Dribbling — Harrison Central’s Mikayla Pellegreen dribbles the ball as Union Local’s Delaney Butler applies pressure during the Buckeye 8 game inside Union Local’s “The Hangar” Tuesday night. do. – Kim North
MORRISTOWN — Despite a 14-point win, Union Local head coach Lu “scooter” Truzda said there were more negatives than positives in the Buckeye 8’s win over visiting Harrison Central on Tuesday night.
The Jets (2-0) broke a 7-all stalemate with an 8-0 run and took a 15-7 advantage after the first quarter, outscoring the visiting Huskies (1-1) 48-34 inside. It was defeated by a decision of , and was never threatened. “The Hangar” on the Union Local Campus.
“We’re still a work in progress and we struggle to score on the offensive end, passing the ball and dribbling at times. It shows.” Truzda said. “I told people it was going to be a different game for us because we lost Lauren (Miller) to graduation. It’s going to be a different game for us. It’s going to be easy to score, it’s going to be hard to make shots. I am being challenged to be a little more aggressive.
“Some of these girls are finding out what it’s like to play varsity basketball.”
Ali Kellaway’s 3-pointer from the top of the key and a traditional 3-point play from Tegan Day started a 13-1 run that allowed Harrison Central to close the gap by the time it entered its next basket. It pushed the score to 20-8.
“Defensively we’re pretty solid. We’re sitting here at 0-2 and thinking about what we need to do.”
Trailing 21-10, the Huskies went on a 6-0 run when Lauren Doan’s basket made it 21-16 with 3:33 left in the first half.
But the visitors were unable to score again until Doan sank a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter. In those 7 minutes and 33 seconds, Union Local doubled Harrison Central, 32-16.
“They’re a well-coached team. Scooter has been around for a long time.” Harrison Central head coach Chance Smith said. “There’s no crime he hasn’t seen. Their perimeter defense has been really tough. They’re going to be physical, physical, but they’re going to be a good defense.”
The husky didn’t roll over and play dead. They continued to fight, outscoring the hosts 10-6 in a sloppy fourth quarter.
“I told the girls that four minutes is enough.” Mr Smith added: “But when you have a bad four minutes, you suffer when you have a bad four minutes. I’m proud of the girls. We fought.”
Vinskovic was active in the paint, scoring a game-high 20 points and grabbing a team-best seven rebounds. Day added 11 points off the bench, and Mya Martin added 10 points despite having trouble with fouls. Maddie Sejmer led Harrison Central with 13 points. Doan added nine markers and Kennedy Dunlap had a game-high eight rebounds.
Both teams had more turnovers, with the Huskies having six more than the Jets.
Harrison Central shot 41 percent from the floor (12-29), but turnovers and 7-of-17 shooting from the foul line didn’t help. Meanwhile, Union Local shot 39 percent (16-41) and made 12 of 18 free throws.
Both teams will be back on the floor Monday night as Union Local hosts Bellaire and Harrison Central travels to Wintersville to take on Indian Creek.
“That game against Berea will be a test for us.” Trzda added. “If we play sloppy against them, we’re going to be in trouble.”
Union Local 48, Harrison Central 34
Harrison Central (34) – Sejmar 5 3-4 13;Dunlop 2 0-0 4;Doan 3 2-3 9;Blackburn 1 0-0 3;Pellegreen 0 1-2 1;Stal 1 0-0 3 ;Power 0 1-8 1;Whip key 0 0-0 0;Smith 0 0-0 0;Total: 12-29 7-17 34. Union Local (48) – Sanders 0 1-2 1; Vinskovich 7 5-6 20; Martin 3 3-3 10; Pietranton 0 1-2 1; Butler 1 0- 0 2;Whiteley 0 0-0 0;Kellaway 1 0-0 3;Greenwood 0 0-0 0;McGarry 0 0-0 0;Davis 0 0-0 0;Day 4 2-5 11;McFarland 0 0-0 0;Total: 16-41 12-18 48
3-Point Goals: Harrison Central 3 (Doan, Blackburn, Stull). Union Local 4 (Viscovich, Martin, Day, Kellaway)
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