Mason Stitt
HAGERSTOWN, Ind. – A fast start provided a boost for the Hagerstown boys basketball team on Friday night as the Tigers went on to defeat Union City 60-38.
As a result, the Tigers (12-5) remained unbeaten and on top in the Tri-Eastern Conference standings at 5-0.
“It was nice,” Hagerstown Head Coach Bobby Jones said. “It was kind of a different situation tonight with us playing the first game. I thought our guys did a good job of embracing it, bringing the energy to the gym.”
One of those guys was Hagerstown’s Mason Stitt, who scored nine of his game-high 17 points in the first quarter.
“He hadn’t been shooting the ball really well lately, but he got going,” Jones added.
The Tigers followed Stitt to an 18-6 lead at the end of the first period.
“We had a pretty good week of practice,” Jones said. “The guys were really dialed in on what we wanted to get accomplished this week.”
Six turnovers and just a pair of baskets hurt the Indians (7-7, 1-3) in the opening period.
“I thought we did a poor job early taking care of the ball,” Union City Head Coach Dustin Baldwin said. “We worked all week knowing that we were going to get pressured. I thought we had a good week of practice, but it’s a lot different when you come out here and it’s a real game.”
Isaac Jefferis
Another thing that caused a problem was Isaac Davison not being on the floor.
“He had an injury late in the game last week,” Baldwin said of his top scorer, who hit the last basket of the first quarter. “We wanted to monitor his minutes.”
By halftime, Hagerstown led 32-12.
“I thought our team defense kind of wore them down as things went on,” Jones said. “It just seems like with each game it gets a little bit better.”
In addition to Stitt, the Tigers got double figure from Jared Andis and Isaiah Neal, who both tossed in 11 points each. Neal had a team-high 10 rebounds and Nate Combs grabbed nine.
Isaac Jefferis led Union City with 12 points. Bailey Hughes added 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Indians get back on the court Saturday at Ansonia in Ohio.
Hagerstown resumes its schedule on Thursday at home against Class 2A No. 3 and TEC foe Northeastern.
Box Score
UNION CITY (7-7, 1-3) – Aaron Foster 2 1-2 5, Tyler Thornhill 2 2-3 6, Bailey Hughes 5 0-3 10, Trevor Spence 0 0-1 0, Isaac Jefferis 4 2-4 12, Trevor Thompson 0 0-2 0, Isaac Davison 2 0-1 4, Kyler Purdin 0 1-2 1. Team – 15 6-18 38.
HAGERSTOWN (12-5, 5-0) – Mason Stitt 7 2-3 17, Jared Andis 4 1-1 11, Bret Templin 1 2-6 5, Isaiah Neal 5 1-34 11, Nate Combs 2 0-0 4, Evan Hoover 4 0-0 9, Trent Weiss 1 0-0 2, Jordan Auker 0 1-2 1. Team – 24 7-15 60.
Union City 6 12 23 38
Hagerstown 18 32 46 60
3-pointers – Union City 2 (I.Jefferis 2), Hagerstown 5 (Andis 2, Stitt 1, Templin 1, Hoover 1). Rebounds – Union City 36 (Hughes 11), Hagerstown 41 (Neal 10, Combs 9). Turnovers – Union City 15, Hagerstown 10. Fouls – Union City 15, Hagerstown 20.