ELLENBORO - It was the worst of times, and it was the best of times for unbeaten and No. 1 St. Marys as it took on a host Ritchie County squad looking to get back into the race for the Little Kanawha Conference's North Division title.
The Blue Devils, now 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the LKC North, shot a miserable 1-for-18 in the second quarter to allow the Rebels (5-6, 3-3 LKC North) to knot the game up at 19 at the intermission. However, Andrew Cosper made sure the hosts would not pull off the upset as the St. Marys guard went 3-for-3 from the 3-point line in the third quarter as the Devils pulled out a 59-41 victory.
Garrett Wichterman, who finished with 12 points and three steals, got things rolling with a steal for a layup just 38 seconds into the second half. Cosper's first triple of the night, 36 seconds later staked the visitors to a 24-19 lead and they never looked back.
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Photo by Jim Butta
Ritchie County’s Ryder Bolin (12) looks to get past the pressure applied by St. Marys’ Garrett Wichterman during Monday’s Little Kanawha Conference North Division showdown. The Blue Devils placed three players in double figures to hand the Rebels a 59-41 defeat.
Senior Ryder Bolin scored five of his 10 points in the third quarter to help keep the game close, 41-30, heading into the final eight minutes of action. But, St. Marys which travels to Doddridge County on Wednesday to take on the Bulldogs in a makeup game, connected on 7-of-9 free throws in the fourth quarter to keep the Rebels at bay and keep its record unblemished.
St. Marys opened the contest with an 8-0 run as senior K.D. Arnett connected on 4-of-6 free throw opportunities while Derek Renner and Cosper added buckets. Ritchie County finally lit up the scoreboard at the 2:56 mark when Paige Haught took a pass from Bolin to score an easy layup.
The Rebels would claw back into the game on five straight points from Burgess and trailed by only five, 12-7, with 53 seconds left in the frame. But, a triple by Renner, who finished with nine points, just before the horn to end the first quarter, gave the visitors a 15-7 lead.
Those would also be the only points scored by the Blue Devils until a rebound bucket by Wichterman with 2:40 left until the intermission. The drought allowed the Rebels to pull back to within one, 15-14, on buckets by Bobby Michels, Burgess and Haught.
Two more free throws by Arnett, who finished with 15 points, pushed the St. Marys lead to five, 19-14, with 2:27 showing on the clock. But, Burgess answered with a layup at the 1:07 mark and sent the crowd to its feet with a game-tying triple with 28 seconds left before halftime.
Ritchie County will look to get back on the winning track on Thursday when it plays host to Parkersburg Catholic.
