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Knights run away from KC
20-5 stretch helps Union bury Gremlins
By Sam Tallarico
Eagle Staff Writer
RIMERSBURG — Once Union became aggressive in its game against Karns City Tuesday, it started rolling.
Trailing 15-11 entering the second quarter, the Golden Knights went on a 20-5 run in the first 4:52 of the period on their way to posting a 61-46 Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference boys basketball victory.
The win improved Union to 12-2 in the KSAC East and 13-4 overall, moving two games ahead of the second-place Gremlins (10-4, 12-6).
Union outscored the Gremlins 27-10 in that pivotal second quarter, with 13 points coming from sophomore Scott Booth.
"In the second quarter, we pushed the ball a little harder," said Union coach Karen Davis. "In the first quarter, we seemed to take our time, but then we were able to push the ball and create things."
Union jumped out to a 7-3 lead before the Gremlins ran off nine unanswered points, including five from Matt McConnell, to take a 12-7 lead.
"When we left this locker room, I thought we were more ready than any other game this year," said Karns City coach Steve Andreassi. "Early on, good things happened. But when the momentum shifted, we couldn't recover and they capitalized."
A 3-pointer with two seconds left in the first quarter gave the Gremlins a four-point lead, but Union opened the second quarter by scoring the first seven points, capped by a 3-pointer by Logan Mortimer, for an 18-15 lead.
After the Gremlins tied the game at 18 following a free throw by Cameron Turner and a basket by Dan Everetts, Mortimer drained another 3-pointer to give the Knights the lead for good with 5:37 left before halftime.
"(Mortimer's 3s) really pushed us past them," said Davis. "Those were very big."
Union outscored Karns City 17-7 the remainder of the half, with 10 points coming from Booth in that span, for a 38-25 advantage.
In the second half, the Knights opened with a 3-pointer by Booth and a basket from Clay Burns to take a 43-25 lead. The Gremlins got no closer than 14 points.
Booth finished with 28 points and Neil Scott netted with 13. It was Scott's play that did the most damage to the Gremlins.
""He killed us all night," said Andreassi.
"Neil's a workhorse," Davis said. "He works hard for those rebounds (he finished with 12 rebounds)."
The Knights have opened up a nice lead in the conference and defense has been the key.
"We're playing much better on defense," Davis said. "The last few games, we've held teams to totals I've never seen — even with the girls teams.
"I'm proud of these kids. We just have to keep it rolling."
Turner led the Gremlins with 18 points.
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