Ed Looman CELEBRATING A MILESTONE — Big Red coach Mike Haney recorded his 200th coaching win Tuesday as his club topped Marietta 60-54. Celebrating the milestone with Haney were, from the left, Phil Casinelli, Jeff Lombardo, senior Inky Jones, Haney’s son Santino and Anthony Saccoccia. Casinelli, Lombardo and Saccoccia work as assistant coaches on Haney’s staff.
STEUBENVILLE — Inky Jones and Mike Haney both had nights to remember Tuesday inside the Crimson Center.
Jones, the lone senior on the Steubenville basketball roster, recorded a double-double (16 points and 18 rebounds) as Big Red celebrated senior night with a 60-54 victory over Marietta in OVAC consolation pool play.
The win was No. 200 for Haney, the veteran coach who is in his 14th season at the Big Red helm.
He is now tied with the legendary Charles “Punque” Cartledge as the second winningest coach in program history. Charlie Watt collected 309 victories when he guided the Big Red from 1967 until 1990.
Marietta, which made the long trip from Washington County, gave Big Red all it could handle for most of the game. A hoop by Elyjah Lieras-Kelley put the Tigers up 50-48 midway through the fourth quarter. Jones tied things with a deuce from the paint then put his team ahead to stay when he tipped in a Kyjhaun Hopkins miss.
Phaeton Hill followed with a bucket and Big Red held on down the stretch thanks to free throw makes by Hill and Ty Pierce.
“That definitely was a very good basketball game,” Haney said. “I have a lot of respect for Marietta. Coach (J.D.) Secrest does a good job with his team. I scouted them at St. Clairsville and they played St. C tough. We knew Marietta was scrappy and would get after it. They have played a really tough schedule.
“We knew what we were getting in to tonight. We told our guys no matter what the score was early, Marietta was going to fight until the end and that’s exactly what happened. We knocked down some foul shots at the end and that definitely helped us.”
Big Red held a 13-8 lead late in the first quarter following an Ivan Buggs basket. Tyler Kytta drained a triple for the Tigers. Keith Lewis answered making it 15-11. Hoops by Alex Kendall and Kytta tied things at 15. Jones and Lieras-Kelley closed the opening eight minutes with two-pointers.
A Lewis triple capped a 7-0 Big Red in the second, putting the hosts ahead 27-21. Marietta, however, closed with a 9-0 scoring spurt of its own and was up 30-27 at the break. Long distance makes by Isaac Koast and Jaydon Evans sparked the Tiger surge.
Kytta opened the third with a hoop then Big Red ran off nine in a row. Seven of those nine points came from Ty Pierce. Haney’s club was up 46-44 heading into the final eight minutes.
Jones, who brought the fans to their feet twice with monster two-hand jams, led the winners in scoring. Hill and Pierce each finished with 12 points. The Big Red, now 10-9, outrebounded Marietta 33-25.
“Congratulations to Inky, our only senior, on his performance tonight,” Haney said. “He has stayed with us and worked extremely hard for four years. He’s been averaging a double-double all season.
“He’s now a preferred walk-on at Ohio State and he could easily have walked away from basketball to concentrate on football and not get injured. Instead, he just keeps working. He’s here before practice every day — shooting and working on his game.”
Marietta’s Kytta took game-scoring honors with 19. Koast finished with 10. Lieras-Kelley added eight points and snared a team leading seven rebounds. The loss dropped the Tigers to 5-14.
Haney called reaching the coaching milestone a “great feeling.”
“Hats off to all the coaches and players I have worked with over the years,” he said. “I am just a little part of it.
“The coaches and players all have put a ton of work in, from my first year with Gerald Christian and those guys all the way up through this year. I appreciate all their hard work and effort.”
UP NEXT
Big Red will continue OVAC play Friday when it travels to Union Local.
CLEAN SWEEP
Jace Kernahan knocked down 14 points and Demetrius Leas added 10 as Big Red grabbed a 47-32 victory in the junior varsity contest.
Brayden Jones led Marietta with eight.
Big Red 60, Marietta 54
Marietta 17 13 14 10 — 54
Big Red 17 10 19 14 — 60
MARIETTA (5-14): Lieras-Kelley 4 0-0 8; Graham 3 0-0 6; Blevins 0 0-0 0; Evans 1 0-0 3; Koast 4 0-0 10; Kytta 7 4-6 19; Koscho 0 2-2 2; Kendall 3 0-0 6. TOTALS: 22 6-8 54.
BIG RED (10-9): Hill 4 3-4 12; Buggs 1 0-0 2; Hopkins 2 0-0 5; Lewis 2 0-1 5; Pierce 4 2-3 12; Jones 8 0-2 16; Manning 0 0-0 0; Vostatek 4 0-0 8. TOTALS: 25 5-10 60.
3-POINT GOALS: Marietta 4 (Koast 2; Evans; Kytta); Big Red 5 (Pierce 2; Hill; Hopkins; Lewis); REBOUNDS: Marietta 25 (Lieras-Kelley 7); Big Red 33 (Jones 18); TURNOVERS: Marietta 12; Big Red 12.