Understandably, hurt was the rawest of emotion to come from the Union City girls’ heartbreaking 36-33 season-ending loss to Greenfield Monday night in the Region 7A semifinals.
In time, those feelings will be replaced with pride and promise.
“I love this team, and I hurt for them, especially our seniors,” first-year head coach Mason Storey said after Greenfield’s Brenley Little scored the deciding bucket with less than 10 seconds to play. “We had four great seniors (Marlee Theobald, Aujani Moss, Ada Rogers, and Bailey Wagoner) who made tremendous strides all season. They became better teammates and better basketball players, and they accepted their roles, which showed their character. Without them, getting this far would not have been possible.”
“On the flip side, we have a lot of talent and experience coming back next season, and they gained valuable experience this year. We had three freshmen (Sh’Nyla Moss, Blair McKinnis, Uriah Davis) play a lot of minutes tonight and a couple of juniors (Debrionna Jones and Kennedi Robinson) who were critical in what we were able to do this season. I expect what we accomplished this year to spill over to next season.”
Jones had given the Lady Twisters a 33-32 lead with 37 seconds left after Ada Rogers came up with a loose-ball turnover before Greenfield’s Little hit the deciding 15-footer under heavy pressure with 9.7 seconds to play.
Union City took a timeout and attempted to advance the ball upcourt, but was forced into a turnover.
Rayanna Fisher was fouled on the play for the Yellowjackets and hit both free throws with 1.3 ticks showing to account for the final score.
Theobald led Union City, which ended its season at (16-16),with 15 points. f.
In looking to the future, Storey has specific goals for the 2024-25 team and beyond.
“We have to grow in our offense while keeping the same defensive intensity and grittiness,” the coach concluded. “We must get better at putting the ball in the hole. Our ballhandling needs to improve, too, and we have to learn how to beat people off the dribble at every spot.
“We’re capable. And if we can do the things I believe we can in the future, we’ll look back and say that it began with this group.”
(story and photos: Mike Hutchens – School Communications Director)
