On Saturday afternoon the Daleville Broncos (9-13) were set to take on Union City (13-12) in the Regional 27 championship.
The Broncos come into the game in search of the program's first-ever regional title. However, Union City took the victory 51-32
In the opening minutes, both squads were looking to run but as a result, there were multiple early turnovers. The Indians found a lot of success in the opening period on the offensive glass. The white and red converted on multiple second-chance opportunities to begin to open up an early lead at the end of the first 14-7.
For the gold and black, the only offense in the opening quarter came from senior Isabelle Williams scoring all of the Broncos' baskets.
“She stepped up huge,,” Daleville head coach Brandon Hanshew said. “She’s come ready, she’s worked, and led by example at practice and in the games. We’re going to miss her for sure.”
Daleville could not keep the Union City bigs off the glass early. The Indians were able to capitalize and get multiple second-chance opportunities to help find their offense.
On the offensive end of the court, the Broncos' leading scorer on the season Addi Gothrup was being face-guarded by the white and blue to try and contain her offensive prowess.
The rest of the half wouldn’t be much different as ball handling would continue to plague the black and gold and stifle any hopes of finding consistent offense.
Gothrup was held to just three points in the half, and her frustration was visible on the court, as she continued to call for the ball and attempt to get open, but she was denied both early in the game.
“I felt like when I was warming up I was okay,” Gothrup said. “Once I got in the game I got in my head and it affected me.”
The second half was much of the same for the black and gold continuing to struggle with turnovers and rebounding.
Turnovers have been a consistent theme throughout the season for Daleville, and despite overcoming them through sectionals they finally overtook the Broncos.
“We’ve struggled with turnovers all year,” Hanshew said. “We average well over twenty a game, but it’s an accomplishment amongst itself for these girls to get this far averaging as many turnovers as they have.”
With the continued struggles, Union City would be able to pull away in the second half and close out the game to take the championship.
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