STEUBENVILLE — The Harrison Central boys basketball team ran out to an early lead against Catholic Central before the Crusaders stormed back in the second half.

The Huskies led by 14 points at halftime, however, the Blue-and-Gold closed to within three points with under three minutes left to play. The hosts were unable to draw any closer, however, as the visitors hit a basket and drained a pair of foul shot and Harrison Central held on for a 45-38 victory Tuesday night inside the Mickey Barber Gymnasium.

“We came out with a lot of intensity, energy and aggressiveness,” Harrison Central (3-5) head coach Nick Yourkovich said. “We told them at halftime that the first three minutes of the second half were going to be huge. We wanted to continue to play the way we did in the first half, but we came out and we had turnovers on three-straight possessions before I called a timeout. Our start to the second half was absolutely terrible. We have had a couple of games now where we have bad starts to the second half, and that is on me. I have to do a better job of us getting ready to play the second half.”

The Crusaders battled back in the third as they outscored the visitors, 12-3, to pull within 34-29 entering the fourth. The boys in white closed to within three points at 41-38, however, they were unable to convert on the offensive end the rest of the away allowing the visitors from Harrison County to pullout the victory.

“Our guys battled back,” Catholic Central (4-4) head coach Don Ogden said. “I told the guys at the beginning of the game that we have been struggling with intensity and effort. I told the guys that if we play with intensity and give a good effort, we will live with the outcome tonight. Losing hurts, but we will live with the outcome. You hate to lose, but the effort was there. If a couple more of those shots would have fallen, I would be in a better mood and there could have been a different outcome. The kids played hard, and that is something we can build on going forward.”

Trailing by three, the home team called a timeout with 1:54 remaining on the clock. Catholic Central set up a play, but the Crusaders were unable to make the shot and the Huskies grabbed the rebound. Harrison Central was unable to convert on the other end, and the hosts got the ball back, only to misfire once again. This time, the victors were able to convert on the other end as they scored with about 52 seconds left to go up, 43-38.

Catholic Central missed another shot, but the Crusaders were able to gather in the loose ball and call a timeout before a jump ball could be called. The Crusaders inbounded the ball with 36.7 still showing on the scoreboard clock, however, the iron proved to be unkind once again, and the Huskies hit a pair of free throws with 29 seconds left to seal the deal.

“We got back to playing our brand of defense,” Yourkovich said. “Mitchell is a heck of a player. He went on a run there by himself. He got the crowd fired up. I thought Jacob Quito and Chaz Culbertson did a heck of a job on him. He got 21, but he only had one or two easy ones. We shored up the rebounds. We had a height advantage, and we were able to exploit that. We were bigger than them, and we wanted to hit the boards hard.”

The victors tallied 31 points in the first half, but they were limited to just 14 in the second half with four of those points coming with less than a minute to play.

“Offensively, we told the guys to move the ball and not to settle for one pass and then taking a shot,” Ogden said. “We ran a few sets where we wanted to isolate Rahim, and he was able to come through. Some other guys stepped up and hit shots, too. They stepped up. We’re not a one-man team. Defensively, we got some key stops. Unfortunately, we just ran out of time at the end.”

The boys in blue built a 17-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Huskies hit five 3-pointers in the quarter enabling them to build that lead. The Huskies extended their advantage to 31-17 at halftime.

Bryson Kamarec recorded a team-high 21 points to lead the way offensively for Harrison Central, while Brady Hyre tallied 10.

“This courter is shorter, and it is a smaller court,” Yourkovich said. “We wanted to push the ball and not allow them to set up their defense. There’s less space here. When you have a player like Bryson, you know he is going to be the focal point. We wanted to get out in transition. We wanted to get some easy ones. We wanted to get the ball up the floor. We wanted to get some open looks. We had some guys hit shots, and they were able to build their confidence.”

Rahim Mitchell collected a team-high 21 points to lead the way for the Crusaders, while Kolbe Krupp produced nine.

“We watched a couple of films on them,” Yourkovich said. “We knew what defense we were going to run into. In the third quarter, they brought the intensity. They made a run on us. That is what good teams do. They are a good team. They are not going to give up. They are going to play hard until the very end.

“It is good to be on the right side of one of these. There has been four games where we have had the lead, or it has been a one-possession game with three or four minutes left and we have not been able to pull it out. It is nice to be able to win a close one.”

The Crusaders battled down to the final whistle, but they just could not get a shot to drop as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

“I remember him from when he was a girls’ coach, and I was still coaching girls,” Ogden said about Yourkovich. “He’s a good coach. We were able to scout them. He has got a nice team. Their record does not indicate that, but he has a nice team. They are talented. They had a height advantage in the game, and that played a role.”

Catholic Central is scheduled to play River Friday night at home. The JV game is set to start at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity game to follow at about 7 p.m.

“We play them here,” Ogden said. “We just played them, and they beat us by 38. We get to play them at home. We want to play with the same effort we played with tonight. If we do that, we’ll see what happens.”

Harrison Central is slated to play Brooke Saturday at home. The JV game will start at 4:30 p.m. with the varsity game to follow around 6 p.m.

Harrison Central 45, Catholic Central 38

Harrison Central 17 14 3 11 – 45

Catholic Central 8 9 12 9 – 38

HARRISON CENTRAL (3-5): Smith 1 0 0-0 2, Thompson 2 0-0 6, Culbertson 1 0-0 2, Kamarec 7 3-3 21, Quito 1 1-2 4, Hyre 5 0-0 10, Crothers 0 0-0 0, Dulkoski 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 4-5 45.

CATHOLIC CENTRAL (4-4): Fabbro 1 0-2 2, Bryan 0 0-0 0, Mitchell 8 4-6 21, Cherepko 2 0-0 4, E. Krivoniak 0 0-0 0, Krupp 4 0-0 9, Hough 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 16 4-8 38.

3-POINTERS: Harrison Central 5 (Thompson 2, Kamarec 2, Quito); Catholic Central 2 (Mitchell, Krupp)