ELIZABETH - St. Marys shot 62.5 percent from the field and had three players post double-doubles here Thursday evening as the visiting Blue Devils singed Wirt County, 106-40.
Andrew Cosper finished with game-highs of 10 assists and five steals while tossing in all 21 of his points in the first half of action for St. Marys, which travels Saturday to Madonna.
While the Tigers never had the lead and watched their shots go from hardly falling to barely going through the cylinder, the Blue Devils made easy baskets in transition against the orange and black pressure all night.
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Photo by?Jay W. Bennett
Wirt County’s Kalob Bell (5) and Austin McVey try to slow down Andrew Cosper of St. Marys on Thursday night during the Blue Devils’ 106-40 road win.
Austin Bayless, who had 18 points and 10 boards, gave the visitors the lead for good on an easy deuce just 12 seconds into the game. It was 4-0 two dozen seconds later when Jordan Whitehair scored on a driving lay-in and the Blue Devils never looked back.
Wirt County shot less than 23 percent from the floor, but received a game-high 22 points from Kalob Bell.
The Blue Devils had a pair of three-point plays in the opening stanza thanks to Cosper and sophomore pivot Connor Lancaster, who posted 21 points and grabbed a game-high 15 caroms. Even though the Tigers got a putback hoop from Dylan Frazier with seven ticks left in the first quarter, the hosts still trailed 27-14.
Wirt County (1-2) failed to get any closer the rest of the way. The last time the deficit was at a baker's dozen came at 30-17 with 6:56 left in the second when Austin McVey drained one of the Tigers' two made 3-pointers. The orange and black missed 33 of 35 from downtown and that included the last 25 in a row, 23 of which came after intermission.
The visitors held a commanding 60-25 halftime cushion after scoring 33 points in the second quarter. At one point in the stanza, Cosper scored three buckets in a span of 30 seconds when he had three straight steals, two lay-ins and a putback of his own miss.
Colby Brode chipped in 13 points and recorded four steals for the victors, who outscored the Tigers 46-15 after the break. Jessy Moore tallied 15 markers off the bench for St. Marys, which hit the century mark when Adam Bills swished in a 12-foot baseline jumper with 3:27 to play.
Freshman Luke Smith, playing in his sixth overall quarter of action, scored his first varsity points on a jumper at 6:04 of the fourth for the Tigers, who play host to Ritchie County on Saturday.
