T-L Photo/SETH STASKEY UNION LOCAL senior Casey Kildow is emotional after accepting the Division III Eastern District runner-up trophy Saturday afternoon at Fort Frye. The Jets fell to the Cadets, 66-51. Kildow scored 16 points and eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career.

BEVERLY — It simply wasn’t meant to be.

Union Local arrived at Fort Frye High School Saturday afternoon with the hopes of avenging an early season loss and a setback from last season. Oh by the way, there was an Eastern District championship and a berth in the ‘Sweet 16’ on the line.

Unfortunately, for the Jets, they experienced a similar result to prior meetings with the Cadets. They came up on the short end of a 66-51 final score, which sends Coach Dan Liedtke’s team to the regional for the second consecutive season to meet top-ranked Hiland on Wednesday.

“I am just so proud of these girls,” Union Local head coach Rob Barr said. “I told the kids that there are only four teams in the state of Ohio that won’t end their season in tears and if they went out there and played their hearts out, they have nothing to be ashamed of. And they don’t have anything to be ashamed of for the entire season.”

The Jets bow out at 19-5, but they’ll return four starters for the 2021-22 campaign. However, the lone graduation loss is a big one in senior point guard Casey Kildow. The leader by example pumped in 16 points and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career.

“What a career Casey had,” Barr said. “I am so happy that she got that 1,000th point. If there’s anything happy to take from (Saturday), that’s it.”

Union Local — to no one’s surprise — came out of the gate’s clicking on all cylinders. The Jets led 10-2 in the opening few minutes thanks to a Kildow bonus goal and pair of triples from Torre Kildow.

At the end of the first, the Jets held a 19-13 upperhand.

“Union Local had every reason in the world to come down here and get us,” Liedtke said. “When they came out and built that lead, it didn’t surprise in the least. I knew that was going to happen because they’re one heck of a team and a very tough matchup for us. We have to play over our abilities at times to make up for their size and athletic ability.”

The Cadets — who qualified for the Division IV state tournament last winter that was never played due to COVID-19 — didn’t panic. They simply went to work. It started by getting the game tied at halftime at 27.

Then, in the third quarter, the Cadets began to take over.

“There were a couple of turning points in the game that our girls had nothing to do with and it got away from us a little bit,” Barr said. “They really turned it up a notch in the third quarter. They hit some shots, including a couple of big 3s.”

Actually, the Cadets hit four bonus goals in the third — three of which came from Hannah Archer. Lexie Huck, who made multiple winning plays in the clutch, also dialed long distance.

The barrage of 3-pointers sent Fort Frye to the fourth with a 47-39 upper hand.

“They’re so tough to come back on because they play so well with the lead and they’re so patient,” Barr said. “They’re hard to rattle to get back in the game.”

In the fourth, the Jets got as close as three on a put-back by Keira Gregor. Once again, though, no signs of panic from the Fort. It proceeded to score 17 of the game’s final 22, which included a sharp 9-of-12 effort from the line down the stretch.

“We were right there and the score doesn’t really reflect how close the game was because they stretched it out when we had to take some chances,” Barr said.

The only Jet to score more than Casey Kildow was sophomore Reagan Vinskovich, who went for 20 points and completed the double-double with 11 rebounds. Torre Kildow finished with nine.

The Cadets, meanwhile, were led by Huck’s 19. Mackenzie Dalton finished with 18 and Archer pumped in 13.

Division III

Fort Frye 66, Union Local 51

UNION LOCAL (51) — Vinskovich 7, 6-14 20; T. Kildow 3, 1-2 9; C. Kildow 5, 2-2 16; Gregor 2, 0-0 4; Merritt 0, 2-2 2; Cheatham 0, 0-1 0; Scott 0, 0-0 0; Totals: 17, 11-21 51. FORT FRYE (66) – Huck 6, 4-4 19; L. Schneider 1, 0-0 2; Archer 4, 1-2 13; Dalton 5, 7-10 18; Ross 2, 0-0 4; Medley 3, 2-3 8; Zalmonek 0, 2-2 2; Totals: 21, 16-21 66.

3-point goals: UL — T. Kildow (2), C. Kildow (4). FF — Archer (4), Huck (3), Dalton.