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Haley
Gray (5) makes a great save during the first half of the Franklin
Monroe Lady Jets
game with Milton-Union. In the end, the Jets couldn’t
save the game, losing 60-50 to the
Bulldogs. CNO Photos by George Starks
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Milton-Union too much
for FM
Dogs bite leaves marks
By George Starks
Sports Editor
PITSBURG- If Milton-Union coach and Darke County native Richard Cline
can lay claim to one thing, it’s this: He knows how to encourage a team
to play defense and win at basketball. He also knows that when you let
a team hang around, it will find a way to win.
The Franklin Monroe Lady Jets led for well over two full quarters
against Milton-Union Monday but could never put the Bulldogs away. With
45.6 seconds left to play, the Bulldogs snatched that lead away.
After gaining a 38-38 tie, Danielle Vincent dropped in two of her team
high 18 points to lift the Dogs over the Jets 60-50 in non-conference
action at The Hangar.
“We could never put any real distance between us and them,” said Jets
coach Gavin Spitler. “We just never finished around the basket in the
third and fourth quarter. We shot 30 free throws tonight but we weren’t
strong. When we went to the bucket, we flailed at it at times. Give
them (MU) credit. They shot the ball well and probably better than any
team has shot against us all year.”
From beyond the three-point line, Milton-Union was unconscious, hitting
five three-pointers in the first half and eight for the game.
“That’s the best we’ve shot from beyond the line all year,” said Cline
after the game. “We hit eight three-point shots tonight and that’s
about half of what we’ve done all year long.”
By the end of the opening 16 minutes of play, the Jets held a slim
30-24 lead. After the third quarter had ended, that six point lead had
turned into a 43-38 deficit.
Starting the game in a 2-3 zone, the Jets seemingly were in control of
the Bulldog offense, keeping senior Cate Busse and the rest of the Dogs
off balance as FM held a 15-9 advantage. Then Cline employed the Busse
bump and that was enough to start throwing senior Haley Gray and junior
Taylor Robins off kilter.
“That bump the she uses does get her into foul trouble,” Cline said of
his senior. “It did that tonight but it is effective. Robins could have
scored more than she did and Gray could have to. Hey, it works.”
Down five with a full frame left to play, the Jets trailed 46-41 with
7:71 remaining. Then the Jets hit a pocket that took them into what
looked to be hyper-speed. Gray knocked down a triple at the 5:36 mark
and then drained another just five seconds later off a Bulldog turnover
and with 5:31 remaining, it was all square at 46-46.
At that point, Milton-Union went on an 8-0 run to build a 53-43 lead
with 2:26 left to play. Robins, coming off a 30 point performance over
Newton, dropped in 21 to lead all scorers while Gray netted 13 for the
Jets. With no support after that, FM could never get close.
“It was a good night for those two,” Spitler admitted. “After them, we
had little to no support. Michelle (Heckman) had five and we had two
with four each and one with three. That doesn’t win games and they were
shooting lights out in the first half. We had opportunities. We just
didn’t finish. Michelle started off well but faded. We need a third
scorer to step up. We get someone to step up from time to time but no
one consistently.”
In the junior varsity game, Milton Union went on a 17-0 run in the
fourth quarter forcing overtime and went on to a 46-40 victory.
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Darke
County native Richard Cline watches as his Milton-Union team is on the
attack at FM Monday.
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