Savannah Houck
HAGERSTOWN, Ind. – The Tri-Eastern Conference girls basketball title came down to the final moments of the regular season on Friday night.
“Third year in a row we’ve been conference champions,’ Hagerstown Head Coach Chris Oliger said after the Tigers defeated Union City 45-39 to claim a share of the crown with the Indians.
When Hagerstown’s Gabby Willis scored with 2:14 left in the contest, she gave the Tigers the lead for good at 38-37.
“It’s a great win,” Oliger said. “We held to our game plan and did what we were supposed to do.”
The Tigers finished the game with a 7-2 run as they are 16-7 overall and 6-1 in the TEC, while the Indians are 17-5, 6-1.
“There down the stretch, when things got a little helter-skelter, we were calm, threw the ball around and got lay-ups,” Oliger said. “That makes a world of difference.”
In last 1:47 for the Tigers, Brytni Dale hit a pair of free throws, while Hannah Rogers scored and Victoria Pierson had a basket and a free throw.
The Tigers now have seven TEC titles coming in 1980, 1992, 1993, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Union City has won it four times in 1985, 2002, 2015 and 2016.
Savannah Houck led Hagerstown with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Willis and Dale added seven points each.
Courtney Wise
Courtney Wise recorded a double-double for the Indians with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Justiss Cantu also had a dozen points.
Quick Start for Tigers
Hagerstown led 10-5 after the first period.
“They played hard and they played good defense,” Union City Head Coach Sarah Hines said. “We had to adjust to that a little bit, and it took us a little bit of time to do that.”
Union City responded to lead 22-21 at the intermission.
“We got into a flow a little bit,” Hines said. “I felt like it was kind of hit and miss for our flow for a little while. We’ve got to learn to overcome some of those things, play through some of that adversity and move forward.”
The Indians were disappointed with the end result, but sharing the TEC title was still important.
“I told the girls in the locker room, there are six teams in the conference that don’t get to put numbers on their banner this year, and we do,” Hines said.
Hagerstown opens Class 2A sectional play at Union County on Tuesday as the Tigers face the host Patriots in the opening contest.
Union City begins its tournament run in the Class 1A sectional at Randolph Southern. The Indians face Blue River in the first game on Tuesday night.
Box Score
UNION CITY (17-5, 6-1) – Justiss Cantu 4 1-2 12, Kora Kerns 1 0-0 3, Courtney Wise 5 2-2 12, Madeline Adams 1 0-0 3, Baylee Hartman 3 0-1 6, Kelsey Zimmers 1 0-0 3, Ellie Kerns 0 0-0 0. Team – 15 3-5 39.
HAGERSTOWN (16-7, 6-1) – Gabby Willis 3 0-2 7, Hannah Rogers 3 0-0 6, Taylor Kelley 1 0-0 2, Brytni Dale 2 2-2 7, Savannah Houck 6 3-4 17, Victoria Pierson 1 1-1 3, Beth Jenkins 0 0-0 0, Hailee Garrison 1 0-0 3. Team – 17 6-9 45.
Union City 5 22 33 39
Hagerstown 10 21 34 45
3-pointers – Union City 6 (Cantu 3, K.Kerns 1, Zimmers 1, Adams 1), Hagerstown 5 (Houck 2, Willis 1, Garrison 1, B.Dale 1). Rebounds – Union City 25 (Wise 11), Hagerstown 36 (Houck 8). Turnovers – Union City 11, Hagerstown 10. Fouls – Union City 13, Hagerstown 10.