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Union Local stays red hot, cruises to win over Buckeye

CONNORVILLE — After an 0-2 start, Union Local has been one of the hottest boys basketball teams around.

The high-flying Jets improved 12-3 Friday night with a 55-33 victory over homestanding Buckeye Local.

With the lopsided win, Union Local has now won 12 of its last 13 contests heading into a home encounter tonight (Saturday) against Bellaire.

The Jets, known for their 3-point shooting, relied on the inside game early in building an 18-9 lead after eight minutes. In fact, all of the points came on layups — some contested and others not.

“No, not necessarily. We just trying to do what we do and continue to get better at the little things,” Union Local head coach Zach Delman said of the layup drill. “I thought we got a little lethargic and stagnant offensively in the second half against Beaver Local the other night (Wednesday). We just wanted to clean that up. I thought we did a good job of attacking the basket (Friday).

“We only made one 3 (Friday), but we only shot seven. We just tried to get to the basket more and not hang our hats on jump-shooting because our percentages are a little down this year. So, if there are opportunities to get to the basket, we’ll take advantage of them.”

Delman also was pleased with his defense, which held the Panthers (7-6) to single digits in the first three quarters.

“We played very well on that end of the floor,” Delman said of the defensive effort.

Senior Josh Meyer scored all 15 of his points in the first half, as Union Local led, 31-16. Classmate Luke Merritt took over in the second half, netting 14 of his game-high 20 points. Eleven of those markers came in the third quarter when the visitors pulled away for a 48-21 margin. Andrew Martin finished with eight points.

Zac Bateman and Merritt evenly divided 14 rebounds between them, as the Jets claimed a 27-20 edge off the glass.

Jake Mayle led Buckeye Local with eight points, while Mason Brown and Cameron Best each tallied seven. Cameron Grabits had six boards.

The Panthers charted 17 turnovers, 11 more than the sure-handed Jets.

Union Local 55, Buckeye Local 33

Union Local 18 13 17 7 — 55

Buckeye Local 9 7 5 12 — 33

UNION LOCAL: Vinskovich 2 0-0 4; Martin 4 0-0 8; Meyer 7 1-1 15; Merritt 9 1-2 20; Bateman 3 0-0 6; Butts 0 2-4 2; Miller 0 0-0 0; Blake 0 0-0 0; Rex 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25, 4-9: 55.

BUCKEYE LOCAL: McHugh 1 0-0 2; Brown 3 0-0 7; Mayle 3 0-0 8; Grabits 1 0-2 2; Best 2 3-5 7; Zanes 0 0-0 0; Chandler 0 0-0 0; Scott 0 0-0 0; A. Deitch 1 0-0 2; R. Deitch 1 1-2 3; Rouse 0 0-0 0; Romanyak 1 0-0 2; Walker 0 0-0 0; Carter 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13, 4-9: 55.

3-POINT GOALS: Union Local 1 (Merritt); Buckeye Local 3 (Mayle 2, Brown).

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