Unioto girls basketball grits out win over Adena, takes control of SVC standings

FRANKFORT — When the going gets tough, Unioto gets going.

The Shermans have been one of, if not the most dominant team in the Scioto Valley Conference through the first half of the season. Ahead of their game against Adena on Friday night, all five of their conference wins came by 35 points or more and they hadn't scored less than 68 points in a game.

But not every win can come that easy. Adena made sure of that. Unioto scraped for every possession, every basket and every point it mustered to pace out a 55-36 win over the Warriors at Adena High School on Friday night.

"Credit to Adena, they were obviously well prepared," Unioto coach Jeff Miller said. "Tonight, we weren't leading and the pace wasn't where we wanted it, so I wasn't real happy with that. But credit to Adena, I thought they were well prepared. Then we just had to figure some things out, adjust a few things to try to get the tempo the way we wanted."

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On paper, the Warriors were prepared for an uphill battle. The Shermans aren't an opponent to take lightly, and the Warriors were without one of their biggest impact players. Emma Garrison, one of Adena's leading scorers, was sidelined and didn't see the court Friday.

So what did the Warriors do? Fight harder. They held the Shermans to just nine points in the first quarter. Neither team held more than a two-possession lead until Unioto found a groove midway through the second. Even after Amaris Betts rattled off 11 points in the first half and the Shermans had edged out a double-digit lead heading into the break, nothing felt secure.

Foul trouble did cause some disruption. Unioto had to rely on its bench to push ahead before halftime, and they delivered. Aidyn Danison and Magnolia Holbert both came off the bench and provided the bump the Shermans needed. Dansion's three steals kept Adena on the backfoot. Holbert's own defensive stand mixed well with three rebounds to give Unioto further breathing room.

"We talked about it in the locker room, how Aidyn was a big part of our win tonight," Betts said. "She knows her role and when she comes off the bench she brings a lot of energy. It's really good for us."

Betts ended the game with 18 points, four rebounds and three steals, second only on the Shermans to Milee Smith, who clocked out with 20 points and six rebounds. Betts had been the one to kickstart the Shermans' surge in the first place. During her nine-point rally in the second quarter, she went 4 for 5 on field goal attempts.

"That's Amaris, you know what I mean," Miller said. "Amaris is a bulk-scoring kid. She sees one through, and typically she hits a shot and you're going to get two or three right in a row. That's just kind of the player she is and that was really crucial right at that time."

The Shermans took Betts' rally and ran with it after halftime.

Smith scored 13 points in the second half. For every basket the Warriors found, the Shermans had a response. Amelia Uhrig scored four points just off free throws. Their defense kept the Warriors at arm's length until the waning minutes, even while Marly Halcomb took command of the Warriors' offense to match Smith's 20 points.

Still, the Shermans got their money's worth on Friday night. While remaining perfect against SVC opponents, they had to scrape for their win against the Warriors. Adena coach Andrew Day took pride in his players' effort despite the loss. Unioto's offense is nothing to balk at. Holding that offense to its lowest point total in a game this year is not something to shy away from either. Even with a loss, the Warriors can take some respite in their defensive effort.

"That's what we told the girls in the huddle later in the third quarter and the fourth is, 'We're going to fight until the end, whatever you've got left in tank, you've got to dig down deep, find something and we're gonna fight and scratch and claw until the very end,'" Day said. "I was really proud of the way our girls did that."

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Unioto girls basketball grits out win over Adena, stays perfect in SVC