Photo by KIM NORTH Union Local’s Lauren Miller (15) rises to block the shot of Ridgewood’s Kierstin Latham (10) on Saturday in the Ohio Division III co-sectional final in Morristown.

MORRISTOWN — Playing good defense has been a constant this year for Union Local. Nothing changed on Saturday.

The third-seeded Jets (18-6) trailed No. 5 Ridgewood 19-18 at the half of their Ohio Division III co-sectional final inside ‘The Hangar,’ on the Union Local High School campus but outscored the Generals (18-6) by a 32-19 margin in the final 16 minutes.

“Defensively we’ve played consistently all year,” UL head coach Lou “Scooter” Tolzda said. “We were playing great defense Saturday but we weren’t shooting the ball very well. We really weren’t making any shots until late in the third quarter and then in the fourth.

“I thought we played really tight in the first half, but you’ve got to remember, most of the girls on the court didn’t have a lot of varsity experience until this season,” Tolzda added. “We finally loosened up some in the second half. Going forward we are going to have to make some shots.”

Union Local went ahead in the third quarter, leading 34-31 as senior Lauren Miller netted nine of her 16 points, with six coming on free throws. She also added four points in the fourth quarter and finished 11 for 13 from the charity stripe.

“We were able to get in the bonus and knock down some key free throws,” Tolzda noted.

Laken Vinskovich also had a big second half as the sophomore tallied 12 of her 16, with eight of those coming in the fourth quarter.

“Laken had a really good second half, especially on the boards,” Tolzda said. “She also hit a big three.”

The Jets bench scored 10 points, which Tolzda saw as another key.

“I think our depth kind of wore them down,” he said.“They gave us good minutes.”

Alli Kellaway and Teegan Day each scored five points off the bench. Ameera Saunders played good defense.

With the come-from-behind victory, Union Local advances to district tournament action on Wednesday against No. 2 Tuscarawas Valley (20-3) at Indian Valley High School in Gnadenhutten.

“I was kind of surprised because we played them last year at Buckeye Trail,” Tolzda said of the site decision. “I think it’s all about gym availability.”