Tanner Henry
Maddie Fulton
FOUNTAIN CITY, Ind. – The Union County girls basketball team stayed in the hunt for the Tri-Eastern Conference title on Thursday as the Patriots defeated Northeastern 47-29 in Larry Moore Gymnasium.
“Anytime you go on the road, it’s good to get out a win,” Union County Head Coach Scott Gray said.
With their third straight win, the Patriots are 13-7 overall and 4-1 in the conference.
Union County has two games remaining in the regular season and both are TEC affairs at Lincoln on Tuesday and against Centerville at home next Friday (Jan. 29).
Union County must win both contests, while Hagerstown would have to beat Union City in order for the Patriots to share the championship.
Thursday’s game was close early as Union County led 13-8 after one period. Northeastern scored twice to open the second quarter to close the cap to 13-11 before the Patriots went on an 11-0 run to take control.
Union County led 27-17 at the half and the Patriots were able to keep Northeastern from coming back the rest of the way.
Maddie Fulton led the Patriots with with 23 points against the Knights (2-17, 0-6).
“She’s been playing well,” Gray said of Fulton, who has scored at least 20 points in the last four games. “Offensively, she’s playing at a pretty high level.”
“Usually, we have three or four girls step up and when we get that we can be successful,” Gray added.
Tanner Henry tossed in 11 points for Union County, while Madison Walters added nine points and nine rebounds.
Madi Clay
With a roster depleted by injury and illness, Northeastern Head Coach Princess Darnell was pleased with her team.
“Each week, I feel like I can’t be prouder,” Darnell said. “They played their hardest and I’m really proud of that.”
“We weren’t upset because we gave our best effort,” Darnell added. “Are there things we can work on, sure there always are.”
Leah Hoskins made it though the game despite illness, while Chaise Helton and Mikayla Hornung didn’t play.
Madi Clay led the Knights with 16 points.
“She’s a floor general and that’s what I want out of my point guard,” Darnell said. “She had some great knockdown threes and she took it to the basket.”
Tatum Jordan had six points for the Knights and finished with a team-high nine rebounds.
In the JV game, Union County posted a 23-15 victory as Kyla Miller tossed in seven points for the Patriots. Olivia Davis led the Knights with eight points.
The Knights are back in action on Friday with a trip to Union.
Box Score
UNION COUNTY (13-7, 4-1) – Sierra Dowler 0 0-0 0, Tanner Henry 4 0-0 11, Maddie Fulton 7 6-10 23, Madison Walters 3 3-3 9, Sammie Elleman 2 0-0 4, Danielle Franklin 0 0-0 0, Tara Williams 0 0-0 0. Team – 16 9-13 47.
NORTHEASTERN (2-17, 0-6) – Lauren York 0 0-0 0, Tatum Jordan 2 1-6 6, Madi Clay 5 3-4 16, Leah Hoskins 1 1-2 3, Kasey Andrews 1 2-2 4, Drew Noland 0 0-0 0. Team – 9 7-14 29.
Union County 13 27 35 47
Northeastern 8 17 22 29
3-pointers – Union County 6 (Henry 3, Fulton 3), Northeastern 4 (Clay 3, Jordan 1). Rebounds – Union County 37 (Walters 9), Northeastern 29 (Jordan 9). Turnovers – Union County 16, Northeastern 17. Fouls – Union County 12, Northeastern 14.