STEUBENVILLE — The Steubenville Catholic Central girls’ basketball led from start to finish against East Palestine.

The Crusaders recorded the first seven points and did not look back en route to a 51-22 victory against the Bulldogs in a varsity only game Monday night inside the Mickey Barber Gymnasium.

“We had a lot of jitters today,” Catholic Central (1-0) head coach Rocky Bragg said. “It was the season opener. It is a brand new season. The girls were excited. They wanted to contribute right out the gate. I think that caused us to take some shots we wouldn’t normally take instead of working the ball around. I’m happy with the win.

“We were able to take advantage in transition. Our shots from the floor were not falling right out of the gate. We wanted to get some turnovers to lead to some layups. We were able to do that. We were able to get into a groove. We were able to carry that on through the next quarters.”

The Bulldogs faced an uphill climb from the outset as East Palestine trailed by double digits at the end of the first quarter.

“I give them a lot of credit,” East Palestine (0-1) head coach Rick Gates said. “They have some very athletic girls. They are hard to handle. They have length. They have great guards. They are good inside. I think they are a really-good team.”

The Crusders led 16-4 at the end of the first, and the girls from Jefferson County extended their advantage to 33-13 at halftime.

“I think once we start to play more we will do a better job of doing what we do,” Bragg said. “I think we were turned up too high. We had too many fouls. We got into foul trouble early in the game. We were guarding them to close. We were not moving our feet, and we were creating contact. We just have to fine tune some things. We will be OK.

“I’m real proud of the girls. This was our first game, and we got off to a good start. Everyone on the bench got into the game. They got some good minutes. We got a chance to see where we are at and what we need to work on.”

The girls in white extended their advantage to 45-16 at the end of the third. Both teams scored six points in the fourth to account for the final score.

“We knew a little about them from playing them last year,” Gates said. “Basically, we knew what defense they like to play. We knew who their best player is. We knew who their shooters are. We knew quite a bit about them.

“We had a lot of younger girls on the floor. We couldn’t match up with them. We had a couple of freshmen out there playing a lot, and we had a couple of sophomores playing a lot out there. We have a lot of inexperience. We have a couple of juniors, and we have one senior. I just think they are an outstanding group.”

The Crusaders defeated the Bulldogs, 45-13, Jan. 18 at home.

“We knew they were gritty,” Bragg said. “We knew they were scrappy. They were scrappy last year. They have a lot of juniors. Their junior high program is getting better. They are going to start getting better numbers. They work hard. Their coach had them ready go at the start of the game.”

Mary Rhode delivered a game-high 20 points to lead the way offensively for the victors, while Aurie Hoover contributed nine.

“Our girls worked hard,” Bragg said. “We gave Kenadie Balabin a chance to start on the inside. We gave Mary Fink a chance to start at guard. They are both seniors. They both waited a long time for this opportunity. They worked hard. They had a nice preseason. It was nice that they had this opportunity. It was nice Mary Fink was able to hit that 3.

“Shya Garcia is going to get more minutes. We are going to rely on Mara Delaney, Aurie Hoover and Mary Rhode. Mary Rhode is a big presence in the post. She was able to get open for some easy buckets. She scored 20 points tonight. She worked hard.”

Alivia Magness collected a team-high nine points to lead the way for the Bulldogs, while Violet Glavan ended up with six.

“The biggest thing for us is we have to take care of the ball better,” Gates said. “We have to handle the ball better. I think we were in the upper 30s in terms of turnovers. We have to take better care of the ball if we want to compete.”

East Palestine is scheduled to play Alliance at noon Saturday on the road.

“It is another non-league game,” Gates said. “It is going to be a good experience for us. We are going to playing against a bigger school. We are looking forward to the challenge.”

Catholic Central is slated to play Claymont Monday night on the road. The JV game is set to start at 6 with the varsity game to follow.

“We have three road games in a row,” Bragg said. “We play Claymont, then Tusky Catholic and then Oak Glen.”

EP: 4-9-3-6–22

SCC: 16-17-12-6 — 51

EAST PALESTINE SCORING: Jacklyn Ogle 0 1-4 1, Alexis Ogle 0 0-0 0, Sydney Jurjavic 0 0-2 0, Violet Glavan 2 2-4 6, Bella Wendell 0 0-0 0, Amara Wilson 1 0-0 2, Destiney Burtyk 0 2-2 2, Marley Blythe 0 0-2 0, Alivia Magness 4 2-3 11. TOTALS: 7 5-17 22.

CATHOLIC CENTRAL SCORING: Lathem 0 0-0 0, Hoover 3 1-2 9, Dankert 2 0-0 5, Fink 2 0-0 5, Delaney 3 0-2 6, Wise 1 0-0 2, Balabin 1 0-2 2, Bolster 0 1-2 1, Rohde 10 0-0 20, Garcia 0 0-0 0, Brem 0 0-0 0, Rigaud 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 23 2-8 51.

Three-point goals: East Palestine 1 (Magness); Catholic Central 3 (Hoover 2, Dankert)