Junior Lady ‘Cats storm back to beat Union Middle

In the first game of Tuesday night’s middle school double-header, the Union Middle girls squad squared off against Hobbton Middle for the first play-in game of the middle school tournament, in a game that sent the winner to the semi-finals of the postseason, and the loser home. A double-overtime thriller evolved, with last-second plays keeping the game alive, and the junior Wildcats taking the comeback win over the hosting junior Spartans, 18-15.

Union’s Ashlyn Spell and Hobbton’s Zariyana Williams took the opening tipoff, with the Spartans taking it first. Spell would sink the first bucket nearly immediately on a layup from the low block, giving Union the early 2-0 advantage.

A stout defense from the Spartans proved effective early, keeping the Wildcats scoreless. Union’s Rosario Solorano picked up a shooting foul on Malaya Farrior, who sank her free throws with 4:44 to play in the first to tie the game.

A defensive battle played out for both teams, as they were locked in on each other, allowing few opportunities. The chances they had, though, often resulted in turnovers via penalties and errant plays, and the score stayed locked at the same 2-2 it had been for several minutes.

The Wildcats continued to be flustered by the full-court press from the Spartans, but Union could not capitalize until the 2:11 mark when a turnover from Hobbton led to another Spell bucket from deep in the paint to give the host school the 4-2 lead, but quickly the Spartans found themselves in early foul trouble.

Nykeelah Johnson was called for the tenth foul of the opening quarter — seven on Union and three on Hobbton — with 9.5 seconds to play, but the Wildcats couldn’t get either free throw to fall. Grace Radiewa would add another foul just five seconds later, and this time McKenna Sinclair was able to knock down a foul shot to make it a 4-3 Union lead going into the second quarter.

The second period started with three penalties in the first 36 seconds, with Union committing two and Hobbton one. Both teams looked to get their offenses moving, but neither defense would show reprieve.

Johnson couldn’t connect on a pair of shots in the middle of the lane nearly two minutes into the quarter; the second of which was a result of a rebound of her first shot. Both teams remained scoreless for the first 2:35, until Spell collected a rebound and put it home, making it a 6-3 ball game for the Spartans with 3:25 left in the first half.

Hobbton’s Sinclair fed Sara Thornton on the low block on a breakaway and Zoey Strickland committed the shooting foul in the process of getting a shot off. Thornton sank her second of the two shots to cut Union’s lead to two at 6-4. Thornton would be fouled again shortly, but she was unable to sink either, leaving the score the same.

Williams would foul Spell on the Spartans’ next trip down the floor, but Spell couldn’t get hit either of the foul shots.

Zaliyah Odell Smith connected with Spell on another pass in the deep paint, which Spell put home once more to double the Union lead to 8-4 with less than two minutes to play in the half.

Sinclair found herself with the ball after sniping an inbound pass and hit a flat-footed shot from just behind the foul line to make it an 8-6 game with under a minute remaining in the first half.

That would be the score as the teams hit the locker rooms for half time.

Johnson was assessed a technical foul 45 seconds into the second half, awarding Hobbton’s Ryan Cramer two foul shots which she couldn’t connect on, keeping the score the same. Union was awarded another technical at the 4:19 mark, and this time Cramer was able to connect one of the two shots, closing Union’s lead to 8-7.

The teams locked back in defensively for a majority of the third quarter, creating mistakes and mismatches at both ends and allowing little offensive production. Union still used the full-court press while Hobbton played the tough 2-3 zone to lock down the middle of the court. Getting past half court was tough for the Wildcats, with Union seemingly covering every inch on both sides. Drives into the paint for the Spartans were sparse and hard to come by with the Wildcat zone keeping Union out of the middle.

Radiewa scored the next points on a long jumper from the left side just north of 2:30 to play in the third, giving Union the 10-7 advantage.

Twice Radiewa came up with fast break opportunities and twice she was denied late in the third, as Hobbton quickly recovered from their blunders to pursue the ball.

Radiewa would hit a jumper after a quick stop just north of the low block with time nearly expiring in the third, making it a 12-7 lead for Union going into the final period of action.

Farrior took over the ball game for the Wildcats at the beginning of the fourth, trying to create opportunities for the comeback.

Thornton hit a jumper in front of the hoop near the 4:30 mark to cut the lead to 12-9 for the hosting Spartans. She collected a rebound and g0t the bucket a minute later to close Union’s gap to 12-11, forcing the Spartans to signal for the timeout after the 4-0 run for the Wildcats.

And then she would tie it up at 12 after being fouled by Strickland on the breakaway with 2:30 remaining in the game, as the Spartans remained scoreless in the fourth.

As the clock moved under two minutes, the teams continued battling back-and-forth for the win to put them into Thursday night’s tournament.

As the teams battled down to the wire in the final minute, the defensive pressure was as thick as it ever was. Radiewa came up with a steal of a Hobbton inbound pass with 54.6 seconds left, but fumbled the ball, and the Wildcats recovered and got back into position to force it out of bounds. Cramer collected a rebound and took it coast-to-coast for the try, but couldn’t land the layup and the teams remained knotted at a dozen points a piece.

As the final buzzer of regulation time sounded, the score remained unchanged, and the teams moved to a three minute overtime to try and break the tie.

It was Johnson and Williams again at midcourt for the tipoff to start the bonus period, with Hobbton winning the tip. The teams traded empty possessions, though, and Hobbton took it back with 2:46 to play for their second possession of the extra time.

The overtime period showcased the same play that was had in regular time, with tough defenses and unforced errors setting the tone for both squads.

Strickland finally broke the tie with almost one minute to play with a 3-pointer, making it a 15-12 game. Farrior was fouled on a shot at the other end, sinking one of her two free throws with 55.6 seconds to play to cut it to 15-13 still in favor of Union.

Johnson would be called for a block on Farrior with 6.6 seconds remaining, sending her back to the line for two. The Wildcat couldn’t hit either free throw, and Union held their 15-13 advantage. 35U would be clocked with a push with just three seconds left, and it was Cramer that was sent to the line this time. Her shots were no good, but Williams collected the rebound and put it back in to tie the game at 15-all with 1.5 seconds left on the clock, forcing a second overtime in the play-in game.

Cramer was sent to the line 48 seconds into the second overtime period as Union collected their eighth team foul, and she banked in both shots to retake the lead for the visiting Wildcats with over two minutes remaining the bonus period. She would add another point with under 30 seconds to play, making it an 18-15 affair in favor of the Wildcats.