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WEIRTON -- Basketball is a game of runs.
The Oak Glen and Madonna boys' basketball teams traded runs, and in the end the Golden Bears had the final answer.
Preston Cole scored with under 30 seconds left to give Oak Glen the lead, and the Blue Dons' potential game-winning shot rimmed out in the final seconds enabling Oak Glen to defeat Madonna, 53-52, Saturday night inside the Dube Dome.
The win was the Golden Bears first of the season.
"It was a (heck) of a game," Oak Glen (1-3) head coach Jerry Everly said. "They really stuck together. They faced adversity, but they hung in there and hit some big shots.
"They knew what to do. They just hadn't believed in themselves. They fought until the end.
"Whenever you play Madonna, you know you are going to play a good team. Coach Vargo does a great job with his basketball team. You are going to have to play your best game to win, and our guys played their best game.
"I'm proud of my guys. They kept playing. I'm very proud of them."
After Madonna's final shot rimmed out, there was a scramble for the ball with players on both teams battling for possession of it. A player on each team got their hands on the ball, however, the officials ruled time ran out before nullifying the jump ball.
"It was another one like last night," Madonna (2-2) head coach George Vargo said. "It was the same as last night. Steubenville Central had a last second shot that hit the rim. Tonight, our went down and then bounced out. It's basketball.
"You are going to have that when Madonna plays Oak Glen and when Madonna plays Steubenville Central.
"Jerry does a great job. Their coach does a great job.
"We were down, but our kids played with heart, desire and passion. It was a great game.
"Anthony Masico's shot was down, and then it came out. That's basketball.
"Sonny played outstanding tonight. He played well on offense, but he played great defense. He works so hard. We don't give out gae balls, but if we did Sonny would have gotten the game ball.
"Anthony has shot that shot 100 times, and 99 times it goes down. It went down tonight, but then it came back out."
The Blue Dons trailed 45-37 entering the fourth quarter.
The Golden Bears scored the first back of the quarter to take a 10-point advantage, but the Blue Dons refused to go away quietly into the night. Madonna stormed back, and a basket by Shawn McFarland gave the hosts a 52-51 lead with 1:05 remaining in the game.
Madonna was on the verge of pulling out the victory when Cole slashed through the Blue Don defense for a basket giving the visitors a 53-52 lead.
"We were trying to get to the basket," Everly said. "We were trying to get to the rim. We were looking to get fouled. Preston Cole took it inside. He attacked, and he hit the shot."
A delay of the game warning Oak Glen stopped the clock, and Vargo called a timeout with 22.5 seconds still showing on the scoreboard clock.
Oak Glen had a couple of fouls to give, and the Golden Bears used them. Madonna had a chance to win the game at the end, but the iron was unkind to the boys in white.
"It's basketball," Vargo said. "It's a rivalry. With Oak Glen it's a county rivalry, with Steubenville Central it's a Catholic rivalry and with Weir it's a city rivalry.
"It was a great game for the fans. I think the fans really enjoyed it. It was a fun game.
"We made some changes coming out of the locker room. We changed our offense. Our kids never quit.
"Anthony Mascio got hot again when we needed it.
"Basketball is a funny game. Last night, we could have lost. Tonight, we could have won. I'm proud of our kids."
Three players produced double digits in points to lead the way for the Golden Bears. Individually, Jered Hissam scored a team-high 19 points, AJ Ramgeet tallied 14 and Cole collected 10.
Mascio contributed a game-high 21 points to lead the way for Madonna, while DoBraska delivered 13.
Oak Glen made eight 3-pointers on the night with Hissam making five of them.
"Hissam has been doing that for years," Vargo said. "He's a nice ballplayer. I wish I had him on my team."
Madonna made seven shots from beyond the arc with Mascio and DoBraska each making three.
Ramgeet hit a 3-pointer for the first points of the night, and one by Madonna gave the home team an 11-9 lead at the end of the first.
The Golden Bears got hot in the second.
The victors built an 11-point lead (27-16) late in the quarter, but a 3-pointer at the buzzer pulled Madonna to within 27-19 at halftime.
A 3-pointer gave Oak Glen a 30-19 lead, but Madonna erased its deficit less than two minutes later as the Blue Dons battled back to tie the score at 30 with 5:55 left in the quarter.
The Golden Bears answered right back with two more 3-pointers to take a six-point advantage, and they hit two more to end the quarter giving them an eight-point advantage heading into the fourth.
"We knew they were going to make runs, but our kids hung in there, hing in there, hung in there," Everly said. "We got lucky. I thought Mascio hit that shot. It went in, and then it came back out.
"I'm glad we were competitive. We did not compete our first three games. We struggled.
"The kids did not believe. I did. Tonight, they showed what they can do."
Madonna is scheduled to play Valley in a varsity only game starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home.
Oak Glen is slated to play Wellsville Tuesday night at home. The JV game is set to start at 6 p.m.
Oak Glen 53, Madonna 52
Oak Glen 9 18 18 8 – 53
Madonna 11 8 18 15 – 52
OAK GLEN (1-3): Chaney 1 0-0 2, Cole 4 0-0 10, Ramgeet 6 1-2 14, Hissam 6 2-2 19, McCauley 0 0-0 0, Geisse 1 1-4 3, Dennis 2 1-2 5. TOTALS: 20 5-10 53.
MADONNA (2-2): Amaismeier 3 1-1 7, Mascio 9 0-0 21, McFarland 1 1-2 3, DoBraska 4 2-2 13, Canterbury 1 0-0 3, Grishkevich 0 0-0 0, Muzzi 1 0-0 2, Littleton 1 1-2 3. TOTALS: 20 5-7 52.
3-POINTERS: Oak Glen 8 (Hissam 5, Cole 2, Ramgeet); Madonna 7 (Mascio 3, DoBraska 3, Canterbury)