OLD WASHINGTON — The Union Local Jets have been on a tear as of late. Their formula? A swarming defense coupled with unselfish offensive play. This was on display once again Friday evening on the campus of Buckeye Trail High School, as the Jets held the Warriors to three first-quarter points and receiving a 34-point explosion from Luke Merritt, cruising to a 62-42 victory.

“We aren’t real tall, but we have some kids with some long arms, so we try to use that to our advantage sometimes,” UL head coach Zach Delman said.

“Credit to our kids for executing the defense pretty well and being in the right spots and getting their hands on some passes. Deflections is something we chart every game and we harp on it a lot, so a simple finger on a ball can change the outcome of that play, and we were able to turn our defense into offense that got us into some nice runs there.

“We held Brooke to 14 points in the first half the other night and we gave up like 35 points in the second half to them, so we were really focusing on coming out and playing strong in the third quarter and not letting Buckeye Trail get back into the game. We knew their kids would play really hard and make their run, and we just wanted to withstand that, extend our lead and play into the third quarter.”

“We certainly came out of the gate, and we were looking at our possessions and conversions and we really shot ourselves in the foot a little bit,” Buckeye Trail head coach Drew Meister noted. “We’ve got to find ways to get guys available and presenting themselves in space, and once we do advance it , then we’ve go to make more calculated decisions to close out that possession with a finish at the rim that goes in at the bucket so we are able to set our defense, but that didn’t happen, especially in the first quarter.”

While both teams struggled to find their offensive footing early, it was Union Local (12-5) who logged the game’s first field goal on a Luke Merritt 3-pointer at the 4:38 mark of the first. Buckeye Trail (8-8) was not only dealing with offensive woes, but also plagued by foul trouble, recording six personal fouls in the first six minutes. Merritt added a 2-point shot, while Nathan Meyer sank a three with just under a minute remaining in the first to fuel the Jets offense, however the hosts did not log a shot from the floor until Garrett Burga’s bucket at the 1:13 mark. After one UL held a 12-3 edge.

When asked if he felt that the early team foul troubles caused his team to back off defensively, Meister stated “With their (Union Local’s) quickness on getting edges, we’ve got to rely on technique and our foundation defensively to cut off angles, and they had the right guys attacking the rim in certain situations, and we’ve just got to be smarter on how we are playing positions and not put them into the one and one quite that early.”

The hosts found a spark in the second behind seniors Ronnie Rominger and Jack Parry, but Union Local’s press continued to frustrate BT. While their defense was clicking, the Jets all found their offensive stroke, hitting a trio of bonus-buckets in the frame from Merritt (2) and Meyer. Union Local held a 27-13 advantage at halftime.

The Jets defense stymied the hosts in the initial stages of the third quarter, as Trail could not hold onto the ball. All told, Union Local forced six turnovers on six steals, distributing the ball down the floor to Merritt and Zach Bateman, who provided the glut of the Jets’ scoring in the quarter. Buckeye Trail was able to close things up in the middle and late stages of the third. One thing contributing to this was a 9-3 advantage on the glass in the quarter, and their offense found life behind three 3-pointers from Tyler Dodd and a tough traditional 3-point play from Parry off of an offensive rebound, however the Warriors could draw no closer than 13, leaving the Belmont Countians up by a 42-29 margin after the third.

The Jets put the game completely out of reach in the first two minutes of the fourth as Meyer and Merritt were just too much for the hosts. Impressively, Merritt was 7 of 7 from the charity stripe in the quarter, including sinking five consecutively after he was fouled on a three-point attempt and Meister was assessed a technical following the play. Both teams emptied their benches in the waning stages of the game as the Red and White solidified the 62-42 win.

Merritt led all scorers with the aforementioned 34, including five threes, while Meyer netted 17 with three buckets from downtown. Zach Bateman added nine points and six rebounds.

Dodd was the lone Warrior to reach double-figures with 10, while sophomore Franko Rome scored six and dished out six assists.

Union Local returns to action today, as it travels to Edison to face Buckeye Local. Buckeye Trail visits Garaway Tuesday.