MORRISTOWN – If you like drama and suspense, the hangar wasn’t the place for a Friday night.

Union Local gained commanding control less than four minutes into the game when he drove to a one-sided 91:22 win over Buckeye Local. The Jets scored 17 of the game’s first 19 tokens in the middle of the opening frame and were never challenged.

The win was 16th in 20 starts for coach Zach Delman’s impressive roster. The Jets displayed athleticism, defensive tenacity, selflessness and a deadly ability to run the floor in the panther’s cage.

The energetic hosts were sparked by a great performance from senior ace Luke Merritt. The guard with the sweet shots put in 34 points and led a quartet of double-digit jet scorers. He emptied seven Treys. Senior Andrew Martin finished next with 17 points, while classmates Liam Vinskovich and Nathan Meyer gave away 13 and 11 points, respectively.

“It was nice to see our players smile (Friday). Even though we have a nice record, it wasn’t always fun this year. “ Said Delman. “Sometimes it was a challenge. Going through two quarantines this season has been difficult.

“We shot the ball well (Friday). That was not always the case for us this year. We had 20 templates, which is a good number. We did a lot of good things. “

Union Local has little time to rest on its recent triumph as it travels to Beaver Local tonight (Saturday) for a repeat win over the Beavers.

The Jets had things under control after a quarter and had a 31-8 upper hand. Merritt sparked the 11-point surge in the first quarter, while Vinskovich produced seven markers.

The hosts extended their lead to 53-15 through a break and kept a 70-21 advantage after three sessions.

The outstanding senior Mason Brown approached Buckeye Local with nine points. The Panthers played without an injured point guard Cameron Best.

“We were beaten by a very good basketball team. You shot the ball very well. “ Buckeye local trainer Chris Heaton said. “We didn’t handle their pressure, so we dug a big early hole.

“You did a good job defensively too. We struggled to look good. It’s one of those games where you just burn the tape. “

The loss dropped Buckeye Local to 10-7 in the campaign. The Panthers begin OHSAA tournament play on Tuesday when they travel to Sandy Valley.

Union Local only made six sales that night. Buckeye Local was responsible for 21 mistakes.

The Panthers saved a split and entered the 44-36 reserve competition.

Union Local 91, Buckeye Local 21

Horse chestnut 8 7 6 1 – 22

Union 31 22 17 21 – 91

BUCKEYE LOCAL: Brown 4, 1-2 9; Mayle 2, 0-0 4; Taylor 0.0-0.0; McHugh 0, 0-0 0; Grabits 3, 0-0 7; Zanes 0, 1-2; Carter 0, 1-2 1; R. Deitch 0.0-0.0; Scott 0.0-0.0; A. Deitch 0, 0-0 0; Roush 0.0-0.0; Romanyak 0, 0-0 0. OVERALL: 9, 3-6: 21.

UNION LOCAL: Meyer 5, 0-0 11; Merritt 11, 5-6 34; Vinksovich 6, 0-0 13; Martin 8, 0-0 17; Bateman 2.0-0.5; Butts 2, 1-1 5; Rex 1, 0-0 2; Miller 0.0-0.0; Blake 1, 1-2 4. OVERALL: 36, 7-9: M91.

3-POINT GOALS: Buckeye Local none; Union Local 12) (Merritt 7, Meyer, Vinksovich, Martin, Bateman, Blake).

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