UP IN THE AIR — Big Red’s Lucy Saccoccia goes up for a layup attempt in front of Oak Glen’s Haylee Stewart and Mikalyn Balch during Thursday;s game inside the Crimson Center. - Andrew Grimm

STEUBENVILLE — The Big Red girls’ basketball team got off to a slow start against Oak Glen, however, Big Red was able to kick it in gear as they rallied for a win against the Golden Bears.

Oak Glen led by six points at the end of the first quarter, however, Big Red stormed back and built a 20-point advantage in the fourth on their way to a 58-44 victory Thursday night inside the Crimson Center.

“We are trying to find our rhythm,” Big Red (2-3) head coach Angie Forte said. “The girls are starting to come together. They are starting to jell. The girls did a good job of finishing out the game.”

The visitors from Hancock County got off to a fast start as they took a 15-9 lead at the end of the first. Oak Glen had scored 25 total points Monday in a loss at Catholic Central inside the Mickey Barber Gymnasium.

“We did get off to a good start,” Oak Glen (2-2) head coach Ryan Wells said. “We have to stop our spurts with turnovers. We had turnovers, and they were able to capitalize on them. We created some turnovers. The big difference was our turnovers were live ball turnovers where they were able to get out in transition and score. Steubenville’s turnovers were dead ball turnovers where they were able to establish their defense.

“We played good and bad in spurts. We just could not keep a steady pace. Against a good team, you can’t dig yourself a 15-point hole then wake up. Then, you’ll just be going back-and-forth.

“I was talking to Coach Forte after the game, and we knew it was going to be a great test. She does a tremendous job. She lost a lot from last year and they are young, but she had them prepared. She does a tremendous job.”

Trailing by six after one quarter, the hosts came out strong in the second as they outscored the visitors, 20-6, in the stanza to take a 29-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.

“We talked about valuing each possession, and executing on offense,” Forte said. “We wanted to make sure we were in position to rebound. I think their zone gave us some problems, but we were finally able to get into a rhythm. We got the ball into the right areas. We were looking for each other, and we started to knock down some shots.

“Defensively, we were able to locate their shooters. We knew where their shooters were, and we were able to execute on offense.”

A 3-pointer pulled the Golden Bears to within 23-19 in the second, however, the girls in white tallied the next six points to build a double-digit advantage at 29-19 before the Golden Bears scored at the buzzer to close within eight.

The victors recorded the first five points of the third quarter to increase their advantage to 34-21 forcing Wells to call a timeout with 7:10 remaining to be played in the quarter. Big Red ended up extended their advantage to 49-30 entering the fourth.

“We execute in practice, but it is not carrying over into games,” Wells said. “Defensively, I can’t complain. Our effort defensively is always there. We have physical practices, but we need it to follow through into our games.

“A big advantage for Steubenville in the game was they made their free throws, and we did not. We did not get to the free-throw line as much as I would have liked. We were not aggressive.

“We’re undersized. We know that every game we play and whoever we play. We are going to have to work on our rebounding.”

The hosts built a 52-32 lead in the fourth.

“We knew they were quick, and we knew they were going to come out and pressure us,” Forte said. “We had to value each possession.”

Oak Glen attempted to rally as it outscored Big Red, 14-9, in the quarter, but the deficit was too much for the Golden Bears to overcome.

Oak Glen made the equivalant of a hockey line change in the third quarter as replaced all five girls on the court at one time.

“We had some bad spurts,” Wells said. “We have some things we have to clean up. The young kids we put on the court in the third quarter gave us a spark. They stopped their run. The girls we had on the court to start the third quarter were the same girls we have on the floor to start the game. We were a different team in the second half.

“One of the things I am really proud of is the support the girls we took out gave to the girls out on the court.

“They capitalized on our turnovers. We forced some turnovers, but they were able to capitalize on ours.”

Nyla McShan netted a game-high 26 points to lead the way offensively for the Red-and-Black, while Bailee Beall tallied 11 points and Phynyx Fleming finished with nine.

Mikalyn Balch contributed a team-high 10 points to lead the way for the girls in blue, while Emma Everett collected nine.

“Being undersized is something we are going to face all year,” Wells said. “That is why we want to press and run. We don’t want to get into a halfcourt game.

“We are four games in, and we have not meshed well yet. The key is our younger girls have not played with our older girls. They have not played together. They have practiced together. We just have to mesh. Things are going to start to click for us.”

The victory snapped Big Red’s three-game losing streak.

“It feels good getting a win,” Forte said. “We cannot get complacent. We have to continue to work hard and improve. I am proud of the girls.”

Oak Glen is scheduled to play Brooke at 2 p.m. Saturday at home in a varsity-only game.

Big Red is slated to play Weir Monday night at home.

Big Red 58, Oak Glen 44

Oak Glen 15 6 9 14 – 44

Big Red 9 20 20 9 – 58

OAK GLEN (2-2): Everett 3 2-2 9, Balch 4 1-2 10, Wells 0 0-0 0, H. Clark 1 1-2 3, Polly 0 0-0 0, K. Vick 1 0-0 2, T. Vick 1 0-0 3, Craig 2 0-5 4, McConnachie 1 4-7 6, H. stewart 1 2-2 4, E. Stewart 1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 15 10-20 44.

BIG RED (2-3): Casinelli 0 0-0 0, Saccoccia 2 2-2 6, G. Scurry 2 1-2 5, Lewis 0 0-0 0, Fleming 2 5-6 9, Vein 0 0-0 0, Younce 0 1-2 1, A. Scurry 0 0-0 0, McShan 10 5-9 26, Beall 3 2-4 11, Green 0 0-0 0, Montgomery 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19 16-25 58.

3-POINTERS: Oak Glen 4 (Everett, Balch, T. Vick, E. Stewart); Big Red 4 (Beall 3, McShan)