Big Red’s Santino Haney works to the basket past Dover defenders. - Andrew Grimm

Big Red trailed by six at the end of the first quarter before ripping off one of their patented runs to break the game open en route to a 62-47 victory Tuesday night inside the Crimson Center.

“We were a little sluggish defensively in the first quarter,” Big Red (15-1) head coach Mike Haney said. “They are really good. They run a lot of offensive sets. They run a lot of backdoors. We talked about not getting backdoored, and we got backdoored twice in the first quarter. We were out of sync, but then we got our rotations down in the second quarter and we played better team defense.”

Dover (11-7) came out strong on the offensive end as the Crimson Tornadoes built an 18-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“We were down six in the first quarter, and then we came out and used a little bit of pressure. We were able to force some turnovers, and we were able to get some layups. We were able to gain the momentum. We were able to turn the tide.”

Big Red’s Braidyn Edwards pulls up to shoot. - Andrew Grimm

After struggling on the defensive end in the first, Big Red came out strong to the second as Steubenville collected the first eight points of the quarter to regain the lead at 20-18. A layup at the buzzer gave the hosts a 27-23 heading into the locker room at halftime.

A 3-pointer by santino Haney gave Big Red a 37-27 lead with a little less than five minutes left to play in the third. Then, a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Cole Bowers gave the boys in white a 46-39 lead entering the fourth.

The hosts outscored the visitors from Tuscarawas County, 16-8, on their way to their 10th straight victory.

“After the first quarter, we pretty much shut down the backdoors,” Coach Haney said. “Robbie Copple — No. 5 — in the third and fourth quarters had a couple straight line layups that we weren’t wild about. They are a good team. They work the ball. They find shots. They set screens. They always do a good job.”

Big Red led by as many as 17 in the fourth.

ON THE MOVE — Big Red’s Tre’von Wiggins drives to the paint against Dover on Tuesday night inside the Crimson Center. - Andrew Grimm

“In the first quarter, I don’t think we ran our offense well,” Coach Haney said. “It was one pass and then a shot. We never made them play defense. Everything was just one pass and then a quick shot. Then, we were able to get up-and-down the floor. We started to hit shots, and then we started to hit shots from farther out.”

Santino Haney netted a team-high 22 points to lead the way offensively for Big Red, Bowers recorded 18 and Tre’Von Wiggins ended up with nine. Bowers delivered five 3-pointers in the win, while Haney nailed two from long distance.

Copple produced a team-high 18 points for the visitors, while Dieter Weber tallied 10.

Big Red is scheduled to play East Liverpool Friday night at home on senior night. Big Red opened the season with a 99-68 victory against the Potters Dec. 5 up at Potter Fieldhouse.

“I don’t watch film until we have to play teams,” coach Haney said. “I will watch film on them tomorrow. From watching their scores, they can score a lot of points. Their young guys are not young anymore. They have played a bunch of games. We are going to have to be ready. They like to get up-and-down the floor like we do. We are going to have to take care of the basketball.”

Dover is slated to play Mansfield Senior Friday night at home.

Big Red 62, Dover 47

Dover 18 5 16 8 – 47

Big Red 12 15 19 16 – 62

DOVER (11-7): Weber 4 1-4 10, Leggett 1 2-2 5, Dailey 2 2-2 6, Copple 8 1-3 18, Statler 0 0-0 0, Clark 0 0-0 0, Van Horn 3 0-0 6, Connare 1 0-0 2, Nauer 0 0-0 0, Durant 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19 6-11 47.

BIG RED (15-1): Wiggins 3 3-4 9, Haney 8 4-5 22, Moore 0 4-6 4, Edwards 1 0-0 2, Bowers 5 3-4 18, Adams 0 0-0 0, Rea 1 5-6 7. TOTALS: 18 19-25 62.

3-POINTERS: Dover 3 (Weber, Leggett, Copple); Big Red 7 (Bowers 5, Haney 2)