STRAUGHN, Ind. – There will be a Randolph County girls basketball sectional champion Saturday night in the Class A, Sectional 56.
And whichever team wins, it will end a long sectional drought for that school.
Union and Union City posted hard-fought semifinal wins Friday night at Tri High School, and will meet for the third time just this season at 7:30 p.m. tonight, and it will be the biggest game in years for both programs.
The 21-3 Rockets soared away from a valiant host Tri team in Friday’s opener, pulling away from a tie at 35 to win going away 52037. Then, the 15-8 Indians pulled ahead after a halftime tie and went on to beat a four-win Blue River team 63-50 in the nightcap.
So the sectional title game is a matchup of conference champions, Union which shared the Mid-Eastern Conference (MEC) title with Wapahani and Randolph Southern, and Union City was in a tie at the top of the Tri-Eastern Conference (TEC) with Hagerstown and Union County.
And the history?
Union last won a sectional 17 years ago, Union City last prevailed just two years later, in the year 2000.
The game is huge, and both teams earns their respective shots with gutsy efforts to fight off Henry County teams that were determined to pull upsets.
First, it was Union versus an eight-win host Titan team that had battled injuries and a season with less wins than hoped for.
You couldn’t have told that by Tri’s play Friday night.
“Tri had a great game plan, and executed it well,” said Union first-year head coach Andrew Moore.
The score was tied at 35 with 5:30 on the fourth quarter clock, the Titans had the ball and called timeout.
What did Moore talk about with his team at this critical point?
“I just told them to go back to the start of the season, and we had worked too hard to get to this point to let it slip away here,” Moore said. “We have been in this position before, and say go out and win the game.”
And the Rockets did just that, scoring the next 12 points, then a Tri two-point fielder by sophomore post standout Cayla Johnson was the last Titan points of the game. Five more by Union ran out the clock for a 17-2 run in the last five and a half minutes.
“This group is going to do everything it can to achieve its goals,” Moore concluded.
Tri coach Jeff Miller was very proud of his charges.
“My team showed the will to battle, to compete, especially in the second half,” Miller said. “We played very hard, I couldn’t have asked for more, Union has some experienced girls, they’ve played a lot of basketball, and it showed. Our group made some young player mistakes, we have only one senior.” Tri finished at 8-14.
DeAnn Kauffman had a game-high 25 points for Union, while Johnson led Tri with 17 points and unofficially, 13 rebounds.
In the nightcap, three Union City seniors played a big role, in combination with talented underclassmen to move Union City on.
After a tie at 29 at intermission, the Indians held Blue River to seven points in the third quarter, and just 21 for the entire second half in pulling away to win.
Three UC players scored in double figures, as senior post Raelynn Mills led with 15 points, and reached double figures in rebounds as well, breaking the school’s all-time mark in career rebounds, according to head coach Sarah Hines.. Fellow seniors Jessica Pollitt had 14 points off the bench, and freshman point guard had a dozen. Blue River junior standout Brenna Koontz lit up the scoreboard with 25 for the Vikings, who end the season 4-19. She hit five treys in the game, and Blue River had seven as a team.
“I told the girls that the tournament is a new season, and not to overlook anyone,” Hines said afterward. “And Blue River came out ready to play tonight, worked hard, and wanted to win just as badly as we did. But my girls worked hard, and got the win.”
Now, a third meeting with Union. The Rockets won a 66-51 game early in the season at Modoc, then edged the Indians 50-41 at a holiday tournament in the championship game, at Union City.
It is a third battle between county rivals.
“We’ve been working on some things that we think can help us against Union,” Hines said. “It will be a great game, two very good teams, and we’re excited to be a part of it and play for a championship.”
- Frankton 77, Burris 15: Frankton took an early lead and quickly pulled away in its victory over Burris in the Class 2A Shenandoah Sectional. Alyssa Peters led the Owls with nine points while Emma Meier contributed six points.
- Jay County 44, Fort Wayne South Side 37: The seven-point victory advances Jay County to the championship game of the Class 4A Homestead Sectional. It will face Homestead in the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday.