Owen Davis of North Union grimaces while going up for a basket. Davis tallied 12 points during a win over Elgin.
(Photo submitted)
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North Union boys basketball coach Brian Terrill was somewhat critical of how his team played at Elgin.
But he was more than pleased with the bottom line, a 46-33 victory over the Comets.
“We played sloppy at the end,” Terrill said. “We played a good team on the road and we had a lot of positives. But the coach is not happy.”
The Wildcats, 17-4, scored just three points over the final five minutes and committed four turnovers.
On the plus side, the defense limited the Comets to only six points over the same stretch.
“Our defense kept us in the game,” Terrill said.
North Union was playing for the second consecutive night, following a hard-fought win over Indian Lake in a game that was rescheduled because of weather.
Terrill said several attempts were made to separate the IL game from the one against Elgin, but none were found.
One thing discussed was moving Indian Lake to Elgin’s spot on the schedule and not play the Comets.
“But we wanted to play them all,” Terrill said. “We used to play back-to-back games all the time.”
Neither team gained any advantage in the opening quarter, which had five ties and no lead larger than two points.
The quarter ended deadlocked at 11.
Zach Vernon scored six points, while Aaron Krebehenne knocked down a three-point goal for North Union.
The Wildcats scored the first eight points of the second quarter, capped by a baseline drive from Max Parish that ended with dunk.
North Union went scoreless the rest of the stanza.
Elgin, helped by a three-point goal from Carson Rife, closed to within 19-16 by the end of the half.
The Comets, 16-5, sliced two more points off their gap on their opening possession of the third quarter on two free throws by Rife.
North Union, though, scorched the nets for 11 points on its next four trips down the floor to take a 30-18 spread.
Richie Bolander started the run with a three-point goal.
Vernon tallied eight markers, six coming on a pair of three-point field goals,
Owen Davis scored a pair of baskets, including a dunk on a breakaway, to give North Union a 34-22 lead with 2:21 left in stanza.
Davis’ foul-line jumper with two seconds left earned North Union a 36-25 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats took their largest lead at 43-27 with just over five minutes remaining on a rebound basket by Vernon.
The ragged play Terrill alluded to at the end kept North Union from increasing its lead.
However, a back-door cut by Nolan Draper with just over a minute left gave the Wildcats their final margin of victory.
Despite some foul trouble, Vernon was still able to lead all scorers with 18 points, while Davis finished 12 points.
Issac Dillon led Elgin with 13 points.
North Union held off Elgin in the closing seconds to earn a 37-36 victory during the junior varsity game.
Miles Hall and Tyler Huff each had 12 points for the Wildcats.
North Union
Draper 1-0-2, Vernon 8-0-18, Parish 2-0-4, Bolander 1-0-3, Davis 6-0-12, T. Krebehenne 0-1-1, A. Krebehenne 2-0-6. Three-point goals: A. Krebehenne 2, Vernon 2, Bolander.
Elgin
Sager 1-0-2, Castillo 1-1-3, Dillon 4-4-13, Rife 3-0-7, Grim 2-4-8. Three-point goals: Dillon, Rife.