Photo by Kim North Bellaire’s Eliana Mason (10) pressures Union Local’s Myah Martin during action Friday night inside the “House of Champions” in Bellaire.

BELLAIRE — Bellaire helped itself out immensely Friday night as far as the OVAC Class 3A girls basketball standings go.

The Big Reds also earned a bit of revenge with a 43-37 nod over visiting Union Local Friday night inside the ‘House of Champions.’ The triumph gave the teams a split of their regular-season series and avenged a 40-37 setback earlier in the season in which Bellaire committed 11 turnovers in the fourth quarter in allowing the Jets to pull out the win.

“We’ve talked about that game a lot,” Farrier said of the first meeting. “As soon as that game was over, we watched the fourth quarter the very next day. We said we can’t forget that game.”

Entering the contest, Bellaire and Union Local were two of seven teams fighting for four playoff spots.

Wheeling Central (8-0) tops the closely bunched field, with the Big Reds (9-1) and Jets (8-2).

The others are Fort Frye (8-1), which handed Union Local its only other loss, Columbiana (8-0), defending champ Martins Ferry (6-4) and Monroe Central (7-4).

“We came out in the third quarter and cranked up the defense a little more,” Farrier explained. “They only scored two points in the third quarter and I think our defense was a major reason why. It gave us the momentum and once you get the momentum, it makes it tough on the other team.”

Trailing 29-22 early in the third quarter, the Big Reds went on an 18-0 run that stretched three minutes into the fourth quarter and, despite some uncharacteristic poor free throw shooting down the stretch, held off the Jets.

“Our free throw shooting had been pretty good all year, but tonight we kind of let them hang around by missing a few,” Farrier recalled.

Bellaire drew even at 29 on a three-pointer by senior Eliana Mason from the left wing with 1:25 on the third-quarter clock. Classmate Zara Harveth gave the hosts the lead for good, 31-29, with a pair of foul shots with 1.1 left in the quarter.

A triple by Tamya Morgan pushed the lead to 34-29 before Mason made it 36-29. Following a Union Local turnover, Bellaire went inside on back-to-back trips down the floor and Morgan responded both times with buckets as the margin grew to 40-29.

“It’s funny because a little earlier I had taken her (Morgan) out of the game because she turned down a layup. I told her she wasn’t out there for her defense, she was out there to score points and she had better do that. She went back out and responded well.”

The Jets finally ended their nearly 10-minute scoreless stretch when Laken Vinskovich scored, but the damage had been done.

“The girls were ready tonight. I’m glad they kept their composure and kept playing hard,” Farrier added. “This was a big win because Class 3A (in the OVAC) is a juggernaut. You want to finish as high as you can because there are a lot of good teams.”

Harveth (14) and Mason (13) combined for 27 of Bellaire’s 43 points. Morgan netted all nine of hers in the second half.

“I’m proud of my girls. They tried and gave a good effort,” Union Local head coach Lou “Scooter” Tolzda said. “They gave a great effort. We really struggle at times to score points and it really showed tonight in the third quarter. It’s just hard for us sometimes to get buckets.

“I’ll give us an A every night on the defensive end of the floor,” he continued. “But, offensively, we struggle at times. We’re trying. We’re working on it. It wasn’t for a lack of effort.”

Harveth added nine rebounds as Bellaire held a 33-32 edge off the glass. Mason had five boards.

Delaney Butler led the Jets with 13 points. Ella Pietranton added nine points and eight rebounds. Vinskovich also had eight boards and a similar number of points.

Union Local had three more turnovers at 15-12.