Maddie Lawrence
WINCHESTER, Ind. – Tuesday’s girls basketball game between seventh-ranked Winchester and Union City may have started slow, but in the end the Golden Falcons were able to post a 53-28 win in the Tri-Eastern Conference contest.
“It’s like a mental block for all of the kids,” Winchester Head Coach Holly Gutierrez said of the match-up between the rivals.
“That’s a part of it and I think they were nervous,” Gutierrez added. “The conference title is on the line.”
The Golden Falcons are now 11-1 overall and 5-0 in the TEC as they look for their first championship since 2013.
Winchester led 5-2 after the first quarter. The Golden Falcons didn’t score until Hannah Graft drilled a 3-pointer with 2:28 on the clock.
“We had a game plan in place and we executed that fairly well,” Union City Head Coach Sarah Black said. “It was working. We were getting good shots.”
“That’s what we wanted, to be patient and wait for the opportunities,” Black continued. “When we started missing a couple of those and turning the ball over it snowballed a little bit. We were able to take a very good team out of their game.”
By halftime, Winchester was able to build a 25-13 advantage.
“We didn’t play well to start and the defense finally got us going,” Gutierrez said. “It picked up from there, but they were still in it.”
Winchester finished the third quarter with a 37-17 lead.
“We played great team ball,” Gutierrez said. “That’s what we do well.”
Last year’s Class 1A state runner-up, Union City (4-7, 2-3) hopes to improve as the Indians prepare for another tournament run.
“Every game we have to get better,” Black said of looking forward to the sectional. “We’ve got to do what we can to beat those teams and get better.”
Maddie Lawrence led Winchester with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Kira Robinson added 16 points and seven rebounds with Hannah Graft tossing in 10 points. Becca Chamberlin had seven.
Mackenzie Green led the Indians with eight points. Ellie Kerns had five points.
Justiss Cantu and Maddy Cox had four points each. Cantu had three assists and three steals. Kahlee Dowler led the way with six rebounds.
The Golden Falcons won the JV game 44-38 as Ara Cowper led the way with 16 points. Cami Miller finished with 13 points. Brooklyn Hummel and Lily Lanter added seven points apiece.
For Union City, Jodi Carpenter had 16 points and 11 steals. Reagan Hoggatt and Luzy Corona both had six points.
Both teams return to action with conference contests at home this weekend.
Union City entertains Lincoln (3-5, 1-2) on Friday night, while the Golden Falcons face Union County (5-5, 3-0) at the Winchester Fieldhouse.