IN CLOSE — Big Red’s Tre’Von Wiggins puts up a shot from in close against River on Wednesday night while teammate Will Taylor looks on. - Andrew Grimm

STEUBENVILLE — Mike Haney wanted his Big Red team to come out focused on the task at hand Wednesday night and not looking ahead to Saturday’s looming OVAC championship game.

They got the veteran coach’s message loud and clear.

Steubenville jumped out to a big lead from the start and never looked back, dominating on both ends of the floor for a 59-19 victory over visiting River on senior night inside the Crimson Center.

“They came out focused and played hard, played good defense, created some turnovers and made some shots,” Haney said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well from outside, it looked like our legs were a little bit tired from playing (Tuesday) but we made our layups and drives and stuff like that. And we played really good defense.”

Big Red jumped out a 22-3 lead after one quarter and led 43-9 at halftime. Defensively, they held the Pilots (7-12) to single digits in all four quarters, while nine different players contributed to the scoring totals.

“We got everyone in the game and that’s always nice,” Haney said. “Everyone got minutes and contributed, it’s a good team win.”

Will Taylor, one of Big Red’s four seniors, led the way with a game-high 19 points. Aiden Davis tallied nine and Tre Wiggins seven.

For the Pilots, Kaden Hunt was the lone player in double digits with 10.

“We started our four seniors and we thank them for everything they’ve done, they’ve been great all year, working hard in practice and staying focused,” Haney said. “Tonight was a good tribute to them and everything they’ve done for the program.”

UP NEXT

River: Will play a pair of OVAC consolation pool games next week against Fort Frye and Buckeye Trail.

Big Red: Takes on Morgantown in the OVAC Class 5A Championship at noon Saturday at the ECO Center in St. Clairsville. It has also picked up a game Monday at home against International Sports Academy. That game will be varsity only with a 5 p.m. tip.

Big Red 59, River 19

River 3-6-4-6 – 19

Big Red 22-21-10-6 – 59

RIVER (7-13): Longwell 0 0-0 0; Dennis 0 0-0 0; Hunt 4 0-0 10; Blue 2 1-2 6; Price 0 0-0 0; Islay 0 2-2 2; Thompson 0 0-0 0; Miller 0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 6 4-6 19.

BIG RED (17-2): Davis 4 0-0 9; Haney 3 0-0 6; Taylor 9 0-1 19; Boni 1 1-2 3; Gulan 0 1-2 1; Hinton 2 1-2 5; Wiggins 2 1-4 7; C. Bowers 2 0-0 4; L. Bowers 0 0-0 0; Adams 1 0-0 3; Simon 0 0-0 0; Rea 1 0-0 2; Edwards 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25; 4-11; 59.

3-POINT GOALS: River 3 (Hunt 2; Blue); Big Red 5 (Wiggins 2, Davis, Adams, Taylor). REBOUNDS: River 18 (Dennis 4); Big Red 30 (Rea 6).