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Third period leads ’Skins past Ferry

WINTERSVILLE – With their standout post player slowed by an ankle injury, the Indian Creek girls basketball team needed someone else to step up during Monday’s Buckeye 8 battle with Martins Ferry.

Guards Brooke Mains and Bethany Davis proved they were ready for the challenge.

They keyed a third-quarter scoring burst that allowed the Redskins to break open a tight contest and earn a 47-36 victory. The win was the second in five days for Erin DeSantis’ club over the Lady Riders (Creek recorded a 50-37 triumph on Ferry’s floor Thursday).

The Lady Redskins now stand at 11-5 and remain in contention for an Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Class 5A playoff spot. Creek entered the week in fifth place. Ferry, which stands third in Class AAAA, falls to 10-7.

Down 18-14 at the half, Lindsay Coyne’s crew sliced the deficit to one on a hoop by Tyrah King and a Jessica Kinney free throw. Mains then drilled a triple and Davis followed with a make from the line to spark an 8-0 Creek run. Mains would swish two free tosses and Kiarra Kamarec got a deuce to give the hosts a double-digit lead at 29-19.

Davis’ basket as time was expiring allowed Creek to take a 31-20 advantage into the final eight minutes. Mains, a junior, and Davis, a freshman, combined for nine of Creek’s 13 third stanza points.

Ferry stayed close thanks to two triples by Kylie Stalder and one by Addie Suriano, but the Redskins put the victory on ice, hitting 12-of-18 free throw attempts in the fourth stanza. During the second half, Creek went to the line 28 times, making 16.

Mains paced the Redskins in scoring with 12. Sophomore post player Bre Berryman, who sat out the fourth quarter last week at Ferry, added 11. Davis contributed 10 and Kamarec eight.

“The good thing about this year’s team is we have guard play to go along with our bigs,” DeSantis said. “It’s not necessarily all on the bigs this year. It’s nice to have guards who can handle the ball and score.”

Berryman was able to collect 18 of her team’s 34 rebounds and block seven shots.

“Just her presence on the floor is big thing for us,” DeSantis added. “Our confidence level goes up whether she is scoring or not. As of Friday, I didn’t think she was going to play. The injury obviously affected her but she is fighting through it.”

The Redskins, who host Harrison Central Thursday, hit 12 of their 41 attempts from the floor. The Huskies handed Creek its only Buckeye 8 loss earlier in the season.

“We have to make sure we take care of business against Harrison on Thursday and then next week at Union Local,” DeSantis noted.

Kinney paced the Lady Riders in scoring with 11, seven coming from the line.

“What do you say to your team when they play so hard and come up empty,” first-year coach Lindsay Coyne asked.

“It comes down to this – we have to put the ball in the hole and we have to take more shots. The girls have what it takes. They just have to gain confidence.

“Every one of them can do it. It’s just a matter of when will the shots fall for us.”

Ferry took 50 shots Monday, but could make just 11.

Kinney, King and Megan Rose hauled down six rebounds each for the Riders.

“Pretty soon, everybody is going to be zero and zero,” Coyne continued. “I hope we can improve offensively and be ready to go after it. Defensively, we are there. We are gritty and we give it our all.”

Ferry will visit Big Red, the OVAC Class 4A leaders, Thursday.

“We’ve had a brutal schedule recently and Steubenville will be another great match-up,” Coyne said. “We have to get ready for them.”

Indian Creek 47, Martins Ferry 36

Martins Ferry 6 8 6 16 – 36

Indian Creek 12 6 13 16 – 47

MARTINS FERRY (10-7): K. Stalder 2 0-0 6; M. Stalder 0 0-0 0; Suriano 1 0-0 3; Rose 1 4-4 6; DeLeonardis 0 0-0 0; Kinney 2 7-11 11; Oberdick 2 0-0 4; Lee 0 0-0 0; King 3 0-0 6. TOTALS: 11 11-16 37. 3-pointers: K. Stalder (2), Suriano; Rebounds: 28 (Rose, Kinney, and King 6); Turnovers: 11.

INDIAN CREEK (11-5): Berryman 2 7-9 11; Davis 4 2-4 10; Kamarec 2 4-6 8; Mains 2 7-13 12; Shimko 2 0-0 4; Callahan 0 0-0 0; Durbin 0 2-2 2; Ruckman 0 0-0 0; Taylor 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12 20-34 47. 3-pointers: Mains; Rebounds: 34 (Berryman 18); Turnovers: 13.

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