Journey Blevins of North Union lines up a jump shot during a home game against Clear Fork. Blevins tallied 17 points during the Lady Cats’ 61-27 victory.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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The Lady Cats of North Union decided to use their game against the Lady Colts of Clear Fork to polish their offense and try a few new things. The tactic paid off for head coach Rachel Weaver and her Cats as NU cruised to a 61-27 victory Tuesday.
“We were just trying to get some different looks and things we might us during tournament time and just to finish out the season,” Weaver added. “We were trying to get some different mix ups, so yeah we tried some different things, we looked at some different defenses to see what worked and what didn’t.”
Taylor Day put North Union on the board early with a three and helped ignite the Cats offense. The green light stayed on for the deep ball as Maddi Ruhl dropped in two from the out side to help the Lady Cats pick up 17 points during the first quarter to take a 17-7 lead.
The torch for the long ball was passed to Paxon Stofcheck in the second quarter as she worked her magic with the long on two separate occasions. The North Union defense continued to play tight man-to-man defense that caused the Lady Colts to cough up the ball on 12 separate occasions during the first half of the game. The turnovers helped the Cats stretch their lead to 33-12 at the break.
“The reason you run offense is to get the shot and I wan them to have a scorers mentality,” Weaver added. “The green light is always on with me. Each one has a different scoring capability. If the three ball is open and that is there thing, then shot the three. Then we have other guards that the pull up and shot is better for them. I just always want them to be thinking about scoring.”
The second half of the game was more of the same. Journey Blevins was leading the charge for NU collecting 10 of her team-high 17 points to help the Cats continue to work the scoreboard to 44-19 by the end of the third. The final stanza was nothing by a speed bump as the Lady Cats cruised to their 13th win of the season and 7-5 record in the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference.
The Lady Cats will return to the court on Thursday when they face off against River Valley. During the two teams last faceoff, the Lady Viking got the best of NU with a buzzer-beater three to win. Weaver believes that the next meeting will be the Lady Cat’s shot at redemption.
“We were up, our emotions were high, then they came back and hit the shot,” she added. “Sometimes those things fall and it was kind of like a shot to the gut and I don’t think any of our girls have forgotten that. I think the girls are going to come out with a fierce mentality.”
The game will take place at North Union at 7 p.m.
North Union
Belvins 8-0-17, Ruhl 5-0-13, Clark 4-3-11, Stofcheck 2-2-8, Day 1-0-3, Terrill 1-0-3, Amstutz 1-0-2, Dieckert 0-2-2, Marvin 1-0-2
Three-point goals: Ruhl 3, Stofcheck 2, Blevins 1, Day 1, Terrill 1
Clear Fork
Wade 5-2-13, Studenmund 3-0-6, Crowner 0-2-2, Hamilton 1-0-2, Robinson 1-0-2, Snavely 1-0-2
Three-point goals: Wade 1
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