Union Local’s Laken Vinskovich shoots for two of her 24 points Monday during the OVAC Girls Basketball Class 4A semifinal against visiting Oak Glen inside “The Hangar.” The Golden Bears shocked the Jets, 65-59. Defending is Oak Glen’s Haylee Stewart. (Photo by Kim North)

MORRISTOWN – For the second year in a row, top-seeded Union Local has been knocked off at home in the OVAC Girls Basketball Class 4A semifinals, and for the second consecutive year, Oak Glen will play for the championship on Saturday.

The fourth-seeded Golden Bears (10-5) never trailed in grounding the Jets (17-3) by a 65-59 count inside “The Hangar” Monday night on the Union Local campus.

Union Local fell to Fort Frye a season ago, while Oak Glen advanced to the title tilt where they fell to Indian Creek.

“Union Local, by far, has been the best team so far, along with Indian Creek,” Oak Glen head coach Ryan Wells said. “We were the fourth seed, and sometimes there are upsets. When you lose a player (Ameera Saunders) like they did, that’s not taking anything away from the girls that played tonight, a player of that caliber, it changes the dynamics.

“They have done a great job of adjusting without her, but tonight was kind of the perfect storm,” Wells added. “Union Local wasn’t on their game as much as they have been in the past, and we played, perhaps, the best game we have played all year.”

Behind the outside marksmanship of senior Ella Stewart, the Golden Bears raced to a 19-9 advantage late in the first quarter before holding a 19-15 edge after eight minutes. Stewart was a sniper as she knocked down five of her seven triples from a variety of spots on the floor.

“Obviously, we missed tons of shots that we should’ve made and they made an incredible number of shots,” veteran Union Local head coach Lou “Scooter” Tolzda said. “They made tons of shots. We knew they had a couple of girls that could shoot, but in the films that we watched, they never shot as good as they did tonight.”

After an evenly matched second quarter, Oak Glen held a 29-24 lead at the half.

A 22-point third quarter – sparked by Mikalyn Balch (10) and Angelina Polly (5) – allowed the Golden Bears to extend their margin to 12, 51-39, entering the final panel.

“Give Oak Glen credit. They made the shots and we struggled at times,” Tolzda added. “No excuses.”

Union Local’s full-court pressure defense hampered Oak Glen down the stretch as it committed 11 of its 25 turnovers in the final eight minutes, but the Jets couldn’t take full advantage as they continued to miss easy and wide-open shots.

“We were fighting through their hands and everything, but those 11 turnovers didn’t lose us the game because of the work we put in before that,” Wells said. “We knew the pressure was coming. They only played with five girls so they had to conserve some energy. The way we responded at times was very impressive.

“Give their girls credit. Without being able to sub, they played their hearts out.”

The Jets did get as close as three – 58-55 – on a scoping layup by Laken Vinskovich with 2:07 remaining, but the Golden Bears’ Balch converted a pair of free throws with 91 seconds left to stave off the hosts.

Ella Stewart finished with 24 points while Balch added 16 and Haylee Stewart had 12 and nine rebounds, drawing praise from her head coach.

Vinskovich, the only “Tower” left standing after the season-ending injury to Ameera Saunders, tied Ella Stewart for game scoring honors, but struggled from the floor. She also had nine rebounds. Myah Martin added a dozen markers, while Ellie Greenwood had 10 and Delaney Butler had nine. The Jets only played five players with Alli Kellaway contributing the final four points.

Tolzda didn’t use Saunders’ absence as a reason why the Jets lost.

“I was really proud of the way Haylee played under the basket,” Wells praised. “No. 22 [Stewart] for them is a player. She’s unbelievable, but Haylee battled her all night long.”

Oak Glen and Indian Creek will meet Saturday at 6 p.m. in the championship game at the ECO Center in St. Clairsville. The Redskins defeated previously unbeaten Edison, 49-47, also on Monday night in Richmond.