Photo By Kim North Martins Ferry’s Alex Reese (5) skies over Monroe Central’s Tucker Howell (22) during Tuesday night’s game inside Tolbert Gymnasium high above the Purple City. Reese led the Purple Riders with 21 points while Howell scored 16 for the Seminoles, who prevailed 82-75, in a mutual season opener.

MARTINS FERRY — A pair of Ohio Eastern District boys’ basketball teams with hopes of deep playoff runs met in a mutual season opener high above the Purple City Tuesday night.

Visiting Monroe Central led early and re-took the lead for good midway through the second quarter in outsourcing Martins Ferry 82-75 before a large turnout inside Tolbert Gymnasium.

“This was a tough game. Martins Ferry is well-coached and Alex Reese is very talented,” Monroe Central head coach Mason Lang said. “I’m just happy to get out of here with a win.”

The Seminoles snapped an 8-all deadlock halfway through the first quarter with a 12-7 run to lead 20-15. They knocked down four three-point goals along the way.

The Purple Riders stayed close as Maurice Barnett came off the bench to reel off five quick points.

A 15-10 scoring advantage allowed Martins Ferry to pull even at 30 when Alex Reese scored while being fouled with 4:40 left before halftime. His ensuing free made gave the Purple Riders their first lead since they led 8-6 early on. A basket by Barnett bumped the margin to 33-30, but Tucker Howell buried a triple from the left wing and younger brother Cooper scored five straight for a 38-33 lead and the Monroe Countians never trailed.

“Turnovers cost us,” Martins Ferry head coach Derek Edwards said. “Monroe Central had something to do with that. They are very athletic and get in the passing lanes really well, but our ball movement wasn’t very good all night. You’re going to have a hard time against a very good team like Monroe Central when you turn the ball over like we did.

The Seminoles extended their margin by a point, 63-56, after three quarters and got it to as high as 10, 77-67, on the first of back-to-back dunks by Chance Allen.

“I think we got it to 63-60 and then had like four straight turnovers,” Edwards recalled. “You just can’t do that, so we need to get better there. We also need to do a better job of stopping the opponent in transition, but it’s hard to do when you’re throwing the ball right to them.”

Cooper Howell led a quartet of Seminoles in double figures with 20 points before fouling out late. He completed a double-double with 11 rebounds. Tucker Howell added 16, Allen 15 and Caedyn Silva 10. Tucker Howell also charted five rebounds, four assists and a trio of blocked shots.

“Cooper is only a sophomore but he’s a good player,” Lang noted. “I’m looking for him to take a big step for us this year.”

Dylan Parden and Jacob Fogle came off the bench to spark the Seminoles with nine and eight points, respectively.

“We had four starters on the bench with two fouls each and our bench did really well,” Lang praised. “I was proud of those boys.”

Monroe Central knocked down 11 bonus goals.

“In our offense, we try to spread the defense out,” Lang added. “They gave us the shot and we’re going to shoot them. Hopefully, we make them.”

Reese led all scorers in the contest with 21, with 10 of those coming in the final eight minutes. He was 13 of 15 from the foul line. Elijah Smith chipped in 20 points, Gavin Little added 13 and Anthony Booth 10.

Martins Ferry was 21 of 26 from the charity stripe.

Monroe Central held a slim, 39-35, edge off the boards and had three less turnovers at 14-11.

GAME NOTE

— Before the opening tip Tuesday night, Martins Ferry remembered two of their own who passed away in the last year with a moment of silence. They were John Applegarth and Bill “Lawnboy” Leach.

“It was a special night for us to honor those two Purple diehards,” Edwards said. “John was here for more than 40 years as an educator and filmed more than 800 basketball games. Bill kept the scorebook and stats for us.”