Northeast squads sweep Uniontown in league finale: Boys fall as Vikings clinch TRL championship

Uniontown's Joe Kuns (13) drives into the paint during the second half of play against Northeast in a Three Rivers League game Friday night at Uniontown. Northeast's Austin Baker (35) and Zach Adkins are the defenders. (Floyd Jernigan/Tribune)

UNIONTOWN -- Uniontown's boys stayed close to visiting Northeast for a quarter and a half but the Vikings pulled steadily away Friday night, spoiling the Eagles' senior night with a 66-33 victory.

The hosts were outscored 12-2 in the last three minutes of the first half, then saw Northeast roll to a 28-7 difference in the third quarter to put the game out of reach and clinch the Three Rivers League championship.

The Vikings' balance featured three players in double figures, junior Troy Howard with 21, junior Drew Mills with 16, and senior Dennis Hensley with 10. They also had nine players getting in the scoring column.

Cale Coyan tries to get some space against a Northeast defender during Friday night's game (Joe Kuns/Special to the Tribune)

Uniontown (5-4 TRL, 9-10) overall put eight players in the books but had only one, sophomore Colt Sutterby, reach double digits, with 11.

The home team, which features a sophomore dominant lineup and seven in the 10th grade class, has just one senior, one junior and five freshmen rounding out the roster.

The Eagles trailed just 9-6 three minutes in and were down only 15-10 at the first break.

Sutterby opened the second quarter with back-to-back baskets to get his team within one, the closest the Eagles would be the rest of the game.

It was a 19-16 deficit when Garrett Elder connected inside for Uniontown with 3:07 showing in the half.

That's when Northeast (8-0, 16-3) took over, forcing three turnovers and several errant shots by the hosts, building a 10-0 run before junior post Tyler Allen ended the drought for the home team with 33 seconds remaining.

Northeast got the final points of the half for a 31-18 lead. Howard did most of the damage for the visitors, getting eight of his points in that quarter.

Sutterby had six in the half, as did David Bradbury, to pace Uniontown.

Sutterby got his team on the board first to open the second half but another dry spell that sprung from three turnovers against the Vikings' press put UHS behind 45-22 following a 14-2 run by the visitors.

Sutterby slipped inside for a basket and drew the foul to end the three-minute dry spell. His resulting free throw left it 45-25 with just over four minutes in the quarter.

Uniontown failed to score the rest of the frame and Northeast padded its lead with 14 more points, sparked by Howard, who finished with 11 points in the period, and Mills, who put in eight.

Northeast connected for the first six points of the fourth before Jesse Kuns scored for Uniontown.

Reserves finished out the game with a running clock due to the margin.

Behind Sutterby's scoring for Uniontown were Bradbury and Elder with 6 points each, Kuns with 4, Allen and Cale Coyan with 2 each and Cole Schafer and Drew Stoughton-Wray with one each.

In the boys' junior varsity game, Uniontown prevailed 39-35 over Northeast, squeezing out a tight game behind a go-ahead basket by Ben George in the final minute and free throws by Tyler Cooper, with two, and Jesse Kuns, with one.

George finished with 14 points for the victors. Drew Stoughton-Wray added 7.

The Eagles finish the regular season on Tuesday with a non-league game at Southen Coffey County in LeRoy.