusaders forced a turnover, called a timeout and had a chance to win it. Big Red, though, forced a mishap of its own and called a timeout with 4.5 seconds remaining. After the inbounds pass, Makayla Abram ran out of time with a corner shot.

In overtime, Steubenville won the tip and came out with a smooth Kylie Maxwell pass to a wide open Myla Fleming in the paint. Big Red later led, 67-64, with 1:27 left.

Central’s Morgan Green hit a crucial 3-pointer to knot the score again, before the Crusaders grabbed a steal. Shortly after, they missed a go-ahead 3. Steubenville capitalized when Abram found Maxwell down low for a turnaround floater.

Big Red forced a turnover with 29.9 seconds left, called a timeout and ran the clock down to 11.3 seconds remaining when Maxwell was fouled. She made both freebies to put the game on ice.

“I don’t know if we ran out of gas (in overtime). Big Red went back to man-to-man (defense). I think that caught up to us a little bit with the pressure,” Looman said. “We also didn’t make some key foul shots. It was just the little things of what we could’ve or should’ve done.

“It’s just a matter of finishing and playing consistent, and we’re getting there. This probably was one of the best games where we played four quarters consistently. Even in that overtime we played hard.”

Overall, Central finished 16 of 25 from the charity stripe, while Big Red went 14 of 24. At one point late in the fourth, the Crusaders were 3 of 6 when in double bonus. Those fouls occurred when they were dribbling the ball up court and were bumped. Had they hit one more, they would have taken the lead.

“We were trying to be more physical and body up a little bit more. It was just a little too much contact,” Forte said regarding foul trouble in the fourth. “Part of it was not moving our feet, the other part was they are quick. When you’re playing catch-up, the bumps are going to happen and you’re trying to get out in front of the dribbler.”

Following a 33-21 halftime deficit, Central put up 20 points in the third and found its stroke from beyond the arc. Big Red scored 18 to still lead by double digits entering the fourth.

The best move of the night came when Looman put forward Kaylee Kirkpatrick in the paint to slow down Abram, who finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. She had a solid 19-point, seven-rebound effort in the first half.

“Obviously Makayla is Makayla, and she’s a great player. What I told Kaylee was we needed her in there to body up on Makayla,” Looman said. “She did a great job with that. Our posts also were doing a better job talking down low in the second half. We were able to move on defense a little bit better, and we knew we needed to front Makayla and play behind.”

Big Red’s best counter came when freshman guard Aniyah Warner played more than what Forte probably would have expected. Regular starter Maggi Cucarese fouled out with a little more than three minutes left in the fourth, then guard Aubrey Thompson left early in overtime with an injury.

Warner had two points and six key rebounds combined in the fourth and OT. Madalyn Criss, another jayvee player, hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third.

“Both of them came out and gave us a nice spark. Criss knocked down some crucial 3s and helped extend the defense out,” Forte said. “Warner went in there and got some tipped balls and crashed the boards. We didn’t lose or take a step backward when we put those two in.

“We got complacent (in the fourth), we didn’t execute very well and Central took advantage of it. I’m not surprised that (Central) came back out and fought until the end. I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Maxwell finished with a near triple-double (17 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists), while blocking roughly six shots.

For Central, Katie Zatta had 25 points, eight boards and two dimes. Green tallied 15 points. Ellen Rohde produced 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Ali Grimm added nine points and four rebounds.

“It’s tough to lose, but we tell our girls all the time to play hard for four quarters, and we did that,” Looman said. “I can’t say enough about their effort. We knew coming in that Big Red had a good, physical team. We told our girls they had to match up and be just as physical, hustle and play together. They did all of that (Thursday).”

INJURY UPDATE

Steubenville was without forward Lexi Martin again, who has not played since Jan. 18. There is no timetable for her return.

JV ACTION

Big Red won the jayvee contest, 22-13. Warner paced Steubenville with 13 points, while Central’s Gianna Gillette had five.

UP NEXT

CCHS: Tentatively travels to Edison for a 1 p.m. contest on Saturday.

Steubenville: Tentatively hosts Dover on Monday.

Steubenville 68, Catholic Central 64 (OT)

Central 10 11 20 18 5 — 64

Steubenville 18 15 18 8 9 — 68

CATHOLIC CENTRAL (3-9): Zatta 7 8-10 25; Symington 0 0-0 0; Green 4 4-5 15; Rohde 5 1-6 11; Grimm 2 3-4 9; DeChristopher 0 0-0 0; Kerker 1 0-0 2; Kirkpatrick 1 0-0 2; O’Karma 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20, 16-25: 64.

STEUBENVILLE (8-10): Thompson 2 0-0 5; Cucarese 2 0-2 4; Fleming 1 0-0 2; Maxwell 5 6-10 17; Abram 12 8-10 32; Hill 0 0-0 0; Blackwell 0 0-0 0; Warner 1 0-2 2; Criss 2 0-0 6. TOTALS: 25, 14-24: 86.

3-POINT GOALS: Catholic Central 8 (Zatta 3, Green 3, Grimm 2); Steubenville 4 (Thompson, Maxwell, Criss 2). REBOUNDS: Catholic Central 35 (Rohde 12); Steubenville 45 (Maxwell 16, Abram 12). ASSISTS: Catholic Central 11 (Green 6); Steubenville 17 (Maxwell 7). TURNOVERS: Catholic Central 15; Steubenville 13.