Photo/KRISTIN MAZGAJ UNION LOCAL’S Matt Bateman goes up for a shot during Saturday’s game against Philo as part of the sixth annual Buckeye 8 Challenge held at OUE.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — To say Zach Bateman made the most of an opportunity might still be selling him short.

Pressed into the starting lineup for the first time, the Union Local junior delivered a literal MVP performance in the opening game of the sixth annual Buckeye 8 Challenge Saturday morning at Ohio University Eastern.

Bateman scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds and helped spark the Jets (2-4) to a convincing 54-33 victory against Philo (1-6).

“We talk about having different guys step up and (Saturday) was Zach’s day,” UL head coach Zach Delman said. “We’re excited about what he’s capable of.”

Delman certainly didn’t lack confidence calling Bateman’s number. Delman and the Jets scrimmaged in November at OUE and Bateman shot the ball exceptionally well.

“He had shot well in this gym before and we hoped it would carry over to (Philo),” Delman said.

It did.

Bateman buried two treys in the second quarter when the Jets began to gain some separation en route to opening a 13-point lead at the half.

He didn’t stop there. He scored 11 more in the second half to earn the nod as the MVP.

The Jets — not wanting to allow Philo and highly regarded sophomore A.J. Clayton to get comfortable in the halfcourt — went with a press. It was quite effective, too.

Union Local forced 15 Electrics’ turnovers, many of which resulted in easy scoring chances.

“We wanted to make it a full-court game and force their guards to have to handle the ball and hopefully allow our defense to get us some easy buckets,” Delman noted.

Philo scored in double figures in only the fourth quarter. Clayton finished with a double double. He had 11 points and a like number of boards, but he did all of his scoring in the first half.

Meanwhile, Union Local was much more balanced in the scoring column. Backing Bateman’s performance was Luke Merritt with 13. Hunter McCort and Nate Meyer evenly divided 16.

The Jets are off until Friday when they host Buckeye Local.