WEATHERSFIELD — The shots never really fell on Thursday night at Mineral Ridge High School. But the Mineral Ridge boys basketball team picked it up on the defensive end in a 39-29 win over Springfield.

The Rams ran their press defense throughout, but it started to pay off in the third quarter. The turnovers generated didn’t lead to many made baskets, but they kept the Tigers from getting anything going offensively.

Springfield wanted to keep forward Chase Moore off the scoresheet, and it was successful. Moore only recorded five points, but the rest of the Rams stepped up to keep the offense going.

Derrick Hester scored a game-high 12 points for Mineral Ridge (5-0, 3-0 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Tier), Blake Basista and Nick Anderson each had six points and Kaden Shaffer

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