FOR THREE — Harrison Central’s Bryson Kamarec shoots a 3 against Martins Ferry Tuesday. – Nick Henthorn
MARTINS FERRY — The Purple Riders went wire-to-wire on their home floor Tuesday, dispatching the Harrison Central Huskies 62-41 on the eve of OVAC tournament play.
“Coming into this game we talked about limiting second chances and limiting turnovers,” Harrison Central head coach Aaron Foldi said. “Those things hurt us as the game went on. Second chances became huge for them. At one point we were down six, then there was an eight-point swing off of those second chance opportunities.
“We’ve got to work on the little things and get better as this season goes on. I think we’ve made a jump this past week — I know tonight it didn’t show — but it’s the right time. Hopefully we get a couple more wins before sectional play and go from there.”
Martins Ferry held the advantage in the turnover differential, 15-10, and the rebounding battle, 28-20.
Martins Ferry was led by senior Alex Reese, who finished with 21 points, five blocks and 12 rebounds. Reese scored 14 in the second half, leaving much of the early scoring to Elijah Smith, who scored nine points in the opening quarter on his was to finishing with 18 points.
Brady Elliott led Harrison Central with 16 points and six rebounds. Bryson Kamarec followed with 11 points.
The first half was low-scoring for both sides, Martins Ferry leading 16-8 going into the second period, where the lead remained around 10 points throughout, with a 26-17 Riders advantage going into the half.
“They force you to execute in the halfcourt, especially early on, so we had to grind offensively,” Martins Ferry head coach Derek Edwards said of Harrison Central. “I thought we were able to be efficient from the field, I think we were about 55% from two, which is always a good thing. They tried to make us settle, we know teams are going to do that, take away Reese inside, and I think our other guys did a good job of handling that.”
While the Huskies’ defense were able to hamper Martins Ferry in the first half, the Purple Riders burst out in the second half, their offensive rejuvenation fueled by Reese’s inside scoring and plenty of extra opportunities afforded them by their own defensive effort.
“We generated some turnovers, it started with that,” Edwards said of his team’s big third quarter. “It wasn’t perfect, but honestly our defense was the answer all night. I thought for the entire game our defense was pretty darn good, and defense will carry a long way. That’s why we focus so much on it.”
Martins Ferry led 47-31 going into the fourth quarter.
The Purple Riders have an OVAC tournament appearance in their near future, having clinched the fourth and final 3A semifinal spot heading into Tuesday’s game. They are poised to face top-seeded Monroe Central.
Harrison Central will look towards a conference matchup next week in the field of consolation games.
Martins Ferry 62, Harrison Central 41
HARRISON CENTRAL – Tanner 1 0-0 2; Kamarec 4 0-0 11; Elliott 5 4-5 16; Hyre 1 2-2 4; Keener 1 0-2 2; Dulkoski 1 0-0 2; Arbaugh 2 0-0 4; Totals 15 6-9 41. MARTINS FERRY – Little 1 4-4 6; Barnett 1 2-2 4; Reese 6 9-12 21; Smith 8 1-1 18; Thompson 1 1-2 3; Cox 1 0-1 2; Williams 2 1-2 7; Totals 19 16-24 62.
Three-point goals: Harrison Central 5 (Kamarec 3, Elliott 2). Martins Ferry 3 (Williams 2, Smith).
