FOR THREE — Big Red’s Bailee Beall shoots one of her four 3-pointers against East Liverpool on Monday night. - Andrew Grimm

They certainly were not looking past visiting East Liverpool despite an earlier lopsided win over the Potters, coming out focused and scoring the game’s first 36 points on the way to a 69-6 victory inside the Crimson Center. 

“We talked about it before the game, we have to make sure we bring it every night,” Forte said. “We talk about coming out every night and making sure we play Big Red basketball, and I think we did that. We played a good 32 minutes of basketball.”

An added bonus of getting up by such a margin is that every player dressed for Steubenville, now 12-1, got to see the floor. Seven different players factored into the scoring and four reached double figures. 

“It’s good anytime we can get everyone in the game,” Forte said. “We try to mix it up a little bit, not just rotate everyone out at once. These kids eventually have to play together, so we like to mix things up a little bit so they play with players they will play with next year and start to build some chemistry and get some kids some experience.”

Big Red’s Lucy Saccoccia puts up a layup against East Liverpool. - Andrew Grimm

Freshman Mikah Taylor netted a game-high 17 points, while senior Bailee Beall tallied 16 knocking down four 3s. Senior standout Nylah McShan and sophomore Lucy Saccoccia each added 11. 

Big Red led 27-0 after one and 41-2 at halftime. Big Red had a 28-4 advantage in the second half. 

“Steubenville is really good,” East Liverpool head coach Josh Reed said. “I’m disappointed in the way we came out. We’re young, but we have some senior leadership and I thought we could compete a little better than we did. 

“Steubenville has athletes and they have shooters, and they have knowledge of the game of basketball. They have all facets of the game and you couple that with their knowledge of the game, it’s a scary combination. I wish them well and hope they go far in the tournament.”

East Liverpool (5-9) got a 3 from Arie Weyand. 

Big Red’s Brynn Bowers shoots in transition after forcing a turnover. - Andrew Grimm

ATOP THE STANDINGS

The OHSAA released the first MaxPreps Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings on Monday and Big Red is sitting atop the Division III, East District rankings. 

The RPI rankings will be updated daily as final scores are entered into the MaxPreps database. The final standings will be used for the tournament seeding in February. 

“I like the way we’re playing right now,” Forte said. “I like the space we’re in at this point of the season, but we understand we have a lot of games left in the regular season, we have a lot of big games left, and the regular season is preparation for the real season — the tournament — so we’re not satisfied and we have to keep getting better.”

UP NEXT

East Liverpool: Has a big rivalry game at Beaver Local as part of a boys-girls doubleheader on Wednesday. 

“It’s a big game for us against a rival that’s more on our level,” Reed said. “It should be a good atmosphere. We’ll put this one behind us and the good thing is we don’t have to wait long to try and bounce back.”

Big Red: Is on the road Wednesday at Dover before hosting Vincent Warren on Friday night. 

Big Red 69, East Liverpool 6

EL 0-2-0-4 — 6 

BR 27-14-17-11 — 69

EAST LIVERPOOL (5-9): Jones 0 0-0 0; Andrews 0 1-2 1; Barker 0 0-0 0; Copeland 0 0-0 0; O’Rourke 1 0-2 2; Lyle 0 0-0 0; Weyand 1 0-0 3; Dobbins 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 2, 1-4; 6. 

BIG RED (12-1): Saccoccia 5 0-0 11; Fleming 1 5-5 7; Taylor 7 3-3 17; McShan 3 5-7 11; Beall 4 4-4 16; Bowers 0 0-0 0; Lewis 0 0-0 0; Thompson 2 0-0 4; Younce 0 0-0 0; Scurry 1 0-0 3; Green 0 0-2 0; Montgomery 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23, 17-21; 69. 

3-POINTERS: East Liverpool 1 (Weyand); Big Red 6 (Beall 4, Saccoccia, Scurry).