By Andrew Petyak
New Castle News

The Union High girls basketball team is on a roll.

The Lady Scots cruised to their sixth straight win in a 45-35 WPIAL Section 1-A victory over visiting Sewickley Academy last night.

“We were in control from the beginning of the game,” Union coach Brian Fadden said. “The game never got out of hand, but there was never a question of who was in control.”

Union (6-1 section, 9-4 overall) jumped out to a 17-5 lead after the first quarter. The Lady Scots limited their foe to 19 points through three quarters.

Miranda Heaney continued her strong play in section action with a team-high 14 points, including three 3-pointers. She had 20 in a win over Rochester on Monday.

“She’s been playing very well,” Fadden said. “She’s controlling the flow of the game on offense. She’s scoring for us and getting assists.”

Improvement on the defensive side of the ball and unselfish play on offense has sparked the Lady Scots’ winning ways.

“Allison Bertolino has been defending the other team’s best players the last several games,” Fadden said. “We have five people who stop the person with the ball. We have each other’s back.”

Hannah Booth collected 11 points for the winners. She has scored in double figures five times in 12 games this season.

“When she’s been getting open shots, she’s been knocking them down,” Fadden said. “She’s always rebounded and defended well. She’s looking to score a bit more now that she’s a junior. She’s doing a nice job with it.”

Union is second in the section, a half-game back of Quigley Catholic for the lead, as the team heads into the home stretch.

“I’m looking forward to an exciting second half of the season,” Fadden said. “We’ve been playing very solid defense all year. Offensively, we’re playing very unselfish. That was holding us back in the beginning of the season.”