Eagles sweep Patriots

Uniontown's Jacy Ermel (20) goes up for a shot over a West Elk defender during the first quarter of a Class 2A Sub-State game at Uniontown Tuesday night. Ermel scored 10 points and grabbed 21 rebounds in the Eagles' 42-20 victory. Eagle boys made it a sweep by beating West Elk 50-44 in overtime. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

UNIONTOWN -- Uniontown's basketball teams had their struggles with Howard-West Elk Tuesday night. But both Eagle squads eventually came away with victories in first-round Uniontown Class 2A Sub-State Tournament games.

Eagle girls let the Partiots get back into the game after dominating the first quarter. But Uniontown outscored West Elk 29-7 in the second half to take a 42-20 victory.

Eagle boys trailed 14-7 after one period and 32-26 after three but fought back to win in overtime, 50-44.

Third-seeded Eagle girls (14-7) led 10-2 after one. But the Patriots (8-14) fought back to tie it 13-13 at the half.

"We really struggled in the first half; we couldn't throw it in the ocean," Uniontown head coach Ken Holt said. "But we kept battling and got things going in the second half."

Jacy Ermel led the Eagles with 10 points and 21 rebounds. Hayden Rathbun and Tayler Shook scored 9 points each.

The Eagles, who have won eight of their last nine games, will face second-seeded Madison/Hamilton Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs (15-6) defeated Yates Center, 60-33, Monday night.

Eagle boys (16-5), who are also the No. 3 seed and winners of eight of their last nine, outscored West Elk 13-7 in the fourth quarter to force overtime tied at 39-39. The Partiots' season ended at 8-14 despite 28 points by Miller.

"We made some mental mistakes early and dug ourselves a big hole, but did a nice job battling back," Eagle head coach Nathan Hinrichs said.

Brenton Esslinger led Uniontown with 20 points while Zach Travis added 10.

The Eagles will face second-seeded Northeast (17-4) Friday night at 7 p.m. The Vikings claimed the Three Rivers League title from the Eagles with a 43-31 win at Arma on Feb. 17. Northeast defeated Marmaton Valley 60-43 Tuesday night.

GIRLS

(6) HOWARD-WEST ELK: Loudermilk 3-5 3-6 9, Zaragoza 2-20 2-3 6, Silvey 1-5 0-0 2, Julian 1-4 0-0 2, Harrod 0-1 1-2 1, Huntington 0-2 0-0 0, Wittmeier 0-9 0-1 0, Bellar 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Lampson 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 7-46 6-12 20.

(3) UNIONTOWN: Ermel 3-14 4-12 10, Rathbun 2-12 4-5 9, Shook 3-9 0-0 9, Jurgensen 2-7 1-2 5, Ridge 2-3 0-0 4, Robinson 1-3 1-2 3, Coyan 0-1 1-2 1, Dixon 0-1 1-2 1, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Shinn 0-2 0-2 0, Murrow 0-1 0-0 0, Rockhold 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13-54 12-27 42.

Uniontown........... 10 3 16 13 -- 42

Three-point field goals: West Elk 0-4 (Wittmeier 0-3, Zaragoza 0-1), Uniontown 4-8 (Shook 3-6, Rathbun 1-2).

Total fouls: West Elk 18, Uniontown 16. Fouled out: none.

Rebounds: West Elk 20, Uniontown 45 (Ermel 21). Assists: West Elk 2, Uniontown 9 (Rathbun 3), Turnovers: West Elk 21, Uniontown 17. Steals: West Elk 4, Uniontown 10 (Ermel 3). Blocked shots: West Elk 1, Uniontown 5 (Ermel 4).

BOYS

(6) HOWARD-WEST ELK: McGee 7, Wilson 3, Miller 28, E.Smith 2, L.Smith 2. TOTAL: 44.

(3) UNIONTOWN: Travis 10, Wiley 7, Kuns 4, Labbe 1, Esslinger 20, Sympson 8. TOTAL: 50.

Uniontown........... 7 11 8 13 11 -- 50