Staff photo / Dan Hiner Springfield’s Brayden Baird (13) pulls up for a jumper during the second half of a game against Mineral Ridge on Thursday at Mineral Ridge High School.

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 and Thomas Koniowsky both scored five.

“I got to give some credit to their supporting cast. They had some guys who came in – that Koniowsky, we had him on scout. He’s a good shooter, we knew that,” Springfield head coach Jeff Brink said.

The Tigers held a 9-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, but they also got into foul trouble early.

Springfield picked up seven fouls in the first. The Tigers limited their fouls in the second, but neither team could consistently get shots to fall.

Mineral Ridge held Springfield (2-2, 2-1) off the board for nearly the first four minutes of the second. That allowed the Rams to grab the lead, and they carried a 17-16 advantage into halftime.

A three by Springfield’s Matt Wymer tied the game at 21 with just over five minutes to play in the third, and on the next possession, Marco Gentile fought through some contact to give the Tigers a 23-21 lead.

However, a 7-0 run by the Rams gave them a 30-23 lead in the closing minutes of the third. And by the end of the frame, they led 33-25.

Mineral Ridge’s defense caused problems for the Tigers in the fourth. The Rams held Springfield to four points, two baskets by Isaac Dyer.

The defensive effort by the Rams forced the Tigers into turnovers while trying to bring the ball up the court. When they were successful in getting into the halfcourt, they struggled to get anything to fall.

“You’re playing a team that got one of the best big guys (Moore) in our league, for sure. … One of the best big guys in our area,” Brink said. “That changes the game. We just tried to slow the game down, get it out to where he’s not dominating the game. He does a great job, and I thought some kids stepped up and made some key shots.

“I thought our inability to convert on the offensive end, too – we blew a couple bunnies, made a couple mistakes – that kinda caught us.”

Wymer was the Tigers’ leading scorer with eight points, and Gentile and Dyer both scored seven points.

Mineral Ridge head coach Marcus Higgs was unavailable for comment after the game.