Union City uses big second quarter to race past Quincy for Big 8 basketball win

UNION CITY – The Union City Chargers celebrated their annual SnowComing festivities with a big win over rival Quincy Friday night, as it was the Chargers taking the 58-37 win.

Union City rode the strength of a huge second quarter, which saw the Chargers outscore the visiting Orioles 15-4, straight to the 20-point win, their 11th win of the season and second win over Quincy.

“You have got to hand it to Quincy, they have improved so much over the season, and I felt like they shot the ball really well tonight,” Union City coach Ben Chard said. “That being said we had a very listless first quarter and in between the quarters at the break we told the guys it was time to turn it up and I think we were able to do that. Our press really worked well tonight and we shot the ball well and good things happen when you do that.”

What Happened?

After a back-and-forth first quarter the Chargers turned up the tempo on both ends of the floor, using a stifling full court pressure defense to cause turnovers for Quincy, which in turn led to big buckets in transition for Union City. Add to that the deadly shooting of guards Eli Payne and Jason Shoop and the Chargers were out and running, outscoring Quincy 15-4 in the second quarter to build a 26-13 lead at the half. Union City never looked back, outscoring Quincy 21-11 in the third quarter to essentially put the game out of reach.

Union City also had a decided advantage on the glass, outrebounding Quincy on both ends of the court all night long, with many of those rebounds leading to second chance points. The Charger lead grew to 20 points at 41-21 with 2:30 left in the third quarter, an advantage Union City would never relinquish on their way to the win.

Statistical Leaders

Union City was led on the night by junior Eli Payne who poured in a game high 17 points, one of three Chargers in double figures. Also adding to the Union City effort Rick Austin with 12 points and Jason Shoop with 10 points. Jeremy Zehr chipped in eight points while Aidan Decker added six points.

Quincy was led on the night by Brandon Miner who was the lone Oriole in double figures with 15 points and six rebounds. Grant Carter added seven points while Corey Turner chipped in with six points.

They Said It

“I think we need to figure out what kind of team we want to be, where we want to hang our hat. Do we want to be a defensive team, do we want to run, do we want to score, do we want to press? Just a lot of questions for us because we did not do any of those things tonight. Turnovers are really coming back to bite us, and we just need to get back to basics on Monday and figure this out before the postseason.” - Quincy coach Scott Rodesiler.

What Is Next?

With the loss Quincy falls to 8-12 overall on the year and 3-8 in the Big 8 conference. Quincy will be back in action Monday when they take the long trip to Morenci for non-conference basketball action.

More: Girls Basketball: Union City routs Maple Valley, Quincy gets defensive in win over Reading

With the victory Union City improves to 11-8 overall on the season and 7-4 in the Big 8 conference. Union City will be next see action Monday when they host former conference rival Homer in a non-conference round ball clash.

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This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Big second quarter pushes Union City past Quincy in Big 8 basketball