By Bob Evans
Sports Editor
March 11, 2013
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| Carrollton senior Stephen Ericksen (34) put a big period on his high school career as he led the Warriors in scoring with 22 points. |
ST. CLAIRSVILLE: There is a reason why St. Clairsville senior Dan Monteroso is the Eastern District Player of the Year.
The 6-foot-3 senior literally took over the game in the second half, scoring 29 of his game-high 40 points in leading the Red Devils to a 67-58 win over Carrollton in the Division II District championship game last Thursday night at the Ohio University Eastern Campus.
The Warriors end another excellent season at 16-9 and were making their sixth district appearance in the last eight years.
Carrollton Head Coach Matt Voll credited a lot of the success of the Carrollton program to the Carrollton Roundball Association.
“The Roundball program and outstanding fundamental coaching at the junior varsity, freshmen and junior high level has been the recipe for all these championships won”, Voll said. ”Many people have worked very hard and made many sacrifices for players to become players. That is exactly what it takes to be successful – people doing special things for our kids to get better.”
The Warriors battled the No. 1 seed and led for most of the game.
“We played with a ton of heart and desire and our efforts reached the highest level,” Voll said. “These seniors have done a phenomenal job for the basketball program and have had a great success throughout their basketball careers. This group of seniors are a tight group of multi-sport athletes who are true-blue winners. They are the finest young men and have always represented Carrollton High School very well.”
Playing their final game for the Warriors were Justin Lovett, Jake Peterson, Zac Brown, Caleb Hartong, Andrew Collins, Mirko Dobrijevic and Stephen Ericksen.
The Warriors came out firing. Sophomore Zade Deitz scored the first nine points of the game on back-to-back-to-back three pointers.
Ericksen, who led the Warriors in scoring with 22 points and 19 rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter, added five points as the Warriors took a 16-10 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.
Carrollton led by as many as 12 points in the second quarter.
The Warrior defense held Monteroso scoreless until the 5:29 mark of the second period, but he went on to score 11 points in the quarter.
However, Carrollton still held a 26-17 lead at the intermission.
Monteroso and the Red Devils controlled the second half as they outscored Carrollton by a healthy margin, but the Warriors were in the game until the end. Each time the Red Devils tried to pull away, the Warriors would make a run of their own.
Carrollton hung onto a 43-42 lead at the end of the third quarter.
With the contest tied at 45-45 early in the fourth quarter, Monteroso just took over the game.
He scored nine straight points, blocked two Carrollton shots and scooped up a loose ball and went coast-to-coast for a jam that brought the partisan St. Clairsville fans to their feet.
Carrollton was forced to foul in the closing couple minutes and the Red Devils hit 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch for the margin of victory.
Deitz finished with 14 points for the Warriors, while Collins added eight points.
Peterson finished with five points and seven assists and Hartong added five points and seven rebounds.
The Warriors hit 23-of-54 action shots and 6-of-10 free throws.
They had 34 rebounds and nine turnovers.
For the Red Devils, Jerrid Marhefka followed Monteroso with eight points.
They were 22-of-45 shooting and 15-of-17 from the charity stripe.
The Red Devils had 17 rebounds and only five turnovers. Monteroso also led the Red Devils on the boards with 10 rebounds. He also had two assists and a blocked shot.
St. Clairsville 67, Carrollton 58
OUE Div. II District
ST. CLAIRSVILLE: Jerrid Marhefka 2 2-2 8, Adam Jeffers 2 2-3 7, Joel Giffen 1 0-0 2, Dan Monteroso 14 10-14 40, Jared Burghy 0 0-0 0, Riley Carlton 2 0-0 6, Dylan Campbell 1 1-2 4. Totals: 22-45 15-17 67.
CARROLLTON: Jake Peterson 2 1-1 5, Caleb Hartong 2 1-2 5, Caleb Pasiuk 2 0-0 4, Zade Deitz 5 0-0 14, Andrew Collins 2 2-2 8, Mirko Dobrijevic 0 0-0 0, Stephen Ericksen 10 2-4 22. Totals: 23-54 6-10 58.
ST. CLAIRSVILLE: 6 11 25 25 - 67
CARROLLTON: 16 10 17 15 - 58
Three-point goals – Dan Monteroso, Jerrid Marhefka, Riley Carlton 2; Dylan Campbell, Adam Jeffries, Zade Deitz 4; Andrew Collins 2. Fouls – Carrollton 19-11. Fouled out – Stephen Ericksen. Rebounds – Carrollton 34 (Stephen Ericksen 19), St. Clairsville 17 (Monteroso 10). Records: Carrollton 19-6, St. Clairsville 22-2. |
