UNION 48, CLARION 41

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Dec. 12, 2008

By Chris Rossetti

RIMERSBURG – Union used an 11-0 run sandwiched between halftime to build a 15-point lead and then held off a late Clarion rally to get a 48-41 win in KSAC girls’ basketball action Friday night at Union.

The Golden Damsels (2-3 overall, 2-0 KSAC-South) led by just four late in the first half before ending the half on a 6-0 spurt to go ahead 24-14 at halftime.

“It was very important for us to get that momentum going into the half,” Union head coach Josh Meeker said.

Union then scored the first five points of the second half to increase the lead to 29-14 and still led by 13, 39-26, at the end of the third quarter.

The lead remained at 13, 41-28, following a Tina Lipps layup with 4:27 to play, but Clarion answered with a 9-2 run to get back into the game at 41-35 with 2:26 to play.

Union answered the bell going back up by nine with 39 seconds left by hitting 3 of 6 free throws, and Clarion (1-3, 1-1 KSAC-North) never got closer than five the rest of the way.  

“I’m not saying I’m not disappointed in a loss,” Clarion head coach Roger Walters said. “But when you look at how we played and that we were within seven points at the end that means a lot to me.”

Clarion shot 30.2 percent from the field and was under 30 percent in the first three quarters while also turning the ball over 32 times.

“Some of the turnovers were just mental,” Walters said. “They were silly mistakes like travels all over the court. A lot of them were just mistimed passes from guard to guard. We were looking to do the right thing, but we haven’t found the timing yet. Its young players, it will come with time. In a game like this, things just snowball on you.”

Union took advantage of the turnovers scoring 26 of their 48 points off turnovers and outscoring Clarion 26-5 in the points off turnovers category.

“We have always stressed that,” Meeker said. “If teams are going to make mistakes, make them pay for their mistakes. We work and talk about that stuff in practice. It’s very important.”

Lipps led Union with a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) despite playing just 22 minutes because of foul trouble. Brooke Pollock added 11 points and Lanae Cicciarelli had an all-around solid game with 10 points, five rebounds, three steals, two assists and a blocked shot.

Tiff Smathers had a game-high 12 points for Clarion, while Karyn Larson and Skyler Ganoe each added seven points. Larson chipped in with 11 rebounds including eight on the offensive end, and Kelsey Beichner had 13 boards for Clarion.

UNION 48, CLARION 41

Score by Quarters

Clarion 5 9 12 15 – 41

Union 12 12 15 9 – 48

Clarion – 41

Skyler Ganoe 3-5 1-2 7, Kaitlin Roth 3-11 0-0 6, Kelsey Beichner 2-7 1-1 5, Tiff Smathers 5-11 0-0 12, Karyn Larson 2-11 3-8 7, Bri Nellis 0-2 0-0 0, Karla Peterson 0-0 0-2 0, Kelly Peterson 0-1 0-0 0, Kara Durkin 1-4 2-3 4, Liz Shannonhouse 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-53 7-16 41.

Union – 48

Lanae Cicciarelli 4-10 0-2 10, Courtney Frederick 2-8 0-1 4, Lepha Logue 3-9 0-0 6, Melissa Shook 0-0 3-7 3, Tina Lipps 5-9 0-0 10, Amanda Barger 1-1 1-3 3, Brooke Pollock 4-13 3-7 11, Ashley MacKinlay 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Beichner 0-1 0-0 0, Heather Murray 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 19-51 8-22 48.

Three-pointers – Clarion 2 of 8 (Smathers 2-3, Roth 0-4, Beichner 0-1). Union 2 of 5 (Cicciarelli 2-3, Frederick 0-2).