Defense leads Red Devils past Huskies in Class 4A semis
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- Defense is as much a part of winning as offense is when it comes to just about any sport. St. Clairsville proved that Tuesday night.
The second-seeded Red Devils (11-6) forced nine first-quarter turnovers in taking a 22-9 lead and never looked back in rolling into the OVAC WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital Boys Basketball Class 4A finals with a 70-49 victory over No. 3 Harrison Central (11-7) on John Jenkins Court inside St. Clairsville High School.
“Our offense gets a lot of attention because we score at a pretty efficient rate, but our defense won us the game tonight because we guarded them,” St. Clairsville head coach Ryan Clifford said. “We were really locked-in on that end of the floor. When we defend, we’re a pretty tough out.”
With the victory, St. Clairsville advances to Saturday’s championship game at Harrison Central High School in Cadiz opposite a familiar face in No. 1 seeded East Liverpool, which topped fourth-seeded Beaver Local, 75-45, in Tuesday night’s other semifinal. The Red Devils and Potters met two weeks ago in the Buckeye 8 title tilt, with the Columbiana Countians prevailing. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
“We only play each other in big games, and this is sure a big one on Saturday.”
Ryan McCort sparked St. Clairsville in the first 16 minutes as the hosts led 38-28 at the break. He netted 17 of his game-high 28 points, which included a sparkling 12-for-13 effort from the free throw stripe. The senior point guard also handed out six assists, grabbed half-a-dozen rebounds and charted three steals.
“He’s our guy. Every team needs one and he’s ours,” Ryan Clifford said of McCort. “I talked to the seniors Monday at practice and told them we are at the point in the season where we are a senior-ladened team, and if we’re going to do something, it’s going to have to be them that does it. (Tuesday) they did.”
Avery Henry worked the paint for 23 points and a dozen rebounds while swatting away three shots. Twelve of his markers came in the second half, as did seven of his boards.
“Avery is a double-double machine,” Ryan Clifford said of his 6-6, 285-pounder. “He’s a problem for teams inside and has been all season.”
Tyson Pastor secured nine rebounds for St. Clairsville, which trailed 43-42 on the glass. The Red Devils also had three less turnovers with 11.
The Huskies got to within nine twice, but could get no closer.
“It just wasn’t our night. We didn’t make shots, but give St. Clairsville credit, they sped us up on offense and I thought they played harder than us,” Harrison Central head coach Justin Clifford said. “I thought they gave max effort and that was the difference in the game.”
The Huskies’ Jonathan Vermillion kept his team close in the first half with 14 of his team-high 26. He also finished with 13 rebounds, of which 10 came prior to the intermission. In addition, the 6-foot-6 Vermillion charted four steals and blocked a trio of shots.
“He’s a senior. We’re happy to have him back. He’s been in games like this,” Justin Clifford said of Vermillion. “He’s a competitor.”
Hayden Cassidy added eight points and Jace Madzia had seven.
Tuesday marked the eighth time that the Clifford brothers have matched up, with Ryan owning a 6-2 advantage.
Class 4A Semifinal
(at St. Clairsville H.S.)
St. Clairsville 70,
Harrison Central 49
HC 9 19 12 9 — 49
STC 22 16 18 14 — 70
HARRISON CENTRAL (49) — Cassidy 3 2-2 8; Madzia 1 5-7 7; J. Vermillion 10 6-14 26; Je. Jones 2 0-0 5; Quito 1 1-4 3; Rex 0 0-0 0; N. Fluharty 0 0-0 0; Arbaugh 0 0-0 0; Ody 0 0-1 0; C. Vermillion 0 0-1 0; Totals: 17-54 14-29 49. ST. CLAIRSVILLE (70) — Oberdick 3 0-1 6; Thoburn 2 0-0 6; McCort 7 12-13 28; Woodford 0 0-0 0; Henry 10 3-4 23; Pastor 1 2-2 4; Porter 0 0-0 0; Crist 1 0-0 3; Vera 0 0-0 0; Parsons 0 0-0 0; Schafer 0 0-0 0; Totals: 24-54 17-20 70
3-point goals: HC — Je. Jones; STC — Thoburn (2); McCort (2); Crist