ST. MARYS - Andrew Cosper had assists on the first three buckets of the game to help host St. Marys jump out to a quick 6-0 lead and the Blue Devils never looked back here Thursday night during a 67-55 Little Kanawha Conference North Division triumph versus Williamstown.
Gage Wix led all point-producers with 19 and teammate Josh DeBolt added a dozen more to go along with a game-high 12 caroms, but it wasn't nearly enough as the Yellowjackets dropped to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the LKC North.
Williamstown head coach Scott Sauro's club, which returns to action next Thursday versus Buffalo at the Wirt County Holiday Tournament, hurt itself time and again in the turnover department. Not only did the 'Jackets have 25 of them, nearly half of which were steals by St. Marys, but the Blue Devils also won the battle on the boards and picked up 21 of those on the offensive glass.
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Photo by Jay W. Bennett
Williamstown’s Dakota Watson sets up the offense Thursday night as St. Marys’ Colby Brode defends. The Blue Devils won, 67-55.
Cosper finished with nine points, a game-high six assists and joined teammate Dylan Hupp with three steals, but the senior point guard picked up his second foul with 3:43 left in the opening stanza and St. Marys head man Mark Barnhart let him sit the rest of the half.
Austin Bayless' deuce, part of his 14-point effort, just 58 seconds into the game actually put the Blue Devils ahead for good. Connor Lancaster followed with a lay-in and when Cosper found Jordan Whitehair open for a 13-foot jumper, coach Sauro asked for a timeout as the 'Jackets trailed 6-0 with 6:18 left in the first.
Whitehair, who had a team-high 10 boards, went on to score eight of his 11 points in the first as St. Marys (4-0, 2-0) ran out to a 20-11 cushion.
Hupp's 18-foot jumper via a Colby Brode assist allowed the hosts to double up the 'Jackets at 26-13 with 5:43 left before halftime.
Despite an easy lay-in by Wix from a Dakota Watson dish with 1:11 to go before the break, neither team scored again and WHS trailed 33-19.
Williamstown had four turnovers in the first 1:48 of the second half as St. Marys started to take complete control. Jessy Moore, who came off the Blue Devil bench to net 14 points, made it 42-24 after a bucket at 4:26 of the third.
Chandler Weber, who hit a trio of 3s, knocked one down to later close the gap to 44-31, but the visitors still trailed 46-33 entering the fourth.
St. Marys, which hits the hardwood again next Friday at Parkersburg Catholic, never let its advantage slip into single digits in the final eight minutes. Lancaster finished with eight points and as many caroms. Jarric Hoskins added eight markers in the setback.
