Union County’s Madison Gray fights for position against Hagerstown’s Kassidy Oliger on Wednesday, Dec. 6.
LIBERTY, Ind. – A quick start for the Union County girls basketball team helped the Patriots earn a Tri-Eastern Conference 45-29 victory over Hagerstown on Wednesday night.
“We wanted to get to 3-0 in the conference,” Union County Head Coach Scott Gray said. “It was a stepping stone for us. It was good for our program.”
The Patriots are now 5-5 overall with a 3-0 mark in the TEC, which ties them with seventh-ranked Winchester (9-1, 3-0) for the top spot in the league. Hagerstown is 5-5, 2-2.
Union County grabbed an early 5-0 advantage as the Patriots led 11-3 after the opening period
“Our energy was good,” Gray said. “Our fan base was good and that helped us.”
The Patriots were on top 17-12 at halftime and 31-21 after three frames.
“We didn’t come out with the I’m here to win attitude,” Hagerstown Head Coach Chris Oliger said. “We’ve got to find that.”
“We had stretches were we played OK,” Oliger continued. “They were the better team.”
Madison Gray led the Patriots with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
“I expect a lot out of her,” the Patriot coach said of his niece. “I push her hard every day. She stepped up and played.”
Taylor Pinkerton tossed in 12 points and grabbed five rebounds. Rainey Shepler added six points and four rebounds.
“Offensively, we played well,” Gray said. “We attacked a lot better. We’re doing a much better job of feeding the post.”
Hallie Rogers led the Tigers with 15 points. Taylor Kelley contributed seven points and six rebounds. Madison Brown led the Tigers with seven rebounds.
Hagerstown won the JV contest 20-18 as Makayla Matanich scored 10 points, Kyley Farmer added eight points.
For the Patriots, Haylee Richards finished with six points and Brooklyn Wilson had five points.
Union County is back in action next Wednesday at home against league foe Tri High (6-2, 2-2).
Hagerstown entertains Centerville (3-7, 1-3) on Friday, Dec. 15.