UC basketball teams scrimmage at Gilmer
Depth will be key to Lady Panthers success
By TODD FORREST Sentinel Writer

The Union County Lady Panthers fell to the Gilmer Lady Bobcats 61-45 in a scrimmage game in Ellijay on Tuesday night. Candace Williams scored a team high 15 points, Kayla Gowder had 12, Leslie Bittenbinder and Kaley Sullivan added four points each. The starting five saw a total of 11 minutes of action as everyone played substantial minutes.

The goal for Coach West was to see where everyone is at, especially the younger kids. He also was looking for areas that need improvement. "The biggest thing is finding some depth," said Coach West. How deep of a bench the Lady Panthers will have this season has yet to be determined. The starting five played the entire first quarter and Union County trailed 15-9 after one.

After falling behind 31-18 at halftime the Lady Panthers opened the third quarter with 14-4 run that cut the Gilmer lead to 35-32 with 4:48 left in the third. "When we pressed them to start the third quarter, we went on a run. We also ran an offense that we just put in on Monday and we scored three of the four times that we ran it," said Coach West.

Gilmer would eventually pull away late in third quarter after the starters were benched to get the younger girls some expereince. Freshmen Holli Abernathy, Tori Dyer, and Whitney Kelley each scored two points for the Lady Panthers. Juniors Mary Catherine Edmondson and Sara Fulghum would also add two points each.

The regular season begins when the Lady Panthers travel to White County on Monday to play Lumpkin County at 3:15. Union will play on Tuesday against White County or Athens Christian. If they win on Monday they will play at 7:30, Tuesday. A loss on Monday would mean a 4:00 game on Tuesday.

Boys break scrimmage into four mini-games

The Union County Panthers scrimmage against Gilmer would be broken down by quarters. Each quarter the teams would have to do something different. Not only would the score reset after each quarter, the types of defenses that the teams had to play and players they used would vary by quarter. The first quarter was zone defense, second was manto man, third was pressing, and fourth was for playing the younger kids. The Panthers would win the overall score 50-41 along with the first and fourth quarters. Gilmer tied Union in the third and won the second.

Michael Ross led the Panthers with 15 points (12 in the first quarter) and freshman Seth Merritt added 12 (10 in the fourth quarter) for the Panthers. Ross would score the first seven points and 12 of the first 14 points for the Panthers as they led 17-10 after one. Coach Hunter would play a lot of the younger kids in the second and Gilmer won that quarter 13-9. The third quarter was a tie at 8-8 and Union won the fourth 16-10.

Cody Adams and Ryan Burks had five points, Austin Collins scored four, Blake Gowder scored three, Clay McConnell, Jake Gooch, and Kalen Tanner added two points each.

The first regular season game will be on Monday at 4:30 in White County. The Panthers will be taking on the Lumpkin County Indians. The Panthers will also play on Tuesday against White County or Athens Christian. AWin on Monday and the Panthers will play at 8:30 on Tuesday. A loss on Monday will result in a 5:30 starting time on Tuesday.