Paxon Stofcheck, right, of North Union, attempts to drive to the basket with the ball against a Buckeye Valley defender. Stofcheck helped add seven points to the scoreboard during the Lady Cats’ 40-38 loss.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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The Lady Cats of North Union suffered from a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde mentality on Tuesday when they fell 40-38 to the neighboring Lady Barons.
Both team struggled to find the bottom of the basket early on in the open quarter with the score knotted at 4-4 after four minutes of play. The Lady Cats attempted to work the low post with an over-head pass, but the Lady Barons were able to figure out the move quickly and forced the Cats to abandoned the effort. At the end of the first eight minutes the score was 7-6.
The Laady Cats continued to struggle on offense with rushed shots while the Lady Barons started to find their stride in the paint. North Union struggle to fill the lanes and that let the Barons widen the gap to 23-13 by the half.
The second half saw a different North Union team take the floor as the Lady Cats started to close the gap on Buckeye Valley with more defensive pressure. The defensive pressure paid off for the Cats as Taylor Day picked off a pass and hooked up with Paxon Stofcheck during a two-on-one break away to start reeling in the Barons. Maddi Ruhl got in on the mix to add two followed by a Stofcheck trey and a Day jumper to end a 10-2 run on points.
“That is when we began to apply pressure on the offensive end,” said North Union head coach Rachel Weaver. “Whether it was off of ball screens or attacking the basket, we were letting them make us believe they were guarded. I told them you need to attack the basket and that is what we did.”
Ruhl continued to attack the basket, this time from outside the arc to pull the Lady Barons within one (27-26). The aggression continued by North Union leading to a shut down on the Lady Barons offensive side of the court, but for the Lady Cats the ball was finding the bottom of the hole with ease and a buzzer beater trey by Ruhl tied the game at 29 at the end of the third.
“When we share the ball and play as a team whether it is of defense or offense we are an extremely successful team, we are almost dangerous,” added Weaver.
The danger of the Lady Cats was felt by the Buckeye Valley when Journey Blevins find the ball down low and gave the Cats their first lead (31-29) since early one in the first quarter. The Cats added three more points to take a 34-29 lead before the Lady Barons started to fight back. The two teams continued to swap blows and exchange the lead back-and-fourth late in the fourth with the Barons sitting on top at 39-38 with 23 seconds left on the clock.
The Lady Cats put BV shooters at the line to try and get the ball back. Buckeye Valley was able to go one-for-two to put the game at 40-38. The Lady Cats dished the ball off to Day how was able to drive the line and lace a floater in to tie the game with eight seconds left, but a charging foul pulled the points off the board as the game clock ticked down to zero.
“We can’t wait until the second half to turn it on,” said Weaver. “We need to turn it (intensity) on right at tip off, actually, I wish they would turn it on in warm ups, because your body is ready to go. That is the biggest thing for us. We just got to get that consistency in playing that way at the beginning of the game.”
The Lady Cats will return to action on Thursday when they take on Elgin at home.
Box Score
NU 06 07 16 09 38
BV 07 16 06 11 40
NU- Day- 12, Ruhl- 11, Stofcheck- 7, Blevins- 5, Clark- 5
BV- Goran- 12, Scowden- 10, Grether- 6, Leienberger- 6, Radcliffe- 4, Hughes- 2