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Battle of the Big Reds

Photo by Joe Catullo - Steubenville’s Kylie Maxwell drives to the bucket past Bellaire’s Sophia Porter on Monday.

STEUBENVILLE — This sounds simple and what every basketball team strives for, but the Steubenville girls squad really needs everyone producing in order to notch victories.

A surprising career night also does not hurt matters. Such was the case for Myla Fleming against visiting Bellaire Monday night.

Fleming tallied a game-high 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds, lifting Steubenville to a convincing 59-40 win. Eight of her points came in the first quarter alone, with the score tied at 11-11 after the frame.

“(Monday) was her night. I’m very excited for the kid,” Big Red head coach Angie Forte said. “We’ve been talking about trying to get the ball inside, working as a team and Myla did exactly what she was supposed to do.

“It was just organic. She would get the ball and make nice moves to put it in. I think her confidence and the team’s confidence grew. They recognized the mismatch and continued to feed her the ball.”

Fleming’s immediate impact helped set the tone. Steubenville (7-8) led, 27-21, at the break and put the game on ice in the third, outscoring the Big Reds (5-10) 15-2.

“They had a significant size advantage over us. We came out and didn’t shoot the ball well, though I thought we had some good looks,” Bellaire head coach John Farrier said. “We just couldn’t get to the hole, and most of our shots are low-percentage shots. We cannot manufacture many points in the paint, so most of ours has to come from the outside.”

Fleming cooled down after the opening quarter, scoring just eight more points the rest of the way. However, Makayla Abram got hot in the second stanza with a dozen points. She finished with 14 overall and nine rebounds.

Kylie Maxwell continued to take another huge step forward as the season winds down, finishing with 15 points (10 in the second half), 10 rebounds and four blocks.

“It’s nice when everybody touches the ball. It’s nice when they come together as a group,” Forte said. “We’ve talked about how it takes all five players on the floor and the rest of the team off the bench. Everybody has to push everybody else.

“I think we have talent on this team. When they can put it all together, they can be a very good basketball team.”

Forte added that she enjoyed watching the younger athletes shine with more time on the floor because no jayvee game was contested. Two of them were Aniyah Warner and Madalyn Criss putting forth solid contributions.

“The young players set the tone. I had a different lineup to start the game. Without a jayvee game, two young ones entered earlier than they normally would,” Forte said. “Just having those extra kids with that little spark, we came out in the second half and continued to push. They made very good use of their minutes, and it was a total team effort.”

Kaleigh Leigh paced Bellaire with 12 points. Jayden Lowe and Lizzie McAninch evenly divide 14. Overall, the Big Reds had no answer for Steubenville’s size and inside game, allowing 47 rebounds (27 defensive and 16 offensive).

“We’re trying to apply a little bit of pressure. The problem with that is, if you don’t make baskets, you’re not able to get out to pressure,” Farrier said. “We’re also trying to get better at getting some shots mid range or closer because most of our shots are coming from the 3-point line. We had good takes (Monday), but we just couldn’t finish.”

UP NEXT

Bellaire: Tentatively faces Union Local on Wednesday.

Steubenville: Tentatively travels to Fort Frye Saturday with a 1 p.m. JV tip-off.

Steubenville 59, Bellaire 40

Bellaire 11 10 2 17 — 40

Steubenville 11 16 15 17 — 59

BELLAIRE (5-10): Porter 0 0-0 0; Miller 2 2-6 6; Call 1 0-0 3; Lowe 1 4-6 7; McAninch 3 0-1 7; Ault 2 1-2 5; Rowson 0 0-0 0; Pramik 0 0-0 0; Leigh 4 1-2 12. TOTALS: 13, 9-19: 40.

STEUBENVILLE (7-8): Thompson 3 0-0 8; Warner 0 0-0 0; Matyas 0 0-0 0; Criss 0 2-3 2; Cucarese 0 0-0 0; Fleming 8 0-0 16; Maxwell 6 3-5 15; Blackwell 0 2-2 2; Martin 1 0-0 2; Hill 0 0-0 0; Abram 5 4-4 14. TOTALS: 23, 11-14: 59.

3-POINT GOALS: Bellaire 4 (Call, McAninch, Leigh 2); Steubenville 2 (Thompson 2).

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