MORRISTOWN — Union Local won its first game of the season and then dropped four straight. That left head coach Zach Delman and his staff scrambling for answers.

The Jets re-fueled and have soared to victories in 13 of their last 14 flights. The latest triumph being a 58-47 decision Tuesday night before a near-capacity crowd inside “The Hangar” in which they not only captured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Wheeling Hospital OVAC Class 3A Boys’ Basketball Championships, but the coveted Milk Jug, as well.

“It’s awesome to sit here and think that we have the number 1 seed in the OVAC Tournament after a 1-4 start. After the four straight losses I kind of sounded like a broken record. ‘We’re searching for answers. We’re trying to find the right recipe. We’re trying to find the right pieces to the puzzle to get us going in the right direction,'” Delman remembered saying. “Then we had an injury that forced a lineup change. Zach Bateman stepped into the starting lineup and he’s totally changed the dynamic of our team.”

Union Local (14-5) trailed 11-10 before Nathan Meyer ignited a 10-3 run to end the quarter with a three-point basket. He scored nine of his 15 points in the opening quarter.

The Jets turned up the defense in the second eight minutes, limiting the Shamrocks (11-7) to a mere six points. Kason Powell knocked down two treys as the visitors went 2-for-12 from the floor. Union Local led 31-20 at the break.

“They played hard and they played good defense on us,” Barnesville head coach Matt Johnson said. “I don’t think we played that bad defensively.

“We go through spurts on offense where we don’t move. I know the kids might not like the offense, and I get that, but if you don’t move on offense, it doesn’t matter what you are running,” Johnson added. “When we move we get open looks. Sometimes we get drives to the bucket, but we just need to translate what we are doing in practice to games. Right now we’re not doing that.

“We’re going to work on movement and try to get them to move. I think if we’re able to do that, we can still make a little run here,” Johnson stressed. “We just have to be committed to playing in the halfcourt defensively. Right now we’re not. I’ll work on that. I’ll take the responsibility for that. We’ll get back to work tomorrow (today) and go from there.”

Meanwhile, Union Local charted just one turnover through the first three quarters as it held a 49-31 advantage after three quarters.

“We talk about taking care of the ball on every possession. Value the ball and be efficient,” Delman said. “I always tell the guys a phrase from my old coach (Rich Saffield). He used to say ‘hurry up and take your time.’ I tell the guys to think about that because it’s two really conflicting things. You have to able to play as hard as you can and as fast as you can, but still be efficient and under control. That’s something we preach to these guys every day. I thought they did a nice job of taking care of the ball except for a few slipups there in the fourth quarter.”

Barnesville cut the deficit to nine, 53-44, with two minutes left when Luke Powell tickled the twine three times after being fouled behind the arc. However, Andrew Martin cashed in a pair of free throws and Zach Bateman added three in the final minute.

“Zach Bateman once again. We face-guarded (on Luke Powell) a little bit. Zach did that to (Harrison Central’s) Kobe (Mitchell) a few weeks ago. I think he had 11 when he was averaging 30,” Delman explained. “Luke is a great player and he garners a lot of attention, so Zach was up for the challenge. We weren’t asking Zach to shut him out. We just want to make him work for everything he gets …alter his shots and make sure we’ve got one or two guys in his face every time. We did a good job of that tonight.”

Luke Powell led the Shamrocks with 18 points. Kason Powell added 12 and Colton Hines nine. Luke Powell completed a double-double with 10 rebounds.

The Jets’ Luke Merritt led all scorers with 24 points, which included six bonus bombs. Meyer added 15 points and a team-best seven rebounds.

Union Local treks to Hannibal Friday to face River. Barnesville, meanwhile, returns home to host Martins Ferry.