Uniontown clinches tie for Section 3-AAA crown
HERMINIE – They don’t use the words “Big game tonight” very often in this sprawling rural community, but if they want to use them again in the near future they might want to try three other words: Play some defense. In front of a full house, Yough played defense as if it had donned ankle weights and Uniontown came away with an easy 98-82 win that clinched a tie for the Section 3-AAA championship.
“That team shoots the ball extremely well,” said Yough coach Brian Znavor, who added about his defense: “We left them wide open too many times and they knocked down shots.”
Brandon Duncan didn’t finish as his team’s leading scorer, but the Uniontown senior set the pace. He made the game’s first 3-pointer and added four more by the end of the end of the third quarter. With a big lead, Duncan pulled back as teammate R.J. Sargeant finished with 24 points to lead the Red Raiders.
Yough sophomore center Ben McCauley led all players with 34 points, but it was Duncan receiving the raves.
“Number 30 just killed us,” Znavor said. “How many did he end up with? Thirtysomething?”
When told Duncan didn’t even lead his own team in scoring, Znavor couldn’t believe it.
“You must have it wrong,” he said.
“Brandon played well for us,” said Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky. “In the last few weeks he’s really stepped up for us. What helps is they’re playing Junior (Mays) honestly. They used to double Brandon and Junior would hurt teams. But now they have to play Junior straight up and it’s helping Brandon. They complement each other well.”
Mays finished with 13 points, but while the 6-foot-1 junior was sitting through much of the first half with two fouls, Duncan, the 6-3 wing man, was playing high-caliber basketball on both ends of the floor.
“Defensively, that’s where he’s really improved over the last year,” Kezmarsky said. “He’s been a leader, a defender and you saw what he can do offensively. He also had some big blocks and steals, made some big passes for us and he even brought the ball up the court every now and then. He did it all.”
Duncan went through an offensive outburst in the second quarter. His three consecutive 3-point baskets gave Uniontown a 37-28 lead with 3:28 left in the half.
In the third quarter, Duncan went on a defensive bender. After making a 3-point shot, Duncan stole the ball and assisted on a basket. He then blocked a shot and assisted on a 3-pointer by Sargeant. In less than a minute, Duncan had turned an 8-point lead into a 14-point lead and Uniontown never looked back.
The Red Raiders’ biggest lead was 26 early in the fourth quarter after Duncan had put back a missed free throw. Yough cut the lead to 17 with three minutes remaining and the only question for those crammed into Yough’s gym was whether Uniontown would score 100 points.
“We didn’t play much defense in the first half, but we made an adjustment at halftime and it worked for awhile,” Znavor said. “They were coming off their screens for wide-open shots, so we told our big men to step out. They did at first, but they stopped for whatever reason.”
The win knocked Yough (7-4, 10-10) out of the running for the section title, which Uniontown (10-1, 16-3) will accept as a mere formality with one more win.
“Whenever you have only one returning player with experience and you can clinch a tie for the section, you can’t take it for granted,” Kezmarsky said. “No, we’re appreciative. Sure we have some goals in the playoffs but this is great for the kids.”