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WEIRTON -- The Catholic Central boys basketball team returned the favor to Madonna.
The Crusaders trailed by 11 with 6:55 remaining in the third quarter, however, the Crusaders countered with a 14-3 spurt to take a two-point lead. Then down by four in the fourth, the visitors from Jefferson County tallied the final 13 points of the night enroute to defeating the Blue Dons, 57-48, Friday night inside the Dube Dome.
"It's always a battle," Catholic Central (7-9) head coach Don Ogden said. "We lost by three points at our place. It was a little different tonight. We played with more composure this time. We got down, but we did not lose our focus. We kept plugging away.
"Coach (John) Leary emphasized 'one possession at a time and one stop at a time.' We kept it simple tonight.
"Tommy Pergi had a heck of a game defensively. In the first half, you have to give credit to (Anthony) Mascio. We thought and we prayed he could not keep that up offensively. Tommy played good defense. He got on him.
"We played good defense, we hit some key shots and we kept plugging away."
Koleton Grishkevich drained a pair of foul shots to give Madonna a 48-44 advantage with 5:13 left to play in the game, however, the Crusaders held the Blue Dons scoreless the rest of the way.
Catholic Central led 23-15 in the second quarter Dec. 16 at home before a big third quarter propelled the Blue Dons to a 44-41 victory on the road. The Crusaders had a chance to tie with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, however, the shot bounced out.
This time, the Blue Dons led 35-24 with 6:55 left in the third only to see Crusaders come storming back and ultimately win the game.
"It was another good game," Madonna (7-7) head coach George Vargo said. "It was another good rivalry game. It was another good game between two Catholic schools.
"We lost our poise in the last four minutes, and that cost us the game. It came down to that.
"We got down, and we had to foul. I always say games are won at the foul line. Catholic Central made seven foul shots in the fourth quarter. We made two.
"We lost our poise and had to foul. We missed some big layups. We had a turnover, and then we missed a layup. That's the way basketball is. Things happen during the course of the game."
The biggest difference in the scorebook came at the free-throw line. The visitors converted 13-of-20 attempts from the charity stripe, while the hosts made just 4-of-8 shots from the line. Both teams made 13 two-point field goals and six 3-pointers.
Mascio scored a game-high 28 points to lead the way for Madonna. Mascio scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half.
Grishkevich collected seven points to finish second on the team.
"Coach Vargo has coached for many years," Ogden said. "I used to coach over here. I was the girls coach over here. I learned so much from Coach Vargo. I have a lot of respect for Coach Vargo. Coach Vargo is one of the most respected coaches in the valley."
Three players produced double digits in points for Catholic Central to lead the way offensively. Daniel Bolster tallied a team-high 21 points to lead the way, while Benji Rook and Andrew Dorsey each recorded 10.
After trailing 35-24, the Crusaders tallied 14 of the next 17 points to take a 39-37 lead late in the third.
"They hit two 3s," Vargo said about what changed during that time span. "That's six points. If they bounced out, we could have gone on a run. They hit two 3-pointers. They got six points, and that got them back into the game.
"It was a good-hard game. It was a good game. It was a competitive basketball game. It was a good-fundamental game. Both teams ran the court and shot the ball.
"We did not do the little things. We did not keep our composure as a team. Had we kept our composure, we may have won the game, or if we kept our composure we may still have lost the game.
"Keeping your composure is taking care of the basketball and getting to the foul line."
The first quarter was back and forth. The hosts took a 14-9 lead; however, the visitors netted the final five points of the quarter to knot the score at 14 entering the second. Camden Bradley delivered a basket on a put back as time expired in the quarter, and he hit the foul shot to complete the three-point play to even the game for the victors.
"Not really," Ogden said asked if either team did anything different this time around compared to the first meeting a little more than a month ago. "We looked at what they did the last time. We were focused on what we could change."
Catholic Central opened the second stanza with a foul shot to regain the lead, however, Madonna ripped off a 7-0 spurt to take a 21-15 advantage. A 3-pointer by Luke Amaismeier increased Madonna's advantage to 24-17, but Rook responded with a big 3 of his own to pull the Crusaders back within striking distance. The Blue Dons led 29-24 at halftime.
"Don coached here for many years," Vargo said. "He was the girls' coach here. We love Don. He is part of the Madonna family even though he is coaching at Steubenville Central. He is still part of the family. Don is a great guy."
The Crusaders started the season at 1-8, however, Catholic Central has won seven of its last eight games to improve to 7-9 on the season.
"We started 1-8," Ogden said. "These guys have done a great job. When you are 1-8, guys can give up and things can cave in, but these guys believed. They believed in what we are trying to do, they believed in themselves and they believed in the team, but we are not there yet."
The Crusaders also won the JV game.
Catholic Central is scheduled to play Frontier Tuesday night at home inside the Mickey Barber Gymnasium. The JV game is set to tip off at 6 p.m.
Madonna is slated to play Hancock County foe Oak Glen Tuesday night on the road up at the Oak Glen Fieldhouse. The JV game is set to start at 6 p.m. The Blue Dons will be out for a revenge after the Golden Bears defeated them, 53-52, Dec. 17, at Madonna.
Catholic Central 57, Madonna 48
Catholic Central 14 10 15 18 – 57
Madonna 14 15 10 9 – 48
CATHOLIC CENTRAL (7-9): 1 0-0 2, Rook 4 0-2 10, Mihalyo 0 0-0 0, Dorsey 4 0-0 10, Bolster 5 9-10 21, Urbanczyk 0 0-0 0, Pergi 3 1-2 7, Rohde 0 0-0 0, Bradley 2 3-3 7. TOTALS: 19 13-20 57.
MADONNA (7-7): Amaismeier 1 0-0 3, Mascio 12 0-0 28, DoBraska 1 1-2 3, Grishkevich 2 3-3 7, Gontas 2 0-0 5, Littleton 1 0-0 2, McAllister 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19 4-8 48.
3-POINTERS: Catholic Central 6 (Rook 2, Dorsey 2, Bolster 2); Madonna 6 (Mascio 4, Amaismeier, Gontas)