WINCHESTER, Ind. – A wild final quarter on Tuesday night ended with Union City pulling out a 48-46 girls basketball victory over Winchester.
Foul trouble for both teams played a role in the Tri-Eastern Conference affair at the Winchester Fieldhouse.
“I’m glad we decided to show up in the fourth quarter,” Union City Head Coach Sarah Hines said. “It was a little frustrating.”
“Winchester slowed us down,” Hines continued. “Kudos to them. We just weren’t playing the way we can play. They took us out of our game and got us in foul trouble.”
Trailing 18-15 at halftime, the foul issues for the Indians had point guard Justiss Cantu on the bench for most of the third period as Winchester increased its lead to 40-28.
“She came in in the fourth quarter and took control and became a leader out there an did a lot of great things for us,” Hines said of Cantu, who finished with 10 points and six steals.
Cantu’s emergence changed the tempo of the contest and created problems for the Falcons (7-7, 2-3).
“We got in foul trouble and they didn’t shoot a free throw until the fourth quarter,” Winchester Head Coach Holly Hollinger-Gutierrez said. “They won it from the free throw line.”
Union City was 14-of-23 from the free throw line with all of the attempts coming in the final stanza as the Indians had a 20-6 edge in the frame to stay on top in the TEC standings.
“There were some things that didn’t go our way that could have changed (the outcome),” Hollinger-Gutierrez said. “The web sites had us getting beat by 25.”
“It shows how far we’ve come,” she added. “We only had one day to get ready for them.”
Mariah Roberts
And the Falcons were prepared.
“They’re devastated,” Hollinger-Gutierrez said. “But to play with them when nobody else thought we could, that’s the big picture and we’re getting better.”
However on Tuesday, the foul problems made it difficult Union City as well with the Indians looking to increase their intensity to remain unbeaten in TEC play.
“We knew we had to pressure them and cause them to turn the ball over some,” Hines said. “(We) just played really smart. We told them at halftime, that good teams find a ways to win and they did that. We had some girls step up a play some big minutes for us.”
With Mariah Roberts and Liz Pegg on the sideline after fouling out in the fourth quarter, the lack of experience on the floor became a key ingredient in Union City’s comeback.
“They played hard until the very end and the pressure was on them,” Hollinger-Gutierrez said.
When Pegg left the contest at the 5:33 mark of the final period, Winchester led 41-33. By the time Roberts picked up her fifth foul with 3:29 to go, Union City had cut the deficit to 42-41.
From that point, Union City ended the game with a 7-4 run to hang on for the win. Roberts led the Falcons with a game-high 19 points, while grabbing seven rebounds.
Madeline Adams
Union City (9-2, 4-0) had three players in double digits with Madeline Adams leading the way with 11 points. Baylee Hartman joined Cantu on the scoring list as they finished with 10 points.
In the JV game, Winchester won 45-33. Kira Robinson led the way for the Falcons with 12 points. Hannah Graft added nine points, while Autumn Dixon and Victoria Pegg added eight points each.
Four Union City, Kahlee Dowler topped both teams with 18 points. Ellie Kerns contributed seven points.
The Indians return to the court against Lincoln at home on Friday, while Winchester entertains Union County on Saturday.
Box Score
UNION CITY (9-2, 4-0) – Justiss Cantu 2 4-6 10, Kora Kerns 1 0-2 3, Courtney Wise 3 2-2 8, Madeline Adams 4 2-2 11, Baylee Hartman 3 4-6 10, Kelsey Zimmers 2 0-0 4, Ellie Kerns 1 0-0 2, Joette Sigler 0 0-0 0. Team – 16 14-23 48.
WINCHESTER (7-7, 2-3) – Sierrah Love 2 0-0 5, Kelly Graft 1 0-0 2, Mariah Roberts 7 2-3 19, Liz Pegg 1 3-6 6, Becca Neville 2 3-5 7, Sarah Mallory 3 0-1 6, Hannah Graft 0 1-2 1, Autumn Dixon 0 0-0 0, Shelby Miller 0 0-0 0. Team – 16 9-17 46.
Union City 9 15 28 48
Winchester 9 18 40 46
3-pointers – Union City 2 (K. Kerns 1, Adams 1); Winchester 5 (Roberts 3, Love 1, Pegg 1). Rebounds – Union City 37 (Hartman 13), Winchester 39 (Neville 11). Turnovers – Union City 13, Winchester 24. Fouls – Union City 15, Winchester 22.