Madeline Adams
UNION CITY, Ind. – An eight-point run made the difference on Tuesday as the Union City girls basketball team claimed a piece of the Tri-Eastern Conference title with a 54-48 victory over Tri.
“We have a piece of the conference championship now and we have one game left to play and that’s Hagerstown,” Union City Head Coach Sarah Hines said. “They knew what was at stake and they knew Tri was going to bring their best.”
The Indians (11-2, 6-0) shared the TEC crown with Hagerstown and Union County a year ago. Both of those teams have one loss in the conference.
Hines knew the contest against the Titans wasn’t going to be easy for the Indians as starting point guard Justiss Cantu was battling illness.
“They had to make some adjustments with Justiss being sick,” Hines said of her squad. “The other girls stepped up and did some good things for us when they needed to.”
The critical moments came late in the third quarter as Tri was making a run that allowed the Titans to go on top 34-30 when Kylie Dishman made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:57 on the clock.
It didn’t take long before the Titans were behind.
“The first five and half, six minutes of the third quarter we played best basketball we’ve played for awhile,” Tri Head Coach Jeff Miller said.
“They picked up the intensity, the tempo and we just didn’t react very well,” Miller continued. “In big games like this, it just takes a couple of possessions.”
Madeline Adams scored twice within 16 seconds to tie the game as the third quarter was ending. Baylee Hartman finished the frame with a basket to give the Indians a 36-34 lead.
“They had a big third quarter and we got behind,” Hines said. “We understand that it takes 32 minutes and it’s going to be a game of runs.”
“It challenges us and makes us come from behind,” Hines added. “They are learning from that.”
Ellie Kerns started the fourth quarter with a rebound basket for her only points of the game to put Union City ahead 38-34.
The Indians continued to have success as they worked their way to a double-digit lead midway though the period.
“I was very proud of the kids,” Miller said of the Titans ability to keep the game close. “They executed things out of the huddle and we got nice looks.”
But Miller knew there would be an issue, if the Titans couldn’t completely recover.
“We didn’t want them to have a lead with two minutes to go because we knew they would spread it out,” he said.
Despite some turnovers and some missed free throws, the Indians had a wide enough margin to hold off the Titans as they tried to rally.
Adams led the Indians with 19 points.
“Madeline stepped up,” Hines said. “She was our leading scorer and she did some really great things for us.”
Courtney Wise had 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for Union City, while Hartman finished with a game-high 14 rebounds to go with eight points. Kora Kerns also added eight points to go with six steals. Kelsey Zimmers didn’t score, but she handed out four assists.
Payton Moore
Payton Moore led the Titans with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Dishman finished with nine points with Mackenzie Peggs and Addy Edwards contributing eight points each.
Union City returns to action next Tuesday as the Indians host an eight-team, two-day tournament. Union City opens with Blue River on Tuesday, Dec. 29.
Tri is idle until the Titans face Blue River in the Henry County Tournament on Friday. Jan. 8.
“We practiced nine times in December because of all of the games,” Miller said. “You need practice to get better. We’ve got two weeks between games and we’ve got a lot we can work on.”
Box Score
TRI (10-5, 2-3) – Kylie Dishman 3 1-2 9, Mackenzie Peggs 4 0-0 8, Cayla Johnson 2 0-0 4, Payton Moore 7 2-4 16, Addy Edwards 3 0-0 8, Karlee Winkhart 1 0-0 3, Kensington Appleby 0 0-0 0, Mara Biehl 0 0-0 0. Team – 20 3-6 48.
UNION CITY (11-2, 6-0) – Kora Kerns 3 0-0 8, Courtney Wise 6 2-2 14, Kelsey Zimmers 0 0-0 0, Madeline Adams 7 2-4 19, Baylee Hartman 4 0-3 8, Justiss Cantu 1 0-0 3, Ellie Kerns 1 0-0 2, Joette Sigler 0 0-0 0. Team – 22 4-9 54.
Tri 7 14 34 48
Union City 10 23 36 54
3-pointers – Tri 5 (Dishman 2, Edwards 2, Winkhart 1), Union City 6 (Adams 3, K. Kerns 2, Cantu 1). Rebounds – Tri 24 (Moore 10), Union City 32 (Hartman 14, Wise 9). Turnovers – Tri 25, Union City 26. Fouls – Tri 13, Union City 9.