Though it is still early in the season, Monday was already the second matchup between the two teams. Union Local also defeated Martins Ferry on Dec. 4, 57-51.

“We knew coming in here, this was gonna be a tough game against a really good team,” Union Local head coach Scooter Tolzda said. “We beat them once and our girls were locked in and I thought we got out to a real good start in the first half. It was kind of a mirror of the first game. We get up by 16 or 17 in both games and then they start chipping into it. It got a little tight, we started playing scared, we started playing passive, but I thought we made some free throws down the stretch and we hung in there.”

“We just came out soft and scared for the second game in a row against them,” Martins Ferry head coach Dave Reasbeck said. “And it was worse this game. We just let them do what they wanted. We let them take the ball from us again. We let a girl from Union Local score, I think, 26 on us again, a different girl. We just didn’t come out like athletes should. But then we looked up at the scoreboard and we saw we were getting embarrassed, and we gave everything we had in the fourth quarter.”

A Gracie Lucas layup was followed-up by a Giana Chirpas straightaway 3-pointer to pull Martins Ferry within six, 44-50, with 1:20 to play in the game, but the Purple Riders couldn’t get another shot to fall the rest of the way, while Union Local sunk free throws to push out their lead.

Martins Ferry put on a full-court press in the second half, which paid major dividends in the fourth quarter, where they forced seven Union Local turnovers and created good scoring chances.

“We made some bad decisions,” Tolzda said. “And, you know, no matter if they’re juniors and seniors, that’s a different game. Because now you’re battling the clock instead of the opponent. We’re gonna work on that. Hopefully we can get better, but it’s a good win. Beating them twice– I mean, we’ve only played six games, we’ve beaten Morton’s Ferry twice. I would’ve signed up for that at the beginning of the year. I’m proud of the girls’ effort.”

Laken Vinskovich poured in 25 points to lead Union Local, while Ameera Saunders scored 15 and Alli Kellaway scored 10.

Giana Chirpas scored 11 for Martins Ferry, while SJ Koller scored 10.

Tolzda was happy with his team’s defensive performance.

“Ultimately I think it was our defense,” Tolzda said. “We take a lot of pride in our defense, but I thought Delaney Butler, the job that she did on Chirpas– I thought we kept them off the free throw line. That was one of our goals, to defend without putting them at the free throw line. And I thought we hung in there on the boards. I mean, we made a lot of mistakes. We gotta clean that up. Hopefully we can. But it’s a big win heading into the middle of the season.”

Union Local moves to 6-0 on the season, while Martins Ferry is now 5-3. The Riders next play on Dec. 27, traveling to Wheeling Park, while the Jets host Zanesville the same day.

“We’ve got to decide what we are,” Reasbeck said. “Are we the little girls that played in the first three quarters or are we the athletes who went a hundred percent, everything-to-the-wall in the fourth quarter?

“I’m proud of how we came back, but you can’t do it against a team that’s probably gonna lose about one game this year. Credit to [Union Local]. That’s the third time in a row they beat us. Hats off to ’em.”