Staff photo / Brian Yauger Western Reserve’s Isabella Mauro (13) goes up for a shot during Thursday’s game at McDonald High School.

MCDONALD — The battle between the Blue Devils was a one-sided affair when McDonald hosted Western Reserve on Thursday. Reserve rode a huge first quarter performance to an easy 61-26 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference victory.

“We had a lot of players who were sick today,” Western Reserve coach Steve Miller said. “I was a little worried. Our sixth man was out. We set the tone defensively. We got a lot of transition buckets. I told the girls that no one was going to feel sorry for us that so many players on our team were sick. As a former athlete, sometimes, that’s when you play your best though.”

That’s exactly what Reserve did. Junior Kylee Ramsey scored eight of her game-high 23 points in the first, and Western Reserve opened up a 23-4 advantage heading to the second quarter.

“We played hard,” Ramsey said. “We came out with a plan and executed it. We want to win a district championship this season and make a run in the regionals.”

Miller has been the coach at Reserve for 12 seasons. They’ve made it to the district championship game seven times, and won it five times during his tenure, with the last district title coming in 2023.

“That’s always our goal,” Miller said. “That’s the mindset of the team. This game was certainly a step in the right direction.”

Sophomore Giana Leone, who nailed a 3-pointer and finished with nine points in the contest, echoed that sentiment.

“We executed our plays very well,” she said. “Even with all the girls that are sick. We’re going to work hard, and get in the gym, because we definitely want to win a district championship.”

Reserve (12-5, 8-4) extended their lead to 41-11 at halftime. Senior captain Isabella Mauro finished with 17 points, and went 5-or-5 from the free-throw line.

“We have a lot of girls who are sick,” Mauro said. “But, we pushed through it. We hustled a lot. We have a great work ethic on the team. Our coaches are always looking for ways to improve the team, and make us better players.”

Freshman Madison Homa made one from behind the arc for McDonald. However, junior Quincy Miller scored eight points for Reserve, and Ramsey followed up a rebound by completing an and-one. Reserve led 57-19 heading to the fourth.

McDonald (11-8, 6-6) was led by junior Juliana Krumpak, who finished with 10 points. Krumpak stole the ball and made a great pass on an assist to freshman Naomi Sheesley. Sophomore Addison Grewell made a nice move to get to the hoop for a layup.

“It’s been an up and down season,” first-year McDonald coach Tyler Kilbourne said. “We’ve had a couple of tough games. But we’ve bounced back from them. Reserve had a ton of offensive rebounds tonight. We made sure we limited Quincy, but the other girls made shots.

“We have three big games left until the postseason. I think we can finish with 14 victories as we continue to prepare for the tournament.”