Union Local's front line gives Buckeye Trail trouble in 52-36 road loss

MORRISTOWN − Buckeye Trail's shooting touch was as frigid as the temperatures outside Union Local High School during Tuesday's non-league match-up with the host Jets.

That sluggish offensive output proved too big an obstacle to overcome, resulting in Trail suffering a 52-36 setback to slip to 4-3 on the season.

Buckeye Trail second-year head coach Gregg Strasser credited the Union Local defense for his team's struggles on the offensive end. More specifically the Jets huge front line that featured 6-5 junior Easton Ditlzer, 6-4 senior D.J. Butts and 6-3 senior Carter Blake.

"They covered the middle and we could not get the ball inside to Garrett and Charlie," Strasser said. "We want to get the ball inside the post and then kick it out to our shooters. This gets the defense moving and opens up some clean looks from the perimeter."

In the opening quarter, the Warriors misfired on their first seven shots from the field before senior Garrett Burga got a shot to drop at the 3:42 mark. Despite the poor shooting display in the quarter by Trail with a chilly 2-for-13 effort, Union Local only managed an 11-8 lead after one quarter of action.

Things didn't improve much in the second stanza for the visitors, with Union Local posting an 18-8 scoring edge to extend the lead out to 29-16 at the halftime break.

Butts tallied 10 first half points to pace the Jets, with senior Beezer Porter adding seven and Blake with seven. Buckeye Trail did get a bit of a spark from junior Jett Giesey off the bench in the second period. Giesey knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to lead Trail with six first half points, with Burga finishing with five markers.

"We really just struggled to knock down shots when we did get them," Strasser said. "But we did get a spark from Jett Giesey who came in and hit a couple 3s in the second, and then another in the fourth quarter. And Isaac (Beaver) hit three 3-pointers also for us. But we were just too inconsistent shooting the basketball, and have to do a better job of adjusting when someone takes away what we are trying to do.

"We were a little bit better in the second half," Strasser continued. "But still it's just something we have to work on and get better. I think we got to within 11, but that was as close as we could get. They are a pretty good team, they got those three big guys and Porter is a really good point guard."

Union Local would maintain the upper hand in the second half with a slim 21-20 scoring edge to collect the home court victory to improve to 4-2 on the season.

Butts and Porter each tallied a game-high 12 points to lead UL, with Blake and Jared Miller just missing double figures with nine points each.

Seniors Isaac Beaver and Giesey each finished with nine points by drilling three triples for Trail, with Burga adding seven markers.

Union Local handed Buckeye Trail its first loss of the season in the JV game by a score of 42-22. Ty McGlumphy led the young Warriors (6-1) with seven points and Blake Wayble added five.

NEXT − In a schedule change due to the extended weather forecast, Buckeye Trail will now host Strasburg at 6 p.m. Thursday. That game was originally scheduled for Friday night.

Cambridge 56, West Holmes 46

MILLERSBURG −Visiting Cambridge High broke into the win column on Tuesday with a much-needed 56-46 victory over West Holmes in a non-league contest to improve to 1-5 on the season.

"The kids have just continued to stay the course, and fight and hang in there and allow us to coach them," CHS head coach Kyle Peruset explained. "I feel like every game, even from game one, we've gotten better and better. And the thing about basketball is that it's not always on the scoreboard that you see that improvement.

"I can't say enough about how proud of I am of these players," Pertuset added. "It's easy for you to get a couple losses and hang your head, but we just showed up every day and continued to work. And continued to believe in what we are trying to do. And they they were finally rewarded with a win."

Junior Devin Ogle paced the Bobcats' scoring with a game-high 15 points, with senior Davion Bahr right behind with 14. Senior Caden Moore added double figure support with 10, Coen Stoner added seven and Jesiah Barnett chipped in with six.

Cambridge finished with a 29-27 edge off the glass, with Ogle and freshman Garrett Carpenter each hauling down nine rebounds. Bahr finished with eight rebounds and handed out a team-high seven assists.

NEXT − Cambridge will host the Horizon Science Academy at 6 p.m. Thursday.

River View 74, Meadowbrook 44

WARSAW − River View's Owen Emig hit a pair of 3s in a 24-point first half as the host Black Bears rolled to an MVL crossover win over winless Meadowbrook at Luther Stover Gymnasium on Tuesday evening.

Emig had 14 points, and backcourt mate Brody Border hit a pair of long balls among his 10 to send River View (3-4, 1-4 MVL-Big) to a 26-11 lead that grew to 44-20 at the half.

Border finished with 19 points with three 3-pointers and Cam Albertson added eight counters for the Black Bears, who had 10 players score and connected on 31 field goals.

Senior Dayne Singleton tossed in 21 points — 14 before halftime — to pace Meadowbrook (0-6, 0-5 MVL-Small). Freshman Masyn Campbell scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter.

NEXT −Meadowbrook will travel to Wheeling Park. The game is at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

kstutton1@gannett.com; 1-330-806-5692.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Union Local's front line size gives visiting Buckeye Trail trouble