Jada Davis (22) of North Union leaps for a layup during the Lady Cats’ season opener against Benjamin Logan. Davis picked up 10 points during NU’s 63-48 loss. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
The opening of the winter sports season has been an uncertainty for the North Union girls basketball team.
The day finally arrived on Saturday.
It wasn’t, however, the outcome the Lady Cats were hoping for as they dropped their first contest of the season, 63-48, to Benjamin Logan.
Second-year coach Bre Nauman said a win would have been nice, but she wasn’t unhappy with her team’s effort.
“I think for our first game and for being a young team, we fought hard,” she said.
The Lady Cats found themselves in an early hole as the Lady Raiders pulled ahead by a 14-7 margin.
NU’s only post player, Taran Moran, found some space in the low post to help her team climb its way out their hole. She tallied six points in the first quarter.
Sadie Spriggs gave the Cats their last bucket of the quarter with a steal on the inbound pass with only three second left on the clock. She finished off with a layup to bring the score to 16-15, still in favor of Ben Logan.
Nauman said her Lady Cats played as team.
“It was one of the most unselfish teams I have seen play,” she said. “We weathered some storms and fought back in the first quarter.
“We did well at driving near the end of the first quarter,” she said. “Everyone was doing their part and it brought us back.”
NU’s shooters found their groove during the second period.
Jordyn Hoffman picked up seven points, including a trifecta that gave North Union a 32-30 lead.
A late foul, the 25th of the half, put a Ben Logan shooter at the free-throw line. The Lady Raiders hit both charity tosses and tied the game, 32-all, at the half.
The third quarter was where the Lady Cats’ youth was revealed .
The Lady Cats struggled to find clean passes and turned the ball over multiple times.
The trio of Moran, Hoffman and Jada Davis provided all the offense NU could muster.
As a result, the Lady Raiders marched their way to a 54-39 lead.
Nauman said her team was just going through the motions in the third quarter.
“We would break the press and handle the pressure, but we couldn’t keep pushing,” she said. “In the second half, we were looking at flat passes and trying to put up lobs when they weren’t there.
“We just didn’t take care of the ball like we should have done.”
Hoffman dropped in her second trey of the game, while Davis and Moran finished off their 10-point games with buckets.
The third quarter deficit, however, was too much to overcome as the Lady Cats picked up their first loss of the season.
Nauman said North Union’s 10-day quarantine really halted its momentum heading into the season.
“We got our scrimmages in and then went on quarantine,” she said. “It pumped the brakes on the season really fast.
“That momentum we were starting to pick up just fell apart.”
The Lady Cats’ hope to bounce back in their next court appearance today at Bellefontaine High School.