Lady Raiders repel late AG rally in 44-36 victory
YORK RUN — Uniontown coach Jason Winfrey wasn’t completely comfortable even though his Lady Raiders held a double-digit lead over Albert Gallatin heading into the fourth period on Tuesday night.
“I told our girls they were going to make a run,” Winfrey said. “I could feel it.”
The host Lady Colonials did just that, cutting a 13-point, second-half deficit to a single point in the final minutes, but the Lady Raiders hung on for a 44-36 victory in a Section 3-AAAAA girls basketball clash.
The win keeps Uniontown (4-10, 3-4) in the playoff hunt and denied AG its first section win.
Lady Colonials coach Ellen Hildebrand commended her squad despite the tough loss to its nearby rival.
“I was really proud of my team,” Hildebrand said.
“They battled back. We kind of had a unit that came together out there and they really rallied us and got us back in the game.”
Uniontown led 36-25 heading into the final period before the Lady Colonials (3-9, 0-7) rallied.
Kylee Myers hit a 3-pointer to pull Albert Gallatin within three with just under five minutes remaining. After Uniontown missed four straight foul shots, Monica Saunders banked in a basket to pull AG within 37-36 with 3:05 left.
The Lady Colonials had a chance to go ahead after a missed shot by the Lady Raiders but Uniontown forced a turnover and freshman Mya Murray calmly swished a pair of free throws and scored on a coast-to-coast drive to put the Lady Raiders up by five.
“She definitely took some of the wind out of our sails,” Hildebrand said of Murray, who led all scorers with 20 points.
Uniontown’s Kierra McCargo followed with a basket after another AG turnover to make it 43-36. Another Myers’ trey that would’ve whittled the gap to four rattled out with 50 seconds left and the Lady Raiders’ Kierra Rose hit a free throw to set the final score.
“It was right there,” Hildebrand said. “Then we had a lot of silly turnovers on some opportunities or we could’ve taken the lead.
“But they’re a resilient bunch. We’ve been competitive in a lot of our games. It does come down for us to just a few possessions. We’ve got to eliminate some of those turnovers. I think sometimes we get a little hurried and we get out of balance. It’s really about them being disciplined and working that offense.”
Winfrey was just happy to escape with the victory.
“I thought coming here, it’s a tough place to play,” Winfrey said. “When AG made that run I thought our girls responded well. We came down and had a couple missed free throws and a couple missed lay-ups that allowed them to get close but you’ve got to tip your hat to AG. They played hard tonight.”
Albert Gallatin came out strong and held a 5-2 lead after a short jump shot by Emily Moccaldi.
Uniontown scored the next nine points, though, and never trailed again. Murray scored five of those points on a steal and lay-up and a three-point play when she was fouled on a coast-to-coast drive after grabbing a rebound.
“I told Mya not to settle, play inside out and I thought she did a good job of doing that tonight,” Winfrey said.
Rose and Malaysia Ellis had the other baskets in the run.
Saunders snapped the spurt when she banked in a jumper but Uniontown still led 11-7 after one period.
The Lady Raiders, sparked by their usual strong defensive effort and 3-pointers from Kelsea Rose and McCargo, extended its advantage to 26-17 at halftime and pushed the margin up to 13 twice in the third period.
“We played hard tonight on the defensive end of the floor,” Winfrey said.
The Lady Colonials fought back and opened the fourth period with a 9-1 run capped by Myers’ trey. Abby King had two baskets in the run that also included a short jumper by Myers.
Winfrey used a timeout to settle his troops and they responded.
“I told them to move the ball, make the extra pass,” Winfrey said. “I thought at times tonight we did that well. Sometimes we were a little erratic but overall I thought we played decent. I just thought we played too fast on offense for awhile there in the fourth quarter.”
Kierra Rose and McCargo followed Murray in the Uniontown scoring column with nine points apiece.
Saunders led the Lady Colonials with 12 points. King and Myers added eight apiece.