Catholic finds shooting touch in second half, bests Calhoun 67-50
Calhoun County's Landon Bennett is called for a foul against Parkersburg Catholic's Preston Randolph during the Red Devils' 67-50 setback Tuesday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Parkersburg Catholic's Gideon Wilson, pictured here defending Calhoun County's Dylan Buckius during the Crusaders' 67-50 victory Tuesday evening, flirted with a triple-double after finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and a game-high eight steals. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Calhoun County's Landon Bennett is called for a foul against Parkersburg Catholic's Preston Randolph during the Red Devils' 67-50 setback Tuesday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Parkersburg Catholic's Gideon Wilson, pictured here defending Calhoun County's Dylan Buckius during the Crusaders' 67-50 victory Tuesday evening, flirted with a triple-double after finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and a game-high eight steals. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
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PARKERSBURG -- A 22-4 run in the third quarter here Tuesday night helped Parkersburg Catholic turn a 25-all halftime tie with Calhoun County into a 67-50 victory as the Crusaders of first-year boss Jim McLean improved to 2-6.
The Crusaders, who are now off until Ritchie County comes to town next Thursday, missed 12 of 14 from downtown in the first half.
Landon Bennett, who led the 4-5 Red Devils of head coach Marcus Davis with 19 points to go along with eight boards, three assists and a blocked shot, gave the visitors their last lead at 27-25 when he opened the second half scoring by knocking down a mid-range jumper.
Following a floater in the lane from Preston Randolph, who led all point-producers with 21, the Red Devils had back-to-back turnovers, which ignited the onslaught.
Leonardo DeAngelo and Gideon Wilson, who went for 14 and 19 points respectively, canned consecutive trifectas to get the run started.
Although Bennett and Dylan Buckius, who tallied 15 markers, later had a deuce apiece, the Red Devils couldn't contain Parkersburg Catholic's hot shooting.
The hosts drained 6 of 8 from beyond the arc to open the second half. Wilson, who flirted with a triple double thanks to his eight caroms and game-high eight steals, sank two more 3s. Landon Edwards, who came off the bench and double-doubled with 10 points and 12 rebounds, also drained a pair of triples. Randolph's hoop via a Leo Haid dime made it 49-31 with 1:07 left in the third.
Buckius added a field goal and Owen Taylor scored two of his eight points after getting a steal and a layup to make it a 14-point deficit heading to the fourth.
"I told them at halftime we are getting the looks we want, they just weren't going in, and they will start falling," admitted coach McLean, whose team won the turnover battle, 17-12, but came up short on the glass, 40-37, as Red Devil Caden Jones pulled down a game-high baker's dozen caroms to go along with his six counters. "I told them the good news is that we are tied and haven't made a shot yet.
"The main goal was just to stay out of foul trouble and the shots will start falling. We've been close. We've had two games where we've come back from 20 down to take the lead and lost them both. We've been really close to taking a step up the mountain and just haven't got it yet, but things change when we are on our home court a little bit."
Calhoun County, which plays host Friday to Braxton County, took a 25-22 lead with 53 seconds left before intermission thanks to a Jacob Marks 18-foot jumper, but Wilson answered with a 3 to square it at the break.
DeAngelo finished with a game-high five assists. Randolph had a quartet of dimes and Edwards added a trio of steals.
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com