STEUBENVILLE — Martins Ferry girls basketball coach Dave Reasbeck knew his team was facing a big test right off the hop opening up at Big Red. In fact, he called it the toughest game his team would face prior to the regional tournament which is nearly four months away.

For three quarters, his Purple Riders were up for the challenge. In the fourth quarter, though, Big Red showed exactly why Reasbeck said what he did.

Big Red went on a 14-2 fourth quarter run to pull away from the Purple Riders and improved to 2-0 on the young season, storming away with a 59-44 victory in their home opener inside the Crimson Center.

“I just told the team they did a great job of weathering the storm,” Big Red head coach Angie Forte said.

“There are going to be waves up and down in every game and we did a

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