STEUBENVILLE — The Catholic Central girls’ basketball team shook off a lackluster first half against Weir, as the Crusaders pulled away in the second half.

The 3-pointer is one of the Crusaders’ main weapons in their arsenal, and the Blue-and-Gold launched a long-distance barrage against the Red Riders in the second half as Catholic Central drained six 3s after halftime en route to a 59-38 victory Monday night inside the Mickey Barber Gymnasium.

“It was one of those things where in the first half we did a lot of watching,” Catholic Central (6-6) head coach Rocky Bragg said. “We had to refocus and do what is important. We had to match the intensity of the other team. Coach Stead is a fantastic coach. He has been doing this for a long time. You know they are going to play you tough. You know they are not going to quit. They are going to do runouts, and you have to match them. We were lackadaisical in the first half.

“At halftime, I had to get their attention. We talked about what we had to do to win the game in the second half. The girls came out, and they executed. They thought about our gameplan. They thought about matching their intensity. They came out and executed well. I’m really proud of them for that.”

Leading by just five points at halftime, the victors recorded four 3-pointers in the third as the girls in white tallied an 18-2 run to start the quarter enabling them to build a 38-17 advantage.

“We got stuck,” Weir (1-9) head coach Rick Stead said. “They played 13 chase Jeter. That disrupted our offense. We had to have different players step up. You can’t give up three 3-pointers like that early in the half. The five-point lead went up to 15 points, and we had to play from behind.

“We gave a great effort. That was our best effort in a while. That was the first time we have had everyone available. We have had girls miss time due to injuries, sickness and going on vacations. That is the best game we have played since North Marion which was our second game of the season. We just haven’t had everybody here.

“The effort was good. We have to continue to get better. I keep telling them about the little things. We have to have better passes. We don’t always throw strong passes. Sometimes, we throw floaters. We had our backs to the basket. We missed seven or eight layups early in the game. It is going to come. It just takes time.

“You cannot teach effort. We are going to continue to work and continue to get better. The idea is it isn’t how you start but how you finish.

“Rocky did a great job with his defensive scheme. We have young kids, and it is hard to throw things at them. They went with 13 chase, and we needed to have other girls step up. We had to try and force them out of their box-and-1.”

The girls from Jefferson County led 20-15 at halftime, but they erupted for 20 points in the third thanks to hitting four 3-pointers – three by Mara Delaney to break the game open. Delaney delivered a game-high 24 points to lead the way offensively for Catholic Central as the sharpshooter finished the game with six 3-pointers.

Shya Garcia also drained a shot from long distance in the third as the hosts built a 21-point advantage. The girls in red beat the buzzer with a bucket to pull within 40-26 entering the fourth.

“We ran a diamond-and-1 on Jeter,” Bragg said. “Jeter is a heck of a player. She’s only freshman. She’s going to be really good. She’s young, and she is going to see a lot of box-and-1s and diamond-and-1s. We didn’t want to let her touch the ball. You could see the effort. They got frustrated. They were a little frustrated. That led to some chippyness, but it is all good. That’s basketball.”

The Red Riders were called for two intentional fouls in the fourth.

The home team led by as many as 25 points in the fourth as Aurie Hoover and Delaney each found the distance from beyond the arc in the stanza.

“I have known Rocky for a long time,” Stead said. “We’re victims of the remnants of our triple-A schedule. I am going to try and scheduled some more local teams. We’re still playing a triple-A schedule. We have dropped down to double-A, but we still play teams like John Marshall and East Fairmont. I am going to make adjustments to our schedule.

“It’s not how you play at the beginning of the year, it’s how you are playing at the end of the year. You see things in these tight and close ballgames. The score wasn’t close, but the effort was there. It felt like it was close.”

Mary Rhode recorded 15 points to help lead the way for the Crusaders, while Hoover contributed 11 points. Catholic Central got out of sorts at times offensively in the second half as the team played too fast forcing up some contested shots.

“That is one thing we need to work on,” Bragg said. “When teams force us to play fast, we rush instead of slowing things down and keeping our cool and dictating things to them. They catch us off guard. It’s happened before. When teams make us play fast, we need to slow down instead of speeding up.”

Ryann Jeter recorded a team-high 12 points to lead the way offensively for the girls from Hancock County, while Lili Ascencio tallied 10.

Catholic Central got off to a fast start as it built a 13-3 lead at the end of the first. Weir rallied as the Red Riders outscored the Crusaders, 12-7, in the second to pull within five points heading into the locker room at halftime. The visitors had an opportunity to trim their deficit to three, however, a layup attempted rimmed out at the buzzer.

“I have known Rick for a long time,” Bragg said. “We used to play basketball against each other at Marland Heights in the mid-80s. We have played against each other. We have coached against each other. I coached against him when I was at Madonna. He’s a great friend. We are both involved in city politics in Weirton. He’s a great friend. He does a lot for the community. He does a lot for the girls. Weirton is lucky to have him.”

Catholic Central is scheduled to play Oak Glen Thursday at home. The JV game is set to start at 6 p.m. with the varsity game to follow at around 7:30 p.m. The Golden Bears defeated the Crusaders, 72-47, Dec. 8 at home.

Weir is slated to play Martins Ferry Saturday afternoon on Ron “Fritz” Williams Court inside the Carl Hamill Fieldhouse. The two-quarter JV game is set to start at noon with the varsity game to follow.

Catholic Central 59, Weir 38

Weir 3 12 11 12 – 38

Catholic Central 13 7 20 12 – 59

WEIR (1-9): Ascencio 3 4-5 10, Cooley 2 0-0 4, Jones 0 0-0 0, M. White 2 0-0 4, A. White 0 0-0 0, Webber 1 0-2 2, Siegel 3 0-0 6, Jeter 3 5-6 12. TOTALS: 14 9-13 38.

CATHOLIC CENTRAL (6-6): Lathem 0 0-2 0, Hoover 5 0-2 11, Fink 1 0-0 2, Krivoniak 0 0-0 0, Delaney 8 2-4 24, Wise 0 0-0 0, Balabin 0 2-2 2, Bolster 0 0-0 0, Rohde 5 5-8 15, Garcia 1 2-2 5, Rigaud 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20 11-20 59.

3-POINTERS: Weir 1 (Jeter); Catholic Central 8 (Delaney 6, Hoover, Garcia)