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Fort Frye girls defeat Union Local, advance to OVAC 3A title game

Fort Frye's Aubrie Lang goes up for the shot while being defended by Union Local's Laken Vinskovich (11) during an OVAC Class 3A semifinal. (Photo by Kim North)

MORRISTOWN – Fort Frye pretty much had its way with host Union Local Monday night in an OVAC WVU Medicine Class 3A girls basketball semifinal tournament game.

The third-seeded Cadets (15-3) snapped a 2-all deadlock with a 7-0 run and were never threatened in a 54-34 rout of the No. 2 Jets (16-5) inside ‘The Hangar.’

With the victory, its second of the season over Union Local, Fort Frye punched its ticket to Saturday’s 6 p.m. championship matchup at the ECO Center with top-seeded Wheeling Central, a 30-point victor over No. 4 Bellaire, also on Monday night.

“We looked like a third basketball team,” veteran Union Local head coach Lou “Scooter” Tolzda said. “We played with no energy in an OVAC playoff game.”

The lack of energy allowed Fort Frye to take advantage on the boards, especially at the offensive end of the floor where it recorded 10 in the first half and a dozen for the game.

“We were just standing around watching the ball,” Tolzda explained. “You can’t do that against a team like Fort Frye.”

The visitors held a 12-8 edge after one quarter and extended the margin to 27-21 at the half as Ava Huffman tallied all 12 of her points before the intermission.

“We’ve been a little lax with our shooting of late, so that’s why we are hitting the boards hard,” veteran Fort Frye head coach Dan Liedtke said. “That’s what you have to do when your shots aren’t falling.

“We had good ball movement with our offense and that allowed us some continuity and got us in the flow,” added Liedtke, who recorded career win No. 753.

Needing a good start to the third quarter, Union Local came out and turned the ball over on its first two possessions. Fort Frye responded with back-to-back treys for a 33-21 advantage. The Cadets had eight bonus goals in the game, with half of them coming in the decisive third quarter when they led by 41-29.

“We knew how explosive Union Local can be,” Liedtke added. “We wanted to make sure we didn’t give them any kind of momentum to get back into it. The girls responded and played really good defense.”

Ella Dowler, who drilled four triples, led a quartet of Cadets in two figures with 14. Emmie Duskey added 13 and Huffman had 12. Elle Casto netted 10 off the bench.

Duskey also had a team-best six rebounds – all offensive – as Fort Frye controlled the boards by a 25-13 count. Huffman and Dowler evenly split 10.

Ella Pietranton led Union Local with eight points. Laken Vinskovich added six, while Myah Martin, Ameera Saunders and Teegan Day each had five. Saunders had five rebounds, with all of those coming in the third panel.

The Jets were guilty of 17 turnovers, with 10 coming before halftime. Fort Frye charted 11.

Tolzda has racked up 559 career victories, giving the duo 1,312.

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