×

IC defeats Red Riders

MONDAY NIGHT BASKETBALL — Weir High’s Gia Fuscardo tries to get around Indian Creek’s Madison Smith while Redskins teammate Kaitlyn Whitaker looks on during Monday’s contest inside the Carl Hamill Fieldhouse. Indian Creek won, 55-35. (Mike Mathison)

WEIRTON — Same song, different dance for both teams.

The Indian Creek girls’ basketball team used relentless pressure on both ends of the court and the Weir High girls struggled in two quarters of a 55-35 Redskins victory Monday evening inside the Carl Hamill FIeldhouse.

“We have to put a full game together and we haven’t been able to do that,” Red Riders head coach Rick Stead said. “We put together two good quarters tonight. I thought we did a good job of handling their pressure, then we would have some unforced turnovers and those are hurting us. We have to cut those down.

“We are doing a lot of good things. We played well in the first and fourth quarters, but struggled to put the ball in the basket in the other two quarters and that’s the way it’s been.

“I sound like a broken record, but our mistakes are all correctable, and we are correcting them little by little.”

The Redskins outscored the Red Riders 27-10 during the middle two quarters.

“I have to have confidence in us that if we can stay with a team — regardless of who we’re playing — that eventually our defense can create some offense,” Indian Creek first-year head coach Jackie Rossi said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to do because everybody knows we’re not some offensive juggernaut.

“I thought tonight, overall, we got better as the game went on. That’s been our MO.

“I want to give Weirton a lot of credit. They were making their shots early on and going at us, attacking us. They weren’t backing down. They definitely aren’t playing like a winless team. They’re playing hard and that’s a credit to their coaching and to their players.”

The Redskins are 7-7 and have won four in a row after starting the season 0-4.

“I think the win over Beaver (Local, 44-41, Jan. 9) gave us a lot of confidence and momentum going into this streak we’ve had,” said Creek senior Madison Smith, who finished with a game-high 13 points. “It was frustrating to start the season the way we did.

“But, we worked really hard every day in practice. The coaches drove us hard. We ran all the time. Our practices were very intense. I think they were more intense than track, and track’s just straight running.

“The coaches have always kept our heads up.”

Rachel Cooper and Kacie Vandeborne each scored nine points for Creek, whole Ashley Yaich added eight.

“We coaches felt their frustration when we started off 0-4,” Rossi said. “When you beat a team like Beaver, you feel like all the hard work is paying off. Sometimes it doesn’t pay off all season for teams. That’s a credit to the three seniors (Smith, Kaitlyn Whitaker and Hallie Schmitt). It doesn’t matter what our record is, what the situation is or who we’re playing — they just never quit, and goes through our team and they feed off of one another.

“We lose as a team, and we win as a team, and that’s a big deal for us.”

Bailey Stead led the senior-less Red Riders with nine points. Freshman Sophie Mikula added eight and sophomore Julia Gianni six.

“I was pleased with the effort,” coach Stead said. “We’re getting better.

“We reversed the ball tonight against their press and did a good job of getting them out of the press. So, we see some good things and we do good things.

“Before this is over, we’re going to get one.”

Indian Creek 55, Weir 35

Indian Creek 13 14 13 15 — 55

Weir 12 7 3 13 — 35

INDIAN CREEK (7-7): Smith 3 6-11 13, Cooper 4 0-0 9, Yaich 4 0-2 8, Vandeborne 4 1-2 9, Orban 2 2-4 6, Whitaker 2 0-0 4, Schmitt 1 0-0 2, H. Scott 1 0-0 2, Tweedy 1 0-0 2, T. Scott 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22 9-19 55. 3-pointers: Smith, Cooper.

WEIR (0-13): Kaczmarek 1 0-0 3, Fuscardo 1 1-2 3, Gianni 3 0-2 6, DiLullo 1 0-0 3, Stead 3 3-4 9, Mikula 2 4-6 8, Vuiller 0 0-0 0, Webster 1 1-2 3, McCallister 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 11 9-14 35.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today