Madonna beats Central
STEUBENVILLE - The Madonna girls basketball team opened an early lead and increased it every quarter for a 47-29 victory over winless Steubenville Catholic Central Thursday night.
Senior point guard Isabella Anile led the way for the Lady Blue Dons, who won their seventh game in nine starts, scoring a game high 19 points, 11 of them in the first half.
Despite the 18-point victory, Madonna coach Don Ogden wasn't pleased with the intensity of his team.
"We came out on the winning end, but I thought this was a game of intensity," he said. "They had all the intensity and we didn't have very much. It showed out on the court. We got out-hustled in the first half, they got most of the loose balls and we were getting beat off the boards.
"We weren't doing the little things that we had done so well throughout the year. So I give credit to coach (Tom) Winland. He had his girls mentally and emotionally prepared and I didn't."
Even so, the Lady Crusaders, who have lost all nine of their games thus far, couldn't put the ball in the basket. They were behind by 14 at the half with Madonna holding a 23-9 lead.
Winland's club improved in the third quarter, which is the only period in which they scored in double figures. They had 12 points while the Blue Dons topped that with 13 in the period.
"We hung around for a while, but Weirton Madonna is a great team and Don Ogden does a great job with those girls," Winland exclaimed. "I think they physically got to us. I think we just had a bad night tonight, but you have to credit Madonna for that."
The Crusaders pulled to within two points when Megan Blackburn and Rachel Rigaud hit back-to-back shots, but those were the only points Central could score in the first period.
Suddenly, the score went from a 6-4 Madonna lead to 18-4 and the Lady Blue Dons were able to coast the rest of the way.
Junior Tori Knight led the Lady Crusader scoring with 11 points. Micca Mirabella followed with seven, six of them in the thi! rd perio d.
"I believe Tori has a bright future ahead," Winland said. "She's works hard on her shooting every night in practice and she's just a junior. So is Rigaud, and Mirabella is just a sophomore. These younger players are only going to get better from playing games. like this. That's the beauty of being young. They are going to learn from these games and get better."
Senior Sara Lyons was the only other Blue Don in double figures. She scored 10 points and she pulled down eight rebounds, the same number as Rigaud. Senior Lisa Parkins tossed in eight points including Madonna's only three-pointer.
Central beat the Blue Dons off the backboards, pulling down 35 rebounds to 32 for the Dons. Madonna made 17 of 61 field goal attempts while the Lady Crusaders made 11 of 58 from the floor.
Both teams return to the hardwood Saturday. Catholic Central visits Connotton Valley for an afternoon game, the junior varsity game tipping off at 1 p.m., while the Blue Dons travel to Oak Glen to play at 6 p.m. in a varsity double header with the Madonna boys playing Oak Glen in the late game.
Madonna 47, Catholic Central 29
Madonna 14 9 13 11 - 47
Catholic Central 4 5 12 8 - 29
MADONNA: Parkins 3 1-2 8, Conner 1 0-5 2, Mazur 0 2-4 2, Sellitti 1 2-4 4, Davis 1 0-0 2, Anile 7 5-6 19, R. Grubbs 0 0-0 0, Lyons 4 2-2 10. Totals: 17 12-23 47. 3-pointers: Parkins; Rebounds: 32 (Lyons, 8, Anile 7); Turnovers: 13.
CATHOLIC CENTRAL: Blackburn 1 2-6 4, Knight 5 0-2 11, Mirabella 3 1-2 7, Irving 1 0-3 2, Rigaud 1 0-2 2, Bednar 0 1-2 1, Daley 0 2-2 2. Totals: 11 6-19 29. 3-pointers: Knight; Rebounds: 35 (Rigaud, 8, Irving, 7); Turnovers: 16.