January 31, 2008 - New Madison, Ohio

By Doug Frazier

Do not be fooled by the 7-10 record that the Union City Lady Indians bring into the game at the Battleground against the Lady Patriots. “This is a tough, scrappy team that has four players capable of scoring. They will be tough to match-up with.” These were the words Tri-Village Coach Brad Gray used to describe their opponent.

TV controls the opening tip and begins to work against the Union City zone defense. The Pats are patient and find Amelia Frazier for an open 12 footer to open the game. Erin Bundy steals the ball on a UC possession and the Patriots are looking to score again. Erin drives to the hoop for a layup and draws the foul, she hits one of two and TV is up 3-0. Natasha Anguiano gets a steal the next time the Patriots control the ball and takes it to the hoop to make it 3-2. Jordyn Fisherback gets a putback for a 5-2 advantage. Tina Allison then gets a steal and finds Frazier for an eighteen-foot jumper and the Lady Pats have a five-point advantage.

Lani Allen begins to answer for the Lady Indians, as she would take the ball inside against the Tri-Village zone defense for scores as Fisherback hits two charity tosses in-between for a 9-6 tally. Two treys by Jade Hill and a putback by Morgan Whiteneck gives the Lady Indians the lead at 9-14 as the quarter comes to a close.

Lani Allen extends the Indian lead to seven with a jumper and one of two from the line at 10-17. After Tina Allison records her second block of the game, Frazier finds Jordyn Fisherback inside. Jordyn makes a nice scoop lay in as she comes across the backside. Jessica Emrick answers with a three and the score is 12-20. TV comes charging back as Fisherback is strong inside and Frazier completes and old fashioned three, followed by a nineteen-foot jumper by Hillary Frech to close it to one at 19-20.

Union City wants a timeout with 1:22 until the break. Tri-Village finishes strong with two buckets by Allison to complement a Fisherback score and the Lady Pat’s have resumed the lead at the intermission 25-22.

Both teams come out challenging hard on the defensive end of the floor. Union City calls timeout with 4:52 left in the quarter and neither team having put a mark on the scoreboard. On the ensuing possession; Tina Allison records another block and adds an assist on the other end as she finds Jordyn Fisherback for a five footer. Amelia Frazier feeds Hillary Frech on their next possession and the Patriots open up a seven-point lead at 29-22. Lani Allen puts UC on the board with a trey and Anguiano adds two free throws to bring the Indians back within four at 29-25. Tina Allison adds her fourth block of the game, which is followed by an Erin Bundy lay up, and a fifteen footer from Frech. Jade Hill puts up another three pointer for the Indians and the quarter ends as Allison finds Frazier open for a backdoor lay up to make it 35-32 TV.

Union has the ball to begin the fourth stanza and Tri-Village returns to their man-to-man defense. Tina Allison adds yet another block and Fisherback adds one more tick to the TV side with a free throw. Morgan Whiteneck gets a put back for Union City and the score is 36-34. Frazier goes inside to Fisherback and Whiteneck tallies her fifth foul. Jordyn drains both tosses and it’s a four-point game. Hillary Frech drops in an eighteen footer to push it to 40-34. Anguiano is fouled in the lane and makes both, 40-36. Jordyn Fisherback battles for her board and puts it back up for TV. Natasha Anguiano drives the lane again and converts a traditional three-point play to cut the lead to four at 42-38. Erin Bundy makes a nice lob to Allison who finishes and it’s six again. Lani Allen keeps pace for UC with a long ball to bring it to three, 44-41. Jordyn Fisherback is fouled in the lane at the other end and makes one of two with 3:04 to play. Play goes back and forth with neither team advancing the score until Tri-Village takes a time out with 0:53 remaining to setup their strategy.

The Patriots inbound the ball to Frazier and the Indians foul her to put her on the line for one-and-one. Amelia cans them both and it’s a six-point game at 47-41. Union City brings the ball down, but misses a lay up and Frazier comes away with the rebound. UC puts her on the line again with the same result and it’s 49-41. Jessica Emrick drains a three on the other end and the Lady Indians call time out with 0:25 on the clock down 49-44. TV inbounds to Frazier and the Indians have no choice but to put her on the line again. Two more tosses and it’s a seven-point game. Union City launches a three which finds only iron and the ball ends up in the hands of Amelia Frazier again as UC fouls to stop the clock. Amelia collects her eighth and ninth straight free throw for the game, which leads to the final score of 53-44.

When asked to reflect on the Patriot victory, Coach Gray had this to say. “This was a good game for us offensively. Jordyn was strong inside and the guards did a good job of getting in to the post today. We struggled some on the perimeter today, probably due in part to Kayla Burns having been sick this week. Hillary Frech stepped up though, with seven rebounds and eight points. We will have to play good defense against Ansonia in our game next week. We’ll have to get out on the shooters and challenge them. We did a good job of closing in this game, probably the best we have done. We kept our composure, took care of the ball when they brought the pressure, and got the right people on the line down the stretch. We feel very confident when Amelia goes to the line for us.”

Tri-Village will close the CCC schedule when they host Ansonia Thursday night. This should be a good contest as Ansonia is riding a four game winning streak. The Lady Patriots close out the regular season on Saturday as Stivers comes in for Senior Day, as the three Patriot Seniors will be recognized. Come out to the Battleground as the girls look to collect their 14th and 15th victories.
  
Score by Quarters
Tri-Village 09 16 10 18 – 53
Union City 14 08 10 12 – 44

Tri-Village
Tina Allison 06
Erin Bundy 03
Kaila Burns 00
Jordyn Fisherback 19
Amelia Frazier 17
Hillarie Frech 08
Totals 53

Union City (IN)
Allen 10
Anguiano 08
Emrick 07
Hill 15
Whiteneck 04
Totals 44