By Cody Rose
It was a packed house in the Bears Den on Thursday night as the Union City Lady Bears basketball team honored their six seniors before the game and everyone in attendance watched to see senior, Brooke VanTassel score her 1,000th career point, as the Lady Bears played host to the North East Lady Grape Pickers in region action on Senior Night.
It was a defensive battle early in the contest as the shots weren’t falling for either team. Jalyssa Wicker would get the Pickers on the scoreboard as she would score the first five points to give North East a 5-0 lead. Ava Greer would make a layup late in the first quarter to put the Bears on the board and Brooke VanTassel, who entered the game needing nine points to reach 1,000, added four points as the score was tied at six after one.
Ellie Hunter would make a basket to give the Lady Bears their first lead of the game, 10-9 early in the second quarter. The Lady Pickers would come right back and retake the lead on a three-point shot by Jalyssa Wicker as she was on fire to start the game, scoring ten of the team’s first twelve points.
Late in the first half Brooke VanTassel, needing only three points to reach the milestone, would make a layup and draw the foul to go to the line for one more. VanTassel would make the shot and score her 1,000th career point, giving Union City a one-point lead in the process. Jalyssa Wicker would score a bucket as the Pickers would briefly retake the lead, but the Lady Bears weren’t done yet as Ellie Hunter would hit a three-point shot at the buzzer as Union City would go into the half with an 18-16 lead.
The third quarter almost mirrored the first as neither team could buy a bucket in what was a defensive battle, as both sides scored four points to go into the fourth tied at twenty-two.
The Lady Bears would retake the lead in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter on a three-point shot by Ava Greer and would never look back, as they would go on to win the game and take down the Pickers 38-33 on Senior Night ending their four-game losing streak. The win improves the Lady Bears to 9-10 (5-7) on the season, while the Lady Pickers drop their second straight game falling to 5-15 (3-9).
Ellie Hunter led the Bears with twelve points on the night, while Brooke VanTassel finished with eleven. Jalyssa Wicker led the Pickers with twenty-one.
The Lady Bears will return to action on Saturday afternoon as they travel to Corry to take on the Lady Beavers in a non-region game.
Game stats:
Union City:
Ellie Hunter – 12 points
Brooke VanTassel – 11 points
Ava Greer – 11 points
Shae Kent – 4 points
North East:
Jalyssa Wicker – 21 points
Miah Skelly – 6 points
Haven Dobson – 4 points
Mya Miller – 2 points
