The Union and Midway junior varsity boys squads tangled in the opener of Thursday night’s Red Out event, with the visiting Raiders eking out a 57-53 win over the home team.

Coach Bryant Register congratulated Raider coach Matthew Creech and his squad for what he called a hard fought contest, and he praised the play of his own players, particularly for their play in the opening quarter.

“Coach Creech does a great job with his team,” Register said. “It was a good game.”

The Union coach said his team had a good start, but, as they have in game’s past weren’t able to maintain the consistency needed to get the win.

“I loved our effort in the first quarter,” Register stressed. “We had a really good start. We were focused and played hard. But it seemed like we stalled out after that and we allowed Midway to make a run.”

The JV Spartans jumped out to a quick 13-6 first-quarter lead and continued to pound away on both ends of the court in the second frame, but then they slowed, allowing the Raiders to fight their way back into the ballgame. Midway had cut it to only 4 points as the team’s headed into the half, with Union leading 27-23.

“We missed a couple of key free throws, then Midway got a 3-pointer and that switched the momentum,” Register said.

The key for Union, he stressed, was consistency. “We’ve got to play as strong in the second and third quarter as we do in the first. We can’t play a minute here and a minute there and expect to play our best.”

Leading the way for the Spartans Thursday were Brandon Johnson with 18 points; Christian Boykin, 13; Carter Spearman, 10; Jamar Newkirk, 10; and Jawan Newkirk, 2.

The loss moves Union’s record to 4-8 overall and 2-4 in conference play. They return to the court next Tuesday when they face Lakewood.

Midway’s stats were not called in by press time.