One of the perks of being a scribe is having the opportunity to watch and cover a lot of great student-athletes and see their exploits.

Of course, one can’t be in multiple places at the same time, but the sports staff attempts to do the best we can getting out to events.

It was a treat to take in last Saturday’s Little Kanawha Conference Night of Champions at Glenville State University’s Waco Center, but at the same time the Pioneer men’s basketball team was on the road and had a 112-66 blowout win versus West Virginia Wesleyan as the G-men drained 18 triples, including an 11 of 16 effort from Jalen Knott.

“We’re hard to beat when we hit that many 3s,” quipped G-men head coach Bob Bolen on the GoMart Pioneer Coaches Show.

Fast forward to Monday and the number 18 continued to pop up here in the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Parkersburg Catholic’s Ellie Kinnison knocked down a dozen triples as the Crusaderettes connected on 18 shots from beyond the arc in a 66-38 win against Wood County Christian.

Not to be outdone, the Big Red girls were playing Monday evening inside Memorial Fieldhouse and routed Huntington, 92-55.

PHS head coach Chris Murray’s squad not only connected on 18 triples as well, but the red and white did it while missing just three shots from downtown.

“Good things happen when you share the ball,” noted coach Murray, whose Big Reds face George Washington on Saturday in the Mountain State Athletic Conference championship game. “Everyone was shooting it well and the ball was moving.

“Offensively, we are at our best when we run and push the ball. They share and get good shots and everyone is happy. It was enjoyable to watch and in the last five games we have been shooting better and better.”

Sticking with the Parkersburg, Glenville State and Saturday theme from last week, the Pioneer track and field squad spent the day at Youngstown State University’s Last Chance Meet.

Head coach Dan Meyers watched graduate student Casey Mahoney, a former standout for the Big Reds, tie the school record in the shot put with an effort of 15.42 meters.

“There was a lot of big things that happened throughout the weekend,” said coach Meyers, who noted of Mahoney’s effort “he tied Charlie Bauman’s mark of last year. They were high school teammates so that’s pretty cool. His first throw of the day he went from fourth all-time to third all-time.

“Then he went from third all-time to second all-time and then the last one he tied the school record. No one has spent more time in the weightroom. Super happy for Casey. If he can put that together at conference he has a chance to be on the podium.”

Wrestlers from the Mountain State will need to finish fourth or better this weekend during the regionals to qualify for the big show next month in Huntington.

Despite how nice it’s been outside the last couple of days, before we get to the spring sports season there should be some interesting finishes for winter athletics.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com