LadyBirds top Union (Dugger) to win TRC championship

Union (Dugger) center Shayna Nicol (32) battles North Central's Jocelyn Boyll (42) while Lady Bulldog guard Morgan Stanifer watches during a high school girls basketball game Monday night at Dugger. (By B.J. Hargis/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

DUGGER -- North Central shot 56 percent in the first half, racing to a 35-20 lead and cruised to a 62-39 win over the host Union (Dugger) Lady Bulldogs here Monday night.

The victory gave the LadyBirds the Tri-River Conference crown. North Central, who evened its record at 10-10, finished 5-0 in the TRC.

"North Central is full of seniors that know how to play," said Union (Dugger) girls basketball coach Benji Boyd. "Most of their seniors have played varsity for three or four years.

"You can tell that by the way they run the break. They run the break as good as anybody we have faced this year. They play so well together."

North Central opened the game on an 8-0 spurt and finished the quarter on a 12-2 outburst to take a 22-10 lead after the opening eight minutes. The made 8 of 13 shots and had six different players score early.

"They were able to get a lot of easy baskets off of the primary and secondary break," said Boyd. "They are almost back at full strength after being down 4 or 5 players for a while. They are a better team than their record indicates."

Union (Dugger) had an 8-2 spurt in the middle of the first quarter, cutting the North Central advantage to 10-8 after a runner in the lane by Morgan Stanifer with two minutes and 51 seconds to play in the first quarter.

But Union (Dugger), who shot 31 percent (16 of 51), missed the next eight shots and never recovered.

"We have to learn from North Central," said Boyd. "The girls have to understand that we want to be able to compete with them, whether that is next week, next year or the year after.

"Every game is good for us because we can actually go five on five, something we can't do in practice with just six players."

Maria Drake led the winners with 13 points. Amber Kemp added 12 and Jocelyn Boyll had 13 rebounds to go with nine points. Katie Brown dished out four assists and added eight points.

North Central had 15 assists on 24 baskets as they shot 14 of 25 in the first and finished 24 of 51 (47 percent). They also made 10 of 14 free throws.

Union (Dugger) was paced by Shayna Nicol, who had another double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She has had at least four straight games with double figures in scoring and rebounding.

Cheyenne Goodman added eight points, Chelsee Goodman seven, Stanifer six, Conner Kendall four and Taylor Woods added three.

Union (Dugger) is scheduled to begin play at the Class A Clay City Sectional against Shakamak at 7 p.m. tonight.

NORTH CENTRAL (62) -- Chelcee Rehmel 0-3 0-0 0, Amber Kemp 5-10 2-3 12, Jocelyn Boyll 3-5 3-4 9, Katie Brown 4-8 0-0 8, Maria Drake 5-10 2-2 16, Brandi West 3-4 2-2 8, Rachaela Croft 2-6 1-3 5, Deidra Drake 1-3 0-0 2, Ariel Hester 1-2 0-0 2, Belle Evans 0 0-0 0. Totals 24-51 10-14 62.

UNION (DUGGER) (39) -- Shayna Nicol 4-8 2-2 11, Chelsee Goodman 3-10 0-0 7, Cheyenne Goodman 3-10 0-0 8, Morgan Stanifer 3-14 0-1 6, Taylor Woods 1-6 1-2 3, Conner Kendall 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 16-51 3-5 39.

North Central 22 13 10 17 -- 62

Union (Dugger) 10 10 6 13 -- 39

3-point shooting -- North Central 4-11 (M. Drake 4-8, Brown 0-1, De. Drake 0-1, Croft 0-1), Union (Dugger) 4-20 (Goodman 2-8, Nicol 1-2, Chel. Goodman 1-4, Woods 0-1, Stanifer 0-5). Fouls -- North Central 10, Union (Dugger) 10. Rebounds -- North Central 36 (Boyll 13, Union (Dugger) 27 (Nicol 10). Assists -- North Central 15 (Brown 4), Union (Dugger) 11 (Stanifer 4). Steals -- North Central 6 (Ma. Drake 3), Union (Dugger) 2 (Stanifer, Stanifer). Turnovers -- North Central 12 (Ma. Drake 3), Union (Dugger) 15 (Woods 4). Blocks -- North Central 3 (Boyll 2), Union (Dugger) 2 (Nicol 2). No junior varsity game.