Blue Streaks Captures First District Title over Stow
After claiming their first Federal league title since 2012, the Uniontown Lake girls basketball team captured their first ever District title in school history over the Stow-Munroe Falls Bulldogs 56-45. After a nail-biting first half, the #2 seeded Blue Streaks prevailed over the #4 seeded Bulldogs’ aggressive defense to claim the Northeast 2 title and punch their ticket to the regional tournament.
The first 8 minutes concluded with a 16-10 Blue Streak lead over the Bulldogs, with sophomore Guard Hayden Croyle leading the quarter with 8 points for the Streaks, while senior Guard Alaina Ray also led with 8 points for the Bulldogs. In the 2nd quarter, the Bulldogs clawed their way back in the game to keep it a close game. Ray continued to silence the Blue Streak fans, adding 7 points in the 2nd quarter, finishing the 1st half with 15 of the Bulldogs 22 points. Despite the Bulldogs 2nd quarter comeback, Blue Streaks senior Forward Serenitee Johnson hit a buzzer beating triple to extend the lead to 4 at the half 26-22 over the Bulldogs.
Following the nail-biting 1st half, the Blue Streaks defense contained the Bulldogs to 8 points in the 3rd, winning the quarter 12-8 with Johnson leading the charge with 7 points. In the final 8 minutes, the Bulldogs had to do whatever they could to claim victory over the Blue Streaks, but the Streaks offense refused to miss their shots, eventually widening the lead gap. The momentum really started to shift to the Blue Streaks with a big 3 pointer by senior Emma Anderson to extend the lead to 12 with 4 minutes left in the game, a moment she’ll never forget after gutting out every bit of courage to play after hurting her knee last week. With the lead just widening, the Bulldogs also kept pushing to make a comeback, but it was all but too late. The Blue Streaks went near perfect from the foul line in the final minutes to claim victory over the Bulldogs, claiming their first ever District title.
Concluding a memorable night, Blue Streaks Seniors Serenitee Johnson and Paige Marshall finished the night with 16 points a piece, while sophomore Hayden Croyle followed with 13 and senior Emma Anderson adding 9 points. For the Bulldogs, senior Alaina Ray finished with 15 points, while sophomore Kennedey Dodds followed with 14, junior Kadence Dodds adding 9 points and senior Anna Hurst with 7 points.
With the Northeast 2 District title in hands, the Blue Streaks have kept their season alive and punched their ticket to the regional semifinals at Medina High School. The Blue Streaks will play Medina who won the Northeast 3 district on Tuesday March 5th at 8pm. The Bulldogs, who took the district runner-up, will say goodbye to their beloved 5 seniors, including Alaina Ray, Rachel Frailey, and Anna Hurst.