By RYAN WALKER
PONETO — It was the Raiders best shot so far this year to pick up win No. 1, but fell by just one point to Union City on Friday.
CJ Reber’s three-point bucket at the final buzzer was one point shy for the 45-44 final score between the Raiders (0-7) and Indians (2-5).
Scoreboard-wise, this was the best game Southern Wells had played under first-year head coach Doug Smith. The margin of previous losses never got better than 15 points. However, Smith left the game with some question marks that could have given his team its first win of the campaign.
“In some ways I think so,” Smith answered when asked if this was the best his team had played. “In other ways, it’s like, ‘Man, there’s so many things that we are capable of, but we still just didn’t execute. I guess overall, yes.”
The biggest capability the Raiders could have fixed was the first and second halves. Offensively, they shot 2-21 in the first, making one shot each quarter. But in the second half, a new team emerged from the locker room after Smith switched to a high-low look with Joshua Aulbach and Reber near the basket against the Indians’ zone.
Reber hit a pair of shots in the third quarter, including the first make of the period. That got Trey Slusher and Landon Johnson going, who made a two and a three and suddenly, Southern Wells was down by one point with three minutes left to play.
On a play shortly after, Union City’s Jackson Cowper received a technical foul for harmlessly touching the ball after a play was over. That sent Johnson to the line and made the pair, and gave the Raiders their first lead of the day.
Reber hit his second shot of the period and got the Raiders up by three points, but that lead would dwindle down quickly.
The Indians applied full-court pressure for the first time all game, and it threw the Raiders into fits. Three straight turnovers swung six quick points back the other way and closed the quarter out on a 7-2 run. Union City was up 25-23.
“We dug such a big hole for ourselves early in the game,” Smith said. “So we were telling them to chip back, chip back, chip back. We had plenty of opportunity and what it comes down to, is they came out of their press — we have a rock solid press break offense, and they just didn’t execute. They scored six quick points on the press, and that’s the difference in the ballgame.”
Unlike the first 24 minutes, the final eight were points galore. Both teams eclipsed the 20-point mark but did not have much separation. Union City went up by as many as seven early in the fourth when it got on a 11-0 run for a minute and a half.
Reber weathered the storm by scoring four buckets in a row and tallying his team-high 20 points. Johnson made two jumpers in his 11 points in the half. But that 11-point span was too much to come by.
Southern Wells will play Heritage in an ACAC contest at home with Heritage. Tipoff will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11.
Union City won the junior varsity contest 35-11. Hunter Durham scored six points and Adam Aulbach five for the Raiders.
ryan@news-banner.com
UNION CITY 45, SOUTHERN WELLS 44
At Southern Wells
UNION CITY (2-5): Jackson Cowper 7-10 2-3 17, Trendon Spencer 4-15 6-8 15, Cayden Hartman 2-6 1-2 5, Colton Emrick 1-5 0-0 3, Caleb Lutz 1-1 0-0 3, Jace O’Connor 1-3 0-0 2, Luis Nieto 0-9 0-0 0, Brayden Huggins 0-0 0-0 0, Asa Vaughn 0-3 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-52 9-13 45.
SOUTHERN WELLS (0-7): CJ Reber 8-16 3-4 20, Landon Johnson 4-11 2-4 11, Trey Slusher 2-4 1-2 5, Joshua Aulbach 1-3 1-2 2, Wyatt Yoder 0-8 3-4 3, Hunter Durham 0-1 0-0 0, Rugar Holmes 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15-43 10-16 44.
U. City 11 5 9 20 — 45
S. Wells 2 8 13 21 — 44
Three-point Shooting: Union City 4-13 (Luts 1-1, Spencer 1-4, Emrick 1-2, Cowper 1-2, Nieto 0-3), Southern Wells 2-16 (Reber 1-3, Johnson 1-5, Yoder 0-7, Durham 0-1). Rebounds: Union City 29 Cowper 9, Spence 6, O’Connor 4, Nieto 4, Lutz 3, Vaughn 2, Emrick 1), Southern Wells 28 (Aulbach 11, Reber 7, Durham 3, Slusher 2, Yoder 2, Holmes 2, Johnson 1). Turnovers: Union City 16, Southern Wells 14. Fouls: Union City 12, Southern Wells 11. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: Union City 1, Cowper.
JV Score:
35-11 Union City.
