STEUBENVILLE — The Catholic Central boys’ basketball team seemed to be in control against Bellaire, but the Crusaders nearly let one slip away as the Big Reds battled back into the game.

Catholic Central built a double-digit advantage in the second quarter before Bellaire pulled to within one in the third. The Crusaders responded and extended their advantage to eight in the fourth before the Big Red closed to within three. Bellaire had a chance to pull closer or even tie, however, the Big Reds had a pair of costly turnovers and the Crusaders were able to put the game away from the free-throw line as they hung on for a 55-50 victory in the second game of the annual Watt/Nese Holiday Classic Saturday afternoon inside the Crimson Center.

“We won,” Catholic Central (4-2) head coach Don Ogden said. “A win is a win. I am happy for the team. That puts at 4-2. Sometimes as a coach, you are prouder of a team in a losing effort than you are in a winning effort. I’m not happy with how we played. I was not pleased with our style of play. We have to do better in game situations. We did not play good. Give credit to Bellaire. They played really well. They hit some shots. If they had come back to beat us, it would not have been a shock.”

The Blue-and-Gold built a 53-45 lead in the fourth. An ill-advised 3-pointer was off the mark, and the boys in black went down to the other end and capitalized with a basket to pull within 53-47. Then, an unforced error on an errant pass gave the ball back to the boys from Belmont County, and this time they hit a 3-pointer to make it 53-50.

Catholic Central then committed a turnover giving the ball back to the Big Reds with a chance to possibly tie the score with another 3, however, the boys in white rose to the challenge and forced a Bellaire turnover, and the victors hit 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to take a 54-50 lead with 14.2 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock.

Then, another turnover resulted in another trip to the line for the Crusaders, and once again they split a pair to put the game out of reach.

Catholic Central led 25-15 early in the second before Bellaire battle back, however, the visitors were unable to complete the comeback and getting as close as one point on two occasions in the third.

“That’s another area where we did not communicate,” Ogden said. “Defensively, we did not play with intensity. We’re lucky we were able to get through this. Again, we won. We’re 4-2. Sometimes, you have games like this. We were able to come out on top, and we will take it.”

Rahim Mitchell tallied a game-high 27 points to lead the way offensively for Catholic Central, Kolbe Krupp collected 12 and Michael Fabbro finished with eight.

Jace Violet recorded a team-high 20 points to lead the way for Bellaire (1-6), Brae Schmidli delivered 12 and Alex Padgett and Michael Dippel each produced seven.

Both teams scored some easy baskets in the first quarter. Bellaire struck first with a 3-pointer before the home team rattled off the next seven points. Catholic Central’s lead grew to 14-7 before Bellaire pulled to within four late in the quarter, however, a three-point play gave the victors a 22-15 lead heading into the second.

A 3-pointer gave the Crusaders their biggest lead of the game at 25-15, however, the Big Reds responded with a 3 of their own. Catholic Central led by nine late in the half before Bellaire tallied the final five points in the quarter to cut its deficit down to 33-29 at halftime.

The Big Reds continued to chip away at the Crusaders’ lead in the third, and they eventually got to within one point at 35-34, but they were never able to complete the comeback. Catholic Central went up by four before taking a 42-40 lead into the fourth.

“We had emphasized not firing up a shot the first time we got the opportunity,” Ogden said. “We wanted to work the offense and get good shots. We ran a couple offensive sets where we thought we would be able to get some scoring opportunities, and we did.”

Mitchell and Violet were named MVPs of their teams.

Catholic Central is scheduled to play River Tuesday on the road.

Bellaire is slated to play Barnesville Tuesday night on the road.

Catholic Central 55, Bellaire 50

Bellaire 15 14 11 10 – 50

Catholic Central 22 11 9 13 – 55

BELLAIRE (1-6): Padgett 3 1-4 7, Dowry 2 0-0 4, Scott 0 0-0 0, Dippel 3 0-0 7, Schmidli 4 0-0 12, Violet 9 0-0 20. TOTALS: 21 1-4 50.

CATHOLIC CENTRAL (4-2): Fabbro 3 1-2 8, Bryan 1 0-0 2, Mitchell 10 5-5 27, Cherepko 1 0-0 3, E. Krivoniak 0 1-2 1, Krupp 4 3-4 12, Hough 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 20 10-13 55.

3-POINTERS: Bellaire 7 (Schmidli 4, Violet 2, Dippel); Catholic Central 5 (Mitchell 2, Fabbro, Cherepko, Krupp)