ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Red Devils are trending upward.

St. Clairsville pocketed its third-straight win Tuesday night, posting a 44-34 workman-like triumph over Buckeye 8 Conference opponent Harrison Central on John Jenkins Court. Coach Stacey Agnew’s improving charges used balance scoring, staunch defense and some fine foul shooting to improve to 5-4 on the campaign.

“We are getting better. I happy with a third straight win,” Agnew said. “The last loss was to a close one to a real good John Glenn team. So, things are looking up.”

Meanwhile, the setback dropped Harrison Central to 5-6. Coach Nick Yourkovich’s squad struggled offensively most of the night, netting just 15 points after three quarters.

“We lacked aggressiveness from the outset. When you hold a team to 44 points you should be able to win,” Yourkovich noted. “We are offensively challenged right now. We never got into a good flow offensively.”

The game was slow-paced from the outset.

St. Clairsville inched out to a 6-4 lead after the opening eight minutes. Hard-working senior Alexis Thoburn produced four of the Red Devil points.

St. Clairsville heated up somewhat in the second quarter, receiving two 3-point goals from Sydney Miller and another from Lacy Tuttle to forge a 21-10 halftime advantage. Senior dandy McKayla Dunkle netted six of the Huskies’ first-half points.

Harrison Central’s scoring woes continued in the third period. The Huskies were able to manage just two field goals in the frame while St. C. senior ace Shae Brookover netted six points herself as the hosts stretched their lead to 31-15 entering the fourth quarter.

To its credit, Yourkovich’s squad made matters somewhat interesting in the fourth quarter.

Dunkle goaled at the 1:26 mark to bring the Harrison Countians to within 40-31. After a St. C. turnover, Harrison’s Maddy Butler drained a charity toss to make it an eight-point game with 1:09 to play.

After Red Devil junior Megan Malin meshed a free throw, Butler delivered a driving layup, bringing the Huskies to within 41-34 with 30 seconds remaining.

Malin sank another charity toss for a 42-34 Red Devil upperhand before the visitors misfired on two floor attempts. Malin was subsequently fouled with 12.9 seconds left, converting two freebies to seal the deal.

“It wasn’t pretty but we will take it. A win is a win,” Agnew said. “Harrison is a solid team and Nick does a great job with them. Hopefully, we can keep things headed in the right direction.”

Brookover and Tuttle paced St. C. with 11 points each. Thoburn and Malin evenly divided 16 points while Miller chipped in with six counters.

Dunkle topped all scorers with 13 points. She also grabbed 12 rebounds. Butler delivered seven points for Harrison Central while Mackenzie Harbold added six tallies.

“We didn’t have much energy until the fourth quarter. Then we had too big a hole to climb out of,” Yourkovich said. “We had way too many turnovers (18). Many of them unforced. The bottom line is we just need to get fixed on the offensive end.”

St. Clairsville finished with 13 turnovers. The Red Devils are right back in action Thursday, playing host to Cambridge.

Harrison Central, which prevailed by a 42-39 count in the reserve contest, is idle until Monday when it hosts Edison.

St. Clairsville 44, Harrison Central 34

HC 4 6 5 19 – 34

St. C. 6 15 10 13 – 44

HARRISON CENTRAL (34) – Dunkle 5, 3-8 13; Butler 3, 1-3 7; Harbold 2, 2-2 6; Ferri 1, 0-0 2; Ledger 1, 0-0 2; Fischer 2, 0-0 4. Totals 14, 6-13.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE (44) – Brookover 3, 4-4 11; Thoburn 3, 2-2 8; Malin 2, 4-6 8; Miller 2, 0-0 6; Gray 0, 0-0 0; Sadler 0, 0-0 0; Tuttle 5, 0-0 11. Totals 15, 10-12.

3-point goals: Harrison Central (0); St. Clairsville (4) – Miller (2), Tuttle (1); Brookover (1).