Crusaders turn up the pressure to top Oak Glen
STEUBENVILLE — The Catholic Central boys basketball team turned up the heat on Oak Glen.
Leading by two in the second quarter, Catholic Central amped up the pressure against Oak Glen, and the Golden Bears struggled to handle it enabling the Crusaders to get out and run en route to building an 11-point advantage at halftime on their way to a 43-32 victory Tuesday night inside the Mickey Barber Gymnasium.
“Anytime you press, you take a chance,” Catholic Central (15-3) head coach Don Ogden said. “It is something we thought we might have success with. We tried it and it worked out. I’m glad it did. Before that, it was a dogfight. I have a lot of respect for Coach Everly and the job he does. His kids play hard. They played hard tonight. We were fortunate to come away with the victory tonight.”
Catholic Central led 11-5 after the first quarter of play. Oak Glen battled back in the second to pull within 13-11 before the boys in white tallied 11 of the final 13 points in the half to take a 24-13 lead into the locker room.
“That press gave us some trouble in that situation,” Oak Glen (5-12) head coach Jerry Everly said. “We had some guys in foul trouble. They had to sit down, and they are normally the guys we have in the middle of the press. We had to put some younger guys in, and we lost focus. We had some turnovers. Catholic Central is a veteran team, and they were able to take advantage. I thought we handle the press OK once we settled down.”
The Blue-and-Gold built a 27-14 advantage in the third, however, the visitors from Hancock County battled back and pulled to within 27-21 with 3:14 remaining to be played in the third.
“Their shots started to fall,” Ogden said about what enabled the boys in blue to get back into the game. “We got a little undisciplined on defense. I thought we played pretty good defense overall tonight.
“Offensively, I thought we were playing in a little bit of a hurry. You want your offense to play fast, but you don’t want it to be in a hurry and be out of control. We called a timeout. We talked things over. We only had one turnover in the fourth quarter. We did a good job adjusting and regaining our focus.”
The hosts took a 32-25 lead into the fourth.
“We started to cut harder and move harder,” Everly said asked what enabled his team to get back into the game. “We made sharper cuts. We tried to attack the basket and get to the foul line. It was a slugfest. Both teams played hard. Both teams played aggressive. We wanted to try and get to the foul line. It was a fight for every basket.”
Benji Rook recorded a game-high 13 points to lead the way offensively for the boys from Jefferson County, while Camden Bradley delivered 11 and Tommy Pergi produced 10.
Mason Kell collected a team-high seven points to lead the way for the Golden Bears, while Noah Willey tallied six.
“We play Catholic Central regularly,” Everly said. “We play them twice a year. They are usually good games. Their press got us up here. We worked on it at practice. We thought we were ready for it, but we had a little slip up.
“They start five seniors. That is good to have. I don’t have a senior on my roster. The kids battled. I am proud of them.”
The victors extended their advantage in the fourth to as many as 14 points before a last-second 3-pointer by the Golden Bears capped the scoring.
Tuesday was the cutoff date for team’s to qualify for the annual OVAC Tournament. Catholic Central entered its game against Oak Glen in second place behind Toronto in the Class 2A standings.
“We cannot control what other team’s do,” Ogden said. “All we can control is the game we play and our team. That was where our energy and focus was tonight.”
Caldwell came into Tuesday in third place in the standings, while Clay Battelle was in fourth place with Wellsville in fifth.
“It’s huge,” Ogden said about his team qualifying for the annual conference tournament. “It gives meaning to your regular season. You want to qualify, and once to qualify, anything can happen. We are in the game, we just have to see how it goes.”
The tournament pairings will be released today.
Catholic Central is scheduled to play Bellaire Friday night on the road.
Oak Glen is slated to play Wheeling Central Friday night on the road.
“It does not get any easier,” Everly said. “They are No. 1 or 2 in the state.”
Catholic Central 43, Oak Glen 32
Oak Glen 5 8 12 7 – 32
Catholic Central 11 13 8 11 – 43
OAK GLEN (5-12): Hartung 0 0-0 0, Kell 1 5-5 7, Knisley 2 1-2 5, Weekley 2 1-2 5, Dawson 0 0-0 0, Willey 2 1-2 6, Hissam 1 0-0 3, Geisse 2 0-0 4, Evans 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 11 8-11 32.
CATHOLIC CENTRAL (15-3): Rook 3 6-10 13, Mihalyo 3 1-2 8, Krupp 0 1-2 1, Pergi 3 4-4 10, Rohde 0 0-0 0, Bradley 3 5-7 11. TOTALS: 13 17-25 43.
3-POINTERS: Oak Glen 2 (Wiley, Hissam); Catholic Central 2 (Rook, Mihalyo)