To open the 2015-16 regular season and to debut the head coaching career of Josh White, the West Union Dragons stayed in town on Tuesday, Dec. 1, entertaining the Tigers of Bethel-Tate High School in high school boys basketball action. After the Tigers took the JV game by a score of 40-36, their varsity counterparts under former Ripley head coach Tom Jutze came out firing and handed White and the Dragons a 70-46 defeat in the season open.
Bethel-Tate took control early, outscoring the Dragons 22-8 in the first quarter and continued to roll until halftime, taking a 40-25 lead to the intermission, though the West Union offense performed much better in the second period. The Dragons got a three-pointer from James Curtis and two baskets each from Eli Fuller, Garrett Vogler, and Elijah McCarty, but they still found themselves in a double digit halftime hole.
In the third quarter, the Dragons could only manage two buckets from the field, three-pointers by Fuller and Vogler, as the Tigers racked up 22 more to take a commanding 62-31 advantage. In the final eight minutes, West Union got treys again from Fuller and Vogler but with both teams substituting literally, the final horn sounded with the visiting Tigers grabbing the “W”, 70-46.
“We came out flat and never really came out of it,” said Coach White after the game. “We did not play Dragon basketball like we have practiced all preseason. However, we fought all the way until the final horn and I am very proud of the guys for that. We will keep working all season long and we will continue to improve.”
The winning Tigers were led by a game-high 23 points by junior Trenton Weeks, joined in double figures by Tommy Bingamon with 14 and Noah Pickleheimer with 10. Bethel-Tate drilled a total of 10 three-point baskets in the game.
West Union was led by 16 points from Eli Fuller, 10 from Garrett Vogler, and 6 from James Curtis.
The Dragons will again look for win number one on Friday, Dec. 4 as they playu host to the Eastern Brown Warriors in a Southern Hills Athletic Conference battle.
Bethel 22 18 22 8 —70
W. Union 8 17 6 15 —46
Bethel (70): Dahlheimer 1 2-2 5, Curless 1 0-0 2, Idling 1 0-0 2, Pickleheimer 3 2-2 10, Weeks 9 1-1 23, Bingamon 4 3-3 14, Combs 1 1-2 3, Wallace 0 3-6 3, REinhardt 2 0-0 4, Stolz 2 0-0 4, Team 24 12-16 70.
W. Union (46): Welch 1 0-0 2, Fuller 6 2-2 16, Vogler 4 0-2 10. McCarty 2 0-0 4, Curtis 2 1-2 6, Horton 0 0-2 0, Clifford 2 0-0 4, Weeks 0 0-2 0, Fenton 2 0-0 4, Team 19 3-10 46.
Three-Point Goals:
B.-Tate- Dahlheimer 1, Pickleheimer 2, Weeks 4, Bingamon 3
W. Union- Fuller 2, Vogler 2, Curtis 1
